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We are incredibly grateful to honor 2024 recipients of the NACHC Grassroots Advocacy Awards. All recipients were nominated by their peers for this recognition. Please take a moment to learn more about these advocates and their work.
The José E. Camacho Grassroots Hall of Fame inductees have all made lasting contributions to ensuring the creation, survival, and strength of Community Health Centers and the health center movement through their dedicated and tireless advocacy efforts over many years.
Policy & Advocacy Manager
Sunrise Community Health, CO
Vice President of Development
Salud Family Health, CO
President & CEO
Ohio Association of Community Health Centers, OH
Board of Directors
ACCESS Community Health Network, IL
Director of Government & Community Affairs
Golden Valley Health Centers, CA
The NACHC Grassroots MVP Award is named in honor of the late Elizabeth K. (Betsey) Cooke, whose constant effort and unflagging persistence as an advocate for Community Health Centers and health center patients set an example for all Health Center Advocates to follow. All honorees have gone above and beyond in their efforts to ensure that their Members of Congress actively supported health centers or to establish and expand grassroots advocacy efforts at their health center or in their state.
Chief Communications & Public Policy Officer
Colorado Coalition for the Homeless (CO)
Director of Communications
HealthReach Community Health Centers (ME)
President & Chief Executive Officer
Affinia Healthcare (MO)
Chief Development & Strategy Officer
Horizon Health Care (SD)
Chief Executive Officer
Kentucky Primary Care Association (KY)
Executive Assistant to CEO
Community Health Center of South Central Texas, Inc. (TX)
Chief Executive Officer
Compass Community Health (OH)
Chief Executive Officer
PrimaryOne Health (OH)
Assistant Director of Policy, Community Health Care Association of New York State (CHCANYS)
Vice President of Policy
Community Care Cooperative (C3) (MA)
Chief Pharmacy Officer
Unity Care Northwest (WA)
Director of External Affairs
HopeHealth (SC)
President & Chief Executive Officer
Clinica Family Health (CO)
Associate Director of Grassroots Advocacy
California Primary Care Association (CA)
Director of Communications & Public Affairs
Gateway Community Health Center, Inc. (TX)
Board of Directors
Oak Orchard Health (NY)
Quality & Compliance Manager
Sierra Family Health Clinic (CA)
Senior Community Health Worker/Care Coordinator
Community Care Cooperative (C3) (MA)
Director of Communications & External Affairs
Charles B. Wang Community Health Center (NY)
Director of Business Operations
Thunder Bay Community Health Service, Inc. (MI)
President & Chief Executive Officer
TCA Health, Inc. (IL)
| Year Given | José Camacho Grassroots Hall of Fame Recipients |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Maureen Maxwell (CO), Serena Muñiz (NY) |
| 2022 | Tara McCollum Plese (AZ), Carmen Velasquez (IL), Kim Mitroka (IL), Elvin Plank (IL/IN), Lisa Rutledge (MI), Vicki Young (SC), Pam Clark (WI) |
| 2021 | Andrew R. Behrman (FL), Berneice Mills-Thomas (IL), Linda Y. Flake (NJ), Ernesto Gómez (TX), Stan McKee (TX) |
| 2020 | Jean Sisneros (CO), Virginia “Ginger” Fuata (HI), Lee Flinn (ID), Larry McCulley (IL), Brent Wilborn (OK), Yvonne G. Davis (SC) |
| 2019 | Louise McCarthy (CA), Jim Luisi (MA), Mike Holmes (MN), Trip Shannon (NY), Roland Goertz (TX), Bobbi Ryder (TX), Grace Wang (WA) |
| 2018 | Jeff Caballero (CA), Carmella Castellano-Garcia (CA), Bruce Johnson (IL), Dennis Kruse (MO), Ernesto Gomez (TX) |
| 2017 | Sherry Hirota (CA), Vernita Todd (CA), Duane Kavka (GA), Beth Wrobel (IN), Eric Loy (KY), Ricardo Guzman (MI) |
| 2016 | Ellen Adlum (AK), Vince Keane (DC), Annie Neasman (FL), Mike Andry (LA), Paloma Hernandez (NY), Elizabeth Swain (NY) |
| 2015 | Tary Brown (GA), Howard Castay (LA), Robert Pugh (MS), Anne Nolon (NY), Teresita Batayola (WA) |
| 2014 | Lolita Lopez (DE), Henry Taylor (IL), Brian Toomey (NC), Walter Edge (NY), Paula Gomez (TX) |
| 2013 | Kauila Clark (HI), Jim Luisi (MA), Kim Sibilsky (MI), Lindsay Farrell (NY), Jose Camacho (TX) |
| 2012 | Charles White (AL), Velma Hendershott (MI), Joseph E. Pierle (MO), E. Benjamin Money, Jr. (NC), Patricia Deitch (PA) |
| 2011 | Castulo de la Rocha (CA), Stephen W. Schilling (CA), Theodore J. Boesen, Jr. (IA), William B. Wagner (KY), David L. Brown (MI), Lathran J. Woodard (SC) |
| 2010 | Sip Mouden (AR), Alfreda Turner (CT), Scott S. Graff (ND/SD), Barbra E. Minch (NY), Miguel (Mike) Trevino, Jr. (TX) |
| 2009 | Eligio White (CA), Phillippe Largent (IL), Mike Wurtsmith (MI), Tess Kuenning (NH/VT), Tom Sak (OR) |
| 2008 | John Gressman (CA), Annette Kowal (CO), James Scarborough (LA), Betty Jean Kerr (MO), J. Nolan Hollingsworth (MO), Katherine Grant-Davis (NJ), Roderick V. Manifold (VA) |
| 2007 | Jack Cradock (MA), Henry Granger (MS), Lil Anderson (MT), John Mengenhausen (SD), Anita Monoian (WA), Greg Nycz (WI) |
| 2006 | Janie B. Geer (MD), Doug Smith (NC), Ann H. Peters (NH), Dolores J. Lindsay (OH), Thomas Trompeter (WA) |
| 2005 | Janice DeBose (AL), Dale Galassie (IL), Lois Baker (KY), Gary Wiltz (LA), Mary Bufwack (TN) |
| 2004 | Harry Foster (CA), Stanley J. “Jerry” Brasher (CO), Cornell Scott (CT), Elsie Brown (GA), Lynn Clothier (IN), Jim Hunt (MA), Bernard Simmons (MS), Roland Gardner (SC), Rachel Gonzales Hanson (TX), Horace Sarabia (TX), David Reynolds (VT) |
| Year Given | Elizabeth K. Cooke Advocacy MVP Recipients |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Donald Moore (CO), Jamie Reich (DC), Andrea Skolkin (NE), R. Logan Yoho (OH), Concepcion Camarillo (TX), Tiffany Bridges (TX), Myrta Garcia (TX), Dena Hughes (TX), Nicole Lamb-Menz (TX), David Preston (TX), Donavan Smith (UT) |
| 2022 | Steven Sera (AZ), Yamilet Valladolid (CA), Bev Harbin (HI), Jerry Isikoff (IL), Joan Bondi (IN), Nakeisha Cleveland (LA), Brendan Riley (NC), Andrea DeMeo (NY), Linda Thomas Hemak, MD (PA), Patty Stubber (PA), Harvey Laas (TX), Carrie Gordon (TX), Patricia “Trish” Sarvela (WI) |
| 2021 | Margarethia G. Bledsoe (GA), Sarah M. Franḉois (WI), Michael Glas (TX), Celeste Harrison (TX), Perla Herrera (IL), Beth Keeney (IN), Amber Kirchhoff (IL), Helen Labun, MSc, MFA (VT), Sara LeMaster (CT), Katherine K. McLeod (GA), Jody Sahota (CA), Marielys Santiago Matos, MS (PR), Kimberleigh Joy Smith (NY), Megan Spinelli (NJ), R.B. Tucker, Jr. (GA), Edgardo Joel Vazquez-Fonseca (PR) |
| 2020 | Kimberly Chang, M.D. (CA), Gail Diggs (SC), Timothy Fraser (CA), C. Dean Germano (CA), Felicita Monteblanco (OR), Serena Muniz (NY), Teresa Rios-Bishop (OH), Laura Ringer (GA), Libby Thurman (TN), Felix M. Valbuena, Jr., M.D. (MI), Cyrus Winnett (IL), Leslie Wolcott (NC) |
| 2019 | Lupe Vela (TX), Chris Vann (NC), Andrea Morales-Williams (NC), Ryan Grinnell-Ackerman (MI), Fatima Groom (CO), Aaron Todd (IA) |
| 2018 | Whitney Allen (KY), Mike Baker (ID), Michelle Carter (TX), Alecia Cyprian (LA), Alan Freeman (MO), Alice Gibbs (CO), Kate Graetzer (NY), Jim Platten (MN), Jennifer Self (CA), Janice Sherman (MS), Jonathan Watson (MN), Deborah Woolford (MD) |
| 2017 | Tyler Clark (AR), Alexandra Conde (PR), Emily Fetterhoff (NY), Stan McKee (TX), Steve Messinger (NV), Kenny McMorris (NE), Rich Napolitano (MA), Sue Veer (SC), Jose Cruz Gonzales (DE), Chris Rodgers (NE) |
| 2016 | Wayne Linscott (KY), Carla Belcher (GA), Andrea Able (TX), Erika Martinez (AZ), Christian Munoz (TX), Anna Kinsey (NC), Eva Turbiner (NJ), Margarita Ollet (FL), John Salazar (CO), Kerry Haydash (CA) |
| 2015 | Mike Caudill (KY), Julie DiRossi-King (OH), Terry Langston (MI), Garry Rotto (CA), Grace Wang (WA) |
| 2014 | Kathleen Alexander (CA), Verona Greenland (NY), Kim Hancock (MS), Mike Maples (WA), Jordan Powell (IL), Dante Rosh (CA), Vernita Todd (IN) |
| 2013 | Deborah Tucker (AL), Brooks Miller (MO), John Reid (CO), Rich Watson (WA), Beverly Grossman (NY), Brent Wilborn (OK), Grace Sonia Melanio (CA), Maria Escalera (NY), Lisa Davidson (WI), Michael Curry (MA), Jennifer Morse (CO), Barb Malich (WA), Peg Hopkins (WA), Amanda Palmore (VA) |
| 2012 | Andrea Adams (KY), Teresita Ignacio Batayola (WA), Stephanie Berry (CA), Warren Brodine (IL), Cynthia Carmona (CA), Howard J. Castay, Jr. (LA), Thomas G. Chase (NV), Stan Chavis (AL), Julie DiRossi-King (OH), Lindsay C. Farrell (NY), Mary Beth Frideres (MT), Jill Hayden (IL), Manual A. Lopes (MA), Ken Loving (WI), Phillip L. Morphew (IN), Robert MtJoy (PA), Warren S. Parker (NC), Deano Thornton (LA), Katherine S. Yacavone (CT), Jean Young (OH) |
| 2011 | Jesus Blanco (ID), Thomas G. Chase (NV), Trilla Frazier (OK), Karen Larson (ND), Eric E. Loy (KY), Maureen Kay Maxwell (CO), Louise McCarthy (CA), Forrest N. Olson (IL), Tara Plese (AZ), Brian Toomey (NC), Jason S. Vega (CA) |
| 2010 | Ellen Adlam (AK), Tary L. Brown (GA), Rev. Robert T. Carlson (ME), Suzanne Cohen (PA), J. Lorraine Estradas (CA), Jane Garcia (CA), Blake Hall (FL), Dana Hughes (MI), Dennis Kruse (MO), E. Benjamin Money, Jr. (NC), Sarah K. Noonan (DE), Kim Schwartz (NC), Steve Shattls (WV), Soren Tjernell (CA), Beth Wrobel (IN) |
| 2009 | Alan Pruhs (UT), Howard Chapman, Jr. (VA), Catherine Warner (SC), Tom Petri (WI), Leslie A. Morris (NJ), Burt Waller (TN), Susan Ward-Jones (AR), J. Michael Baker (NC), Stephanie Wiersma (OH), Emily Walsh (DC) |
| 2008 | Carolyn Allison (NC), Allain Ainsworth (UT), Jana Blasi (TX), Ted Boesen (IA), Dave Brown (MI), Lindsay Farrell (NY), Shelley Hughes (AK), Susan Piccirilli (PA), Joe Pierle (MO), Marguerite Salazar (CO) |
| 2007 | Michael Andry (LA), Toni Estep (IN), Beth Eveland (WY), Steven Hansen (NV), Sherry Hirota (CA), Mary Jones (RI), Kevin Kearns (FL), Phillippe Largent (IL), Temetry Lindsay (CA), Alfreda Turner (CT) |
| 2006 | Joe Liszak (OH), John Rugge (NY), Joseph D. Feaster, Jr. (MA), Kerrie Jones Clark (RI), Kevin Lewis (ME), Laura Sisulak (OR), Merrie Aipoalani (HI), Rick Shinn (VA), Shawn Frick (OH), Steven Miracle (GA) |
| 2005 | Barbara Minch (NY), Betty Gay Shuler (AR), Greg Nycz (WI), Jay Belber (NY), John Gressman (CA), John Mengenhausen (SD), Lalai Hamric (FL), Lil Anderson (MT), Nora O’Brien (CA), Ron Dwinnells (OH) |
| 2004 | Angel Obregon (CA), Betsey K. Cooke (FL), Bette Vierra (UT), Bill Wagner (KY), Katherine Grant-Davis (NJ), Kevin Lewis (ME), Mark Masseili (CT), Patricia Deitch (PA), Stephen Schilling (CA), Tess Stack Kuenning (NH/VT) |
We are a robust grassroots network of over 100,000 Health Center Advocates, fighting for equitable policies and sustainable funding for America’s Health Centers. Join us!
Did You Know? Health centers provide comprehensive care to 32.5 million patients at 16,000 service delivery sites in every state and territory. Health centers save the health care system more than $24 billion annually in reduced emergency, hospital, and specialty care costs.
