Migrant Health Promotion is governed by a board of directors which ranges in size from 9 to 15 members. Directors come from all areas of the country -- both rural and urban. According to the bylaws, at least 51% of the board members will be either current or former farmworkers, current or former Promotores(as),representatives of service provider organizations, and/or advocacy groups who have experience working with and understanding the strengths and needs of the populations served by the organization’s mission. Board members hold office for a term of three years and can serve a maximum of 2 terms consecutively.
The Board made some policy stances in 2008 on issues such as immigration reform and the Border Wall. They are articulated in the following documents:
Meet the Board Members:
Fabio Arcila, Jr. (President)
(Finance Committee, Public Relations Committee)
Board Term Ends: November 2014
Professor of Law
Touro Law Center
Fabio Arcila, Jr. is a lawyer with extensive litigation experience in both trial and appellate level work in the federal courts, and with trial level work in state courts, including providing poverty legal services for three years as a staff attorney for a Legal Services office in Michigan. Since 2004, Fabio has been a full-time law professor, with expertise in the public law/litigation context as well as in Fourth Amendment search and seizure law. He previously served as Treasurer on the Migrant Health Promotion board from 1997-2002. Fabio is active in the Hispanic National Bar Association-NY Region, and is a member of numerous professional organizations such as the American Constitution Society, ACLU, Legal Momentum, and the LAMBDA Legal Defense Fund. Fabio earned his Bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and his Juris Doctor from the University of California at Berkeley Law School. Fabio's family immigrated from Colombia, South America, and he is a proud first-generation American. He has resided in New York City since 2000.
John A. Gallagher, PhD (Vice-President)
(Board Affairs Committee)
Board Term Ends: November 2014
Corporate Director, Ethics
Catholic Healthcare Partners
In November of 2002, Dr. Gallagher was appointed Corporate Director, Ethics for Catholic Healthcare Partners (CHP). As a member of the Department of Mission and Values Integration he shares responsibility for the development and implementation of system-wide strategies for integrating the mission and values into all aspects of the organizations, including its policies, practices and culture. He provides on-going research that assists the leadership of CHP in identifying emerging issues in moral theology, ethics and social justice as they impact the health care ministry and CHP and recommends appropriate responses. Prior to serving CHP, he was the Director, Corporate Integrity for St. Joseph’s Health System in Atlanta, Georgia. From 1990 to 2000 he was Vice President, System Organizational Integrity and System Ethics at the Holy Cross Health System located in South Bend, Indiana. He was on the theological faculty of Mercy College (Detroit) and Loyola University of Chicago. He holds a doctoral degree from the Divinity School of the University of Chicago.
Dr. Gallagher has published a wide range of articles on issues of health care ethics. He has spoken to a variety of audiences on issues in contemporary health care and the theological underpinning of the Catholic health care ministry. He has given presentations at the Catholic Health Association’s Sponsorship School and its Theology and Ethics Colloquium, as well as the Catholic Theological Society of America and the Society of Christian Ethics. He has been a member of the Honoring Wishes Taskforce for the past three years.
Rodney Gomez, MFA, MA
(Public Relations Committee)
Board Term Ends: November 2015
Program Administrator
Valley Metro
Rodney Gomez was born and raised in Brownsville, Texas and works as an urban planner in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, with a focus on public transportation. He oversees short and long-range planning initiatives, capital projects, and grant management activities for a regional transit system. He earned an MFA from the University of Texas Pan-American, an MA from Arizona State University, and a BA from Yale University. He publishes widely in literary journals and has been awarded residencies and fellowships from the Atlantic Center for the Arts, the Santa Fe Art Institute, and CantoMundo. He is the proud son of migrant farmworkers.
Gayle Lawn-Day, PhD (Ex-Officio, Secretary, CEO)
(Finance Committee)
CEO
Migrant Health Promotion
Gayle Lawn-Day, Migrant Health Promotion's CEO, brings significant administrative experience to the organization. As a former Executive Vice President, Provost, Chief Operations Officer, and Chief Financial Officer of various institutions of higher education, her experience managing complex organizations, multi-dimensional budgets, and developing and implementing long-range planning are key organizational assets. She received her PhD in Public Policy and Research Methodology and an MPA in Public Finance and Budgeting from the University of Oklahoma. She holds a BS in Business Administration from Michigan Technological University.
Judith Mouch, RSM
(Board Affairs Committee)
Board Term Ends: November 2014
Associate Professor of Nursing
University of Detroit Mercy
Judith Mouch, RSM, MSN is a Sister of Mercy who has taught at the University of Detroit Mercy for 16 years. She is Board Certified as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Public/Community Health. As faculty in Community/Public Health Nursing, she stays abreast of the changes in health care delivery and facilitates placement of senior nursing students in community sites for health promotion and disease prevention projects. Judith has worked in the non-profit environment for 30 years including 20 years in academia, and has been a member of the American Public Health Association for 28 years. As such, she is very experienced in Strategic Planning and Program Development. She also served as the first Executive Director of Migrant Health Promotion (then called Midwest Migrant Health Information Organization) in its founding year of 1983. Judith lives in Detroit, Michigan.
Amanda Philips Martinez, MPH
(Board Affairs Committee)
Board Term Ends: November 2015
Senior Research Associate, Georgia Health Policy Center
Georgia State University
Amanda is a Senior Research Associate with the Georgia Health Policy Center at Georgia State University in Atlanta. As a member of the Center’s Community Health Systems Development Team, Amanda provides training and capacity building support to rural health agencies within Georgia and across the country in program development and evaluation, coalition development and sustainability planning to multiple rural health agencies across the state and country. Ms. Phillips Martinez also assists counties and local community groups in conducting health needs assessments and facilitated community-wide participatory planning processes. Prior to joining the Health Policy Center Amanda coordinated a large multi-site community-based research studies focused on reproductive decision-making and sexual risk-taking among Latino immigrants. As the Health Programs Director at a local Latino Community Center in North Carolina, she managed and evaluated community health worker programs focused on health education and prevention of chronic and infectious disease among newly arrived Latino immigrants.
Amanda received her BA in International Studies from Guilford College in Greensboro North Carolina, and her Master’s in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Michelle Rosales, MBA (Treasurer)
(Finance Committee)
Board Term Ends: November 2014
Regional Director, Malheur County Center
Eastern Oregon University
Michelle Rosales, MBA, is an experienced higher education administrator and deeply involved in her community. As well as managing a satellite center, she has also overseen departments of developmental education, English as a Second Language departments, and GED programs. Michelle serves as a Commissioner for the City of Fruitland and is an advocate for economic growth. She presently serves on the board of Four Rivers Community School a dual language education program in Ontario, OR and is actively involved with organizations that prevent child abuse and neglect. Much of Michelle’s work includes advocating job opportunities and higher education in rural areas. This includes providing services to the community in a culturally appropriate and accessible manner. She resides in Fruitland, Idaho.
Melissa A. Valerio, PhD
(Finance Committee)
Board Term Ends: November 2014
Associate Professor
University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston
Melissa A. Valerio, PhD, is an Associate Professor for the University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston and the Assistant Director of the Center for Managing Chronic Disease at the University of Michigan. Melissa serves as investigator on several chronic disease research studies which focus on health literacy. She is involved in ongoing multi-level health disparities initiatives focused on diabetes prevention and management.. Melissa holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin, and her Master’s in Public Health and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. She also holds a certificate in non-profit management from the University of Texas at Austin. Serving on the Migrant Health Promotion board allows Melissa to participate in public health service. She currently lives in Helotes,Texas.
Jonathan Vineyard, MHSA (At-Large)
(Finance Committee)
Board Term Ends: November 2015
Project Manager, Physician Services
Catholic Health Partners
Jonathan Vineyard, Project Manager for Catholic Health Partners in Cincinnati, Ohio, has extensive experience in strategic business planning, financial planning, creating clinically integrated networks, healthcare reform (including Accountable Care Organizations and Patient Centered Medical Homes). He understands how difficult health services can be for many Hispanics to navigate, and being from a Guatemalan family, he feels strongly about creating awareness of the U.S. healthcare system so patients are able to improve their lives. Previously, Mr. Vineyard worked as a youth advocate for Hispanic teenagers and was an ESL teacher in the Provo School District in Utah. He holds his B.S. in Sociology from Brigham Young University and Master’s in Health Services Administration from Xavier University. He resides in Northern Kentucky.