*COVID-19 Guidelines will apply. Must wear mask unless eating or drinking.
Charles Johnson, Kira 4 Moms Entrepreneur, advocate for change and philanthropist… Charles is a graduate of Florida A& M University. He is a native of Atlanta who has spent his entire career being an entrepreneur in many different areas, such as governmental contracts, global sourcing and jointly being a small business owner with his wife, Kira. He is a strong advocate of supporting our youth and in turn has played a vital role in organizations like Boys Speak Out, Inc.; a nonprofit that focuses on tutoring, mentoring and advocating being a role model while making a difference in our youth’s lives. After the sudden passing of his wife Kira due to complications following a routine scheduled C-section, Charles has dedicated his life mission to launching the 4Kira4Moms Foundation, a nonprofit committed to reducing the maternal mortality rate and raising awareness about the maternal death crisis in the United States where we have over 1200 women die annually. Currently, 4Kira4Moms is working closely with congressional legislators to create legislation to mandate healthcare policies nationwide that will protect mothers and babies.
Jonathan Webb has spent more than 15 years in the public health space promoting community health outcomes; addressing the social determinants of health; and tackling a number of epidemics including childhood obesity, diabetes, and CVD. Jonathan’s professional experience includes work for two local health departments including work within the Office of Epidemiology of the City of Chicago and leading the Community Health Division of the City of Evanston. Additionally, Mr. Webb has spent more than nine years in the nonprofit space leading strategy; building meaningful partnerships; fundraising; and implementing programming for organizations such as the McGaw YMCA, Feed the Children, and the American Osteopathic Association. He served as the vice president of corporate alliances, grants and social enterprise for the American Diabetes Association, where he set the strategy for corporate relationships, led a team that developed strategic partnerships, and advanced the mission of the organization through grant and corporate funding. With the current fundraising climate keenly focused on strategic philanthropy, Mr. Webb has been working on effective collaboration and identifying those mutually beneficial partnerships that drive the mission of the organization forward.
Dr. Jamila K. Taylor is director of health care reform and senior fellow at The Century Foundation, where she leads TCF’s work to build on the Affordable Care Act and develop the next generation of health reform to achieve high-quality, affordable, and universal coverage in America. A renowned health policy expert, Taylor also works on issues related to reproductive rights and justice, focusing on the structural barriers to access to health care, racial and gender disparities in health outcomes, and the intersections between health care and economic justice.
Throughout her 20+ year career, Taylor has championed the health and rights of women of color and other marginalized communities both in the U.S. and around the world, promoting policies that ensure access to reproductive and maternal health care, including building support for insurance coverage of abortion. Before TCF, Taylor served as senior fellow and director of Women’s Health and Rights at the Center for American Progress (CAP), where she led CAP’s efforts to advance policies that ensure that women have an equal opportunity to live healthy and economically secure lives. Prior to CAP, she was a senior policy advisor at Ipas, a global NGO dedicated to ending preventable deaths and disabilities from unsafe abortion. She started her career as a congressional staffer in the office of Rep. Robert “Bobby” Scott (D-VA), and has also worked for the Virginia General Assembly, the AIDS Institute, the National Network of Abortion Funds, and the Center for Health and Gender Equity.
Taylor has published and presented extensively on topics related to reproductive justice, maternal health and health policy. Her work has been seen in numerous academic and peer-reviewed journals, as well as The Hill, RealClearPolicy, RealClearHealth, The Nation, U.S. News and World Report, Morning Consult, Scientific American, Yale Journal of International Affairs, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, and a host of other publications. She has testified before Congress and provided commentary on top media networks including NPR, Al-Jazeera, BBC World News, C-SPAN, Fox News, and Black News Channel.
Taylor graduated with honors from Hampton University with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. She also holds a master’s degree in public administration from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Ph.D. in political science from Howard University. Taylor serves on the board of directors for National Quality Forum, March For Moms and Mamatoto Village (where she serves as chairwoman of the board). She also serves on the Reproductive Freedom Leadership Council Advocates Advisory Board of State Innovation Exchange (SiX).
Phillip Duncan, MD, F.A.C.C.
Dr. Duncan, a native of New York, NY, now lives in Chester, Virginia and has two daughters and three grandchildren. He founded Heart Care For You, Cardiac Health Management Network (CHMN), P.C. in 2014. Dr. Duncan has practiced patient-centered cardiology in the Richmond and Tri-Cities area for over 30 years. Currently, Dr. Duncan is the Medical Director of Cardiac Health Management Network, P.C. He also serves as Operations Medical Director for Honeywell Chesterfield and Hopewell Campuses. Formerly he was the medical director of HCA-CJW’s Advanced Heart Failure program; he served as medical lead on the first two successful left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implants at Chippenham Medical Center. In his free time, he enjoys reading, listening to music, traveling and spending time with friends and family.
Dr. Duncan is involved in a number of activities within the community. He has spoken at churches, schools, universities, civic clubs, and societies about cardiovascular disease risk, healthy lifestyles and reducing disparities in cardiovascular outcomes. He is also involved in the Association of Black Cardiologists’ Spirit of the Heart Program. Dr. Duncan truly is an advocate for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. He has been involved with initiatives to address subjects like heart failure, hereditary cardiomyopathies barriers to health care access and familial hypercholesterolemia. Dr. Duncan is a former board chairman of the Association of Black Cardiologists. Their mission is to work on eliminating cardiovascular disparities through Education, Research, and Advocacy. One of their signature publications is called, Seven Steps to a Healthy Heart.
Phoebe Ashley, MD
Dr. Ashley is the epitome of everything I hope to be as an attending! She spent time emphasizing the history and is the best physical exam teacher I’ve ever met. She is also unbelievably kind and connects with patients deeply and quickly in a way I’ve seen in few other physicians. Finally, she prioritizes our learning equally with patient care and efficiency.
Dr. Phoebe Ashley, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, joined the VCU faculty in 2014, and serves as Assistant M3 Clinical Clerkship Director for Internal Medicine. Since 2015, she has also served as co-director of the VCU Pauley Heart Center Women’s Heart Health Symposium. Dr. Ashley came to VCU after experiences in private practice, as well as in academic medicine. Her talent for bedside teaching was recognized almost immediately. “(Her) teaching style is “old school”, and at the bedside. She is an amazing clinician and diagnostician. She is an outstanding patient interviewer and her physical examination skills are nothing less than excellent.” states Kenneth A. Ellenbogen, MD, Martha M. and Harold W. Kimmerling Professor of Cardiology and Chair, Division of Cardiology.
Nichole Wescott- Hayes
Nichole Hayes, AHA’s is our new Government Rlations Director for Virginia. Nichole will join us next Monday, August 16 and will be based in the Glen Allen, VA office.
Nichole comes to AHA from the Virginia General Assembly where since 2019 she served as the Legislative Assistant for Senator Jennifer McClellan (a great friend of AHA and champion for food security and heart health!). For the last year, Nichole worked on Senator McClellan’s gubernatorial campaign, building coalitions and connections throughout the state. She previously also worked on Sen. Tim Kaine’s re-election campaign.
Prior to the Senate, Nichole led teams at the Virginia Department of Health for 13 years. In 2010 after her mother received a cancer diagnosis, Nichole began volunteering with ACS’s Relay for Life events. For 8 years she led the event in her community, led training courses, and found her love of advocacy during a lobby day event.
Nichole attended the College of William and Mary where she studied Psychology. She lives in Charles City County, a small, rural county outside of Richmond. Her husband Justin, is a teacher and Head Varsity basketball coach in Henrico County. They have a son, Jaylen, 13, and a daughter, Joelle, 9, pup Apollo, and a live in god daughter, Victoria. When not working or with her family, Nichole enjoys traveling to visit her best friends and community service with her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta