Dr. Lucretia E. Jones
Lucretia E. Jones, Dr, PH, MPH (she/her/hers) is a Black woman and resident of the Longwood section of the South Bronx in the same home she was born and raised in decades ago. It is her love of this community that inspired her passion and activism work on education, equity, addressing health disparities, ethics and community engaged research.
Dr. Jones is an Epidemiologist at the NYC Health Department where she has worked for 28 years and the CEO of Generational Health & Wellness. She was the founding Board Chair in 1994 of a grassroots CBO Mothers on the Move (MOM), a founding Board member of the new CUNY School of Public Health’s Alumni Board in 2014, is currently a board member of the BxCRRB and the Community Engaged Research Academy (CERA), a CERA graduate, on St Margaret’s Church Vestry, and a Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Ambassador. Lucretia was so excited when she heard about the BxCRRB and joined because it finally was an opportunity to merge her epidemiology research work with her community engagement work.
Lucretia received her Doctorate from CUNY’s School of Public Health, her MPH from Columbia’s Mailman School, and her BA from Brandeis U. Lucretia is the mother of two adult children, a son teaching in Japan for the past 15years and a daughter living in her 3 family home. Dealing with her family’s health issues has lead Dr. Jones’ interest and experience in health communities such as congenital disorders, childhood asthma, environmental health, Hep C, obesity, elder care, and wellness. Email is the best way to reach Dr. Jones, [email protected]
Michael G Williams, LMSW
Michael G Williams LMSW (him/he/his)is a Black man. Mr. Williams for the last 22 years working in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx as a licensed Social worker for the Bronx V.A. Hospital. Michael serves on other organization boards such as Kidney Foundation, National Association of Social Workers(n.a.s.w.), Board of directors for the Bronx C.R.R.B and Bronx Community College, Auxiliary Corporation Bronx Community College (BCC), Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PICORI) ambassador program, Election Board Worker. Last but not least Mr. Williams a United States Marine Corps Veteran. He served as a Sergeant for the USMC. His interest in combating environmental racism and decolonizing anthropology led them to join the BxCRRB’s mission to shift the culture of health research.
Mr. Williams was born in New York City and graduated from Julia Richman High School. He attended Lincoln University for one year prior to joining the United States Marine Corp. Mr. Williams was passionate about being the best Marine and soon rose to the status of Marine Corps Drill Instructor. He was honorably discharged in 1995 after 13 years of military service. Mr. Williams enrolled at Bronx Community College in 1996, where he majored in Human Services as a way to continue his enthusiasm for serving humanity. He entered Lehman College in 1998 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Social Work in 2000. In his need to increase his knowledge base, he was accepted into the Social Work Masters program at Yeshiva University, earned a Master’s of Social Work degree that specialized in clinical social work practice.
Committed to giving back to his fellow veterans, Mr. Williams began working at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in the Bronx as a work-study student. He later became a paid intern and was eventually hired as a social worker for the Renal/Hemodialysis unit at the Bronx VA Medical Center. In his current position as the Renal Social Worker, he supports the psychosocial functioning and adjustment of patients who have been diagnosed with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and their families. These services are provided to decrease the social and emotional stressors that are a direct result of the physical and emotional aspects of the disease process, such as altered lifestyle with changes in social, financial, vocational, and sexual functioning; and the demands of a rigorous, time-consuming and complex treatment regimen. Mr. Williams functions as part of the multidisciplinary team and is responsible for fostering a positive treatment environment with routines that recognize the cultural, religious, and ethnic differences among patients and families
Michael is not only on the board of the CRRB but he is also a graduate of the 2017 CERA cohort and he hopes to enhance his knowledge of ethics and research to share this information and empower others.
Jayleecia Smith
Jayleecia (she/her/hers) is a Black cis-gendered woman, who has lived in the Williamsbridge section of the Bronx for the past 25 years (and counting!). While she was temporarily out of state for high school and college, she returned to work in the Bronx in 2016, and joined the BxCRRB shortly after. Though she was involved in basic science research at the time, Jayleecia began to grow more curious about research at the human level, and wanted to learn more about the intricacies, history, and ethics of community-based research. She was particularly interested in the BxCRRB’s role in research review, in challenging the power dynamic in the research relationship, and in the sharing back of research results with research participants and their communities. By joining the BxCRRB, and graduating as a student of CERA 2017, she began to gain more information about how she could contribute to these processes. Through the BxCRRB, Jayleecia has developed a greater understanding of the power that lies in providing folks the space to tell their stories, particularly in regards to their health. She hopes that her membership in the BxCRRB will continue to challenge her understanding of what it means to be accountable to the communities we love, serve and are situated in, and what it looks like to fully engage with marginalized populations in all parts of the research process. Jayleecia is currently pursuing her M.D. at Weill Cornell Medical College, and as she navigates her career in medicine, she hopes to draw upon her experiences with the BxCRRB to address health disparities and to meld community engagement with clinical practice. She is affiliated with Prep for Prep, Bronx Community Health Leaders (BxCHL), and the Student National Medical Association (SNMA). She can be contacted via email at: [email protected]
Albert Greene
Albert Greene (He/Him/His) is a Black and African American male. Al represents the South Bronx ‘Historical district” for over 30 years. He joined the BxCRRB at the beginning of 2017 as the project coordinator and webmaster for the BxCRRB and the CERA project. Albert’s educational background is in Sports Management and Health Information Technology. His interest in combatting environmental racism and decolonizing anthropology led them to join the BxCRRB’s mission to shift the culture of health research. Albert’s hope for the Bronx is for residents to fight against prejudices in health through storytelling and community engagement. [email protected]
Jewel Webber-Brown
Jewel Webber-Brown (she/her) is an Afro- Caribbean Bronx resident, a photographer, a website builder, author, and small business owner. She is aware of the many changes in her community and wants to have a say, by taking part in developing solutions. She graduated from Bronx Community College. Jewel is associated with the Bronx Health Outreach, the Bronx NAACP chapter, the Barbuda Relief Network, and Be Soaked In Prayer Ministries. Jewel is passionate about her rights, her loved ones, and nature. She applied to be a part of CERA because she is committed to lifelong learning. She graduated from CERA in 2018. Jewel uses what she learned in the academy to become a better advocate. Jewel also works with the Bronx Times Reporter to photograph and document social issues in the Bronx.
You can reach her at [email protected]
Jewel’s websites are www.jewjewbeed.com and www.besoakedinprayer.net