meet the prapare team

Nalani Tarrant, MPH, PMP is the Deputy Director of Social Drivers of Health at the National Association of Community Health Centers where she helps health centers build community-based and patient-centered research and data capacity.  Currently, she focuses on helping health centers collect and use social determinants of health data to improve care delivery, inform policy, and accelerate community change by developing, testing, and implementing the standardized social determinants of health protocol known as PRAPARE.  Previously, Nalani was the Director of Quality Collaboratives, Data & Quality Measures at the American College of Emergency Physicians where she worked with physician leads on the Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative supported by CMS. Her interests lie heavily in identifying solutions to lessen our nation’s health burden by identifying solutions that aims to effectively promote better health outcomes. Ms. Tarrant earned a bachelor’s degree in Behavioral Science from Drew University, and a Master of Public Health degree in epidemiology from George Washington University. In January 2018, Nalani completed her Project Management Professional accreditation.

Rosy Chang Weir, PhD. As Director of Research at the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO), Dr. Weir conducts research that aims to increase access to quality health care services that are culturally and linguistically appropriate for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders (AA and NHPIs) and other underserved populations, focusing on racial/ethnic disparities in health, social determinants of health, enabling services or social interventions, and community-based participatory research. She serves as co-PI of the Protocol for Responding to and Assessing Patient Assets, Risks, and Experiences (PRAPARE), primarily leading the program’s research, evaluation, and most recently the development of the PRAPARE Social Interventions Data Collection Protocol and national stakeholder-vetted PRAPARE risk stratification model that incorporates social data. She has also led national projects focusing on hepatitis B, diabetes, and tuberculosis interventions, evaluation and impact of enabling services, and has served as expert advisor on multiple national initiatives. An immigrant from Laos, Dr. Weir received her bachelor’s degree and PhD in Psychology at the University of California, San Diego and Santa Cruz, respectively.

Ben Money, Jr,, MPH joined NACHC June 1, 2021 as the SVP for Public Health Priorities.  In this new role, Mr. Money directs efforts in health center collaboration with public health at the national and state levels.  Ben is the senior executive lead for the PRAPARE social drivers of health program and the environmental health/climate change initiatives at NACHC. Mr. Money is extensively involved in organizational efforts to develop new models of care to advance health and social equity. Prior to joining NACHC, Mr. Money was the Deputy Secretary for Health Services at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) where he led the Divisions of Public Health, Health Services Regulation, and the Offices of Rural Health and Minority Health & Health Disparities and was directly involved in the COVID-19 emergency response. Before his state appointment, Mr. Money was the President & Chief Executive Officer North Carolina Community Health Center Association. His work with health centers began in the late 80’s as health care to the homeless program manager. Mr. Money’s career began in community mental health in his hometown of Springfield, MA.Ben is a graduate of Springfield College and received his MPH from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Most recently Mr. Money completed a certificate in Health and Climate Change from the Yale University School of Public Health. Ben and his wife Monica have three children and two grandsons.

Joe Lee, MSHA is the Director of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships at the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO). At AAPCHO, Joe Lee is principally responsible for strategic program oversight, alignment and sustainability planning, grant development, monitoring and evaluation, fee for service development, and operations for health equity initiatives. Joe specializes in workforce development, Social Determinants of Health and Enabling Services data advocacy, and chronic and infectious diseases partnership engagement. Joe holds a Master of Science degree in Healthcare Administration and Interprofessional Leadership from UCSF and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from UC Berkeley.

Yuriko de la Cruz, MPH, CPHQ (she/her/ella) is the Program Manager, Social Drivers of Health at the National Association of Community Health Centers. She currently partners with health centers to identify patient-level social needs and to use SDOH data (specifically PRAPARE) to inform upstream community efforts that advances health equity. Yuriko started her career as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic. After her service, she worked as a Community Health Worker in Newark, NJ, first at a nonprofit and later at a hospital. Yuriko later worked in training, technical assistance, and grant writing for HIV/AIDS prevention, substance use, and cultural competency programs on a national and statewide level. She then pivoted into healthcare and focused on population health, practice transformation, and continuous quality improvement within primary care settings and federally qualified health centers. She proudly serves as a board member of two nonprofit organizations in Allentown, PA: Resurrected Community Development Corporation and Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley and a national organization: Academy of Communication in Healthcare. Yuriko completed the Bachelor of Science in Public Health from West Chester University and the Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill.

Albert Ayson, Jr., MPH is the Associate Director of Training and Technical Assistance (T/TA) at the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO). In his role, Albert manages national T/TA services that strengthen the capacity of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) and, in particular AA- and NH/PI-serving health centers and their community-based organization partners.  As a key member of the health center engagement and dissemination team, Albert is jointly responsible for program development, implementation, and evaluation related to AAPCHO's T/TA activities under the HRSA Bureau of Primary Health Care cooperative agreement as well as the Protocol for Responding to and Assessing Patients’ Assets, Risks, and Experiences (PRAPARE) national project.  By merging his interests in systems thinking and design thinking, Albert is invested in the innovation and integration of AAPCHO and PRAPARE’s in-person and virtual training experience. Albert holds a Master of Public Health degree from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and Bachelor of Arts degrees in Public Health and Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Jason Patnosh is the Associate VP, Partnership and Resource Development at the National Association of Community Health Centers. Jason works with NACHC’s divisions and external partners to align goals and projects that mutually benefit all parties. Jason has helped to navigate successful proposals to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Retirement Research Foundation, Johnson and Johnson Foundation, Pfizer Foundation, Siemens Foundation, several federal agencies, and has introduced new partnerships with innovators and start-ups from the health technology sector. For the past two years he has worked with the PACE@CHCs collaborative. Jason has served as NACHC’s lead liaison for the field and partners responding to natural disasters across the country. Jason has helped to strengthen partnerships for NACHC and health centers with national relief organizations like Americares and Direct Relief, along with connecting new partners with health centers to support disaster relief. During COVID-19, Jason has coordinated internal cross-agency meetings, worked with teams to rapidly develop, and deploy resources for health centers, and brought in new partners to help support NACHC’s COVID-19 relief efforts, as well as deploy millions of dollars in philanthropic support to health centers nationwide. Jason received his Bachelors of Science in Emergency Health Services at The George Washington University. He enjoys travelling, cooking, and spending time with his wife, son, and dog.

Sarah Halpin, MPH is the Program Specialist, Social Drivers of Health for the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), focusing on social determinants of health and health equity projects. In this role, Sarah supports health centers in developing strategies to assess and address social needs alongside community partners, and she works to identify and elevate health centers working upstream to inform innovation and system transformation efforts. Passionate about the intersection of health and social justice, Sarah has previously conducted research on access to care, health literacy and food insecurity in historically marginalized and underserved communities in the U.S. and abroad. Sarah has a BA in Anthropology & Bioethics and an MPH with a concentration in Health Policy, Law & Ethics from the University of Virginia.

Julia Liu, MPH, CPH (She/They) is the Research Assistant at the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO). Julia is principally responsible for project management, data collection, data analysis, implementation methodology, and cross-program collaboration. Prior to AAPCHO, Julia worked on several research projects on breaking the cycle of violence, evaluation on CDC lifestyle’s change programs and social determinants of health, the effects of gentrification, and reducing food waste. Julia also implemented health-related programs at high schools and universities while holding workshops on topics related to race and academia, and reproductive health and disability. Outside of AAPCHO, Julia is a Ph.D. student in Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology at the University of Illinois, Chicago (UIC), and consults on statistical analysis to various health centers and health departments. Julia holds a Master of Public Health degree in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Washington University in St. Louis, and Bachelor of Science degrees in Health Sciences, Community Health Education, Community Development, and Social Sciences specializing in International Economics from Portland State University.