NLBHA, the NHL ATTC and PTTC teams are proud and honored to present the 2020 National Hispanic and Latino Executive Leadership and Fellowship Program Graduates. We cannot wait to see the great things they will accomplish in their careers and the beautiful impact they will continue to bring to our communities.
Ana Vizoso, MA, LPC, LAC
Ana B. Vizoso joined Servicios de La Raza in July of 2015 as a mental health intern. In April of 2016, Ana was hired as a bilingual mental health therapist and was named director of the department in 2018. Ana has a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from the University of Denver and is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Licensed Addiction Counselor. She is bilingual in English and Spanish. Ana has experience working with victims of domestic violence, trauma, anxiety, depression, high-risk youth, justice-involved individuals, substance use treatment and EMDR. Additionally, Ana provides clinical supervision and leads the operations of the behavioral health department.
Juan Escobedo, MA, LPC
Juan Escobedo is a program officer for the Caring for Denver Foundation, a taxpayer approved. 25% sales-tax fund of more than $36 million annually for mental health and substance misuse programs in Denver. He is a master's level Behavioral Health Clinician by trade and has passionately worked the front lines serving communities in the public sector for over 12 years in clinical, community, and program development roles. He has dedicated his career serving Latinx and underserved communities. He takes his Papa responsibilities serious, for he is a world-class "horsy" for his important and brilliant 3-year-old. He was named Colorado's Mental Health First Aid instructor of the year in 2019, teaching and certifying over 170 Spanish-Speaking community members within a year. He was able to assist in progressing diversity, equity, and inclusion in many organizational capacities, leading development in a multitude of programs that aim to fill service/skill gaps, including developing cultural/linguistic competencies for employees of community mental health centers and partners. He continues to engage in community volunteer work in public health while working on Caring for Denver's mission. He aspires to have a stronger voice, vision, and understanding of higher leadership roles as he continues to grow in his career.
Viannella Halsall, MPH CHES®
Viannella Halsall is the Operations Director for the ATTC Network and PTTC Network Coordinating Offices located at the University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Nursing and Health Studies (UMKC SONHS). While at UMKC SONHS, she has managed various federally funded projects, taught undergraduate courses on health promotion, and worked on efforts to strengthen the pipeline program with area high schools. Her past professional experiences include Kansas City health commissioner, community health educator, and behavioral health case manager. Throughout her career, she has enjoyed collaborating with numerous organizations to implement health interventions designed to decrease racial health disparities. Originally from Nicaragua, Viannella received her BA in psychology from New College of Florida, MPH from the University of Kansas Medical Center, and certification for health education specialist from NCHEC.
Maxine Henry, MSW, MBA
Maxine Henry, MSW, MBA has been committed to improving access to and decreasing disparities in behavioral health services, especially for minority communities. She currently serves as the Associate Director for the National Latino Behavioral Health Association (NLBHA), and the Project Co-Director for the National Hispanic and Latino Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC). Her work with grassroots non-profits has been dedicated to providing peer-run and culturally competent services to those living with co- occurring mental health and substance use disorders along the prevention-treatment- recovery spectrum; focusing on community defined needs and solutions. Maxine has worked for other organizations to help improve and deliver culturally and linguistically competent services to several communities. Workforce development, both through direct services to community members and in training larger groups has been a long-standing part of her commitment to creating sustainability and increasing capacity for organizations, professionals, para-professionals and communities across the nation. Maxine has collaborated on a variety of successful projects including, co-writing funded grant applications, co-founding of the Behavioral Health Fair in New Mexico, co- authoring/contributing to issue briefs, creation and enhancement of training curriculums, hosting and presenting webinars, and building organizational capacity and growth. She recently was part of a team that put together and delivered “Nuestra Salud” a four-part live Spanish webcast for communities across the U.S. She earned her both a Masters in Social Work with a concentration in Leadership and Government/Non-Profit Management, and Masters in Business Administration with a focus on human resources from New Mexico Highlands University.
Obed Papp, BA, MPA, CPS
Experienced as a program coordinator working with underprivileged and underdeveloped communities; training, organizing and implementing meetings and groups and to ensuring needs and concerns are addressed, utilizing skills in public administration. Most recently in the areas of anti-smoking, underage-drinking, prescription drug abuse and overdose prevention, focusing on changing policies and practices within the city, state and community.
Marilyn Sampilo, PhD, MPH
Dr. Marilyn Sampilo is a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in integrated behavioral health and health disparities among minority populations. She received her doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the University of Kansas, a Master of Public Health with a concentration in social and behavioral aspects of public health from the University of Kansas Medical Center, and an executive certificate in social impact strategy from the University of Pennsylvania, all of which have allowed her to develop extensive experience in prevention, health promotion and intervention for minority populations, particularly the Hispanic and Latino population. Dr. Sampilo is also well-versed in public policy from her tenure as the Health Equity and Cultural Competency Administrator at the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services where she chaired the agency’s statewide Disparities and Cultural Competence Advisory Committee, led the department’s behavioral health equity initiatives, and consulted with state agencies on diversity and equity issues particularly related to racial/ethnic minority, immigrant and refugee populations. She is currently an Associate Staff Psychologist at Cleveland Clinic where she works in integrated primary care and is currently a trainer on diversity and cultural competence.
Oscar Talaro, BA
Raised in a small neighborhood named after an abundance of palm trees, the town of Palm City in the Southern San Diego City area become Oscar's sanctuary and garden where he flourished in his development and calling in life. The son of Pascual Rau Talaro, an immigrant Filipino migrant farm worker and Sara Ann Navarro, a native California migrant farm worker from the Imperial Valley, Oscar was the first of his six older brothers to attend college. Upon earning his urban planning and studies degree from the University of California, San Diego, Oscar accepted his first job at a local civil rights agency, The Chicano Federation of San Diego County. It was at the Chicano Federation where Oscar began to formulate and craft his community organizing and prevention service skills. Oscar later went on to accept program service positions with CRASH, Inc., a therapeutic community residential drug treatment program and the Turning the Hearts Center, a faithbased youth leadership and development organization. Oscar's next step was to accept a position as an alcohol and drug program specialist with the County of San Diego. With over 25 years of experience in substance use disorder prevention, treatment and recovery, Oscar now serves a Prevention Program Manager managing 12 prevention contracts as the County's representative to these programs. Oscar is also an active volunteer serving impact programs like Renewing Life Senior Transportation program, the Naomi Project, a local domestic violence intervention and shelter program, Safe Space Foundation, a new non-profit start-up and Sensory Friendly San Diego that works with autism children and their families. A father of 3 adult children who have all attended college and obtained advance degrees, Oscar continues his active ministry involvement at Heart Revolution Church in National City while enjoying cooking new receipts, running, golfing and still working on his first book of poetry.
Marie C. Weil, PsyD, ABPP
A clinical health psychologist is a professionally recognized specialist applying scientific knowledge to the practice of health and wellness by understanding the interactions of biological, social, emotional, cognitive, and cultural aspects of individuals. Clinical health psychologists practice health promotion & disease prevention and treat illness and disability in diverse populations across varied settings. Dr. Weil embraces interprofessional collaboration. She has experience in the Veterans Health Administration, Federal Bureau of Prisons, hospitals, universities, managed care, private practice, and community centers including a FQHC.
Michelle Baroni, CPS
I was born in Secaucus, New Jersey. My father is Peruvian and my mother is Chilean. My siblings and I are first generation. One month after my birth, my family and I moved to Norcross, Georgia where we were the only Hispanics to be seen in 1987. I felt very different from everyone else, but none the less this was all I knew. I was unique and I was ok with that. As years went by, Gwinnett County began to change, and I began to meet more people that looked like me. I became more in tune with who I am as an individual and wow I need to fix my Spanish! In 2005, I graduated from Berkmar high School in Lilburn, Ga and began studying Psychology at Gainesville State College. In 2006, I began working as a prevention apprentice for CETPA, Inc. Where I worked in giving evidencebased curriculum to Latino youth. In 2012, I received my prevention specialist certification from The Prevention Credentialing Consortium of Georgia. That same year I received my TEFL certification from Oglethorpe University and in 2013, I became director of the Prevention Clubhouse named Club Mixtura. for CETPA, Inc. a mental health clinic located in Norcross, Ga. My main passion is working with the youth from the community from which I was raised in. I have always been very passionate about drug prevention, kids used to label me as the "Good girl" just because I never wanted to partake in any of that "stuff." At one point they just stopped asking. Since 2006, I have had the honor of serving over 5,500 youth and I hope to continue with this mission for a lifetime. "You can't save them all, but you can plant that seed of hope in each one of them with a warm hug and a friendly smile."
