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CHS consultants are continuously praised for their ability to
develop simple and efficient strategies, facilitate meaningful
dialogue within and among agencies, and provide quality
outcomes-driven products and services while being mindful of each
agency’s culture and resources. CHS employs a holistic approach that
concentrates on improving systems, infrastructure, and overall
organizational health.
CHS offers sound, research-driven solutions to meet organizational
and programmatic needs. We carry out comprehensive and objective
assessment practices that identify all areas in need of improvement;
incorporate best-practices, tested behavioral science and
adult-learning methodologies into all training, workshops, and
capacity-building activities; and consistently monitor and evaluate
our process to ensure that organizations receive the highest level
of expertise. CHS is comprised of career trainers, capacity
builders, management consultants, evaluators and organizational
specialists with decades of collective know-how.
CHS Principal
Consultants:
Oscar Raúl López
Oscar Raúl López has been providing capacity building assistance on
behalf of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of
Minority Health, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration, Office of Population Affairs and the Office of
Women’s Health for over 10 years. He has worked in public health for
over 20 years as both a private consultant and as director for
various non-profits and agencies and developed mobile health units,
runaway youth shelters, launched non-profits and been recognized for
his award winning programs for homeless youth, men who have sex with
men, Latinas and minority populations. Since 1999 he has worked
closely with city and state health departments and dozens on
non-profits to develop web-based approaches to reach at-risk
populations with sexual health and substance abuse prevention
education. Oscar is a nationally recognized public speaker and
trainer, well regarded for his knowledge and experience as well as
for his use of humor and innovative training style.
Kenny Neal Shults
Kenny Neal Shults has over fifteen years of training and consulting experience working with
service organizations across the country
to develop sound, innovative strategies for exceptional service
delivery, strong infrastructure development and lasting
organizational growth. He specializes in program development for a
variety of at-risk populations including youth, men who have sex
with men (MSM), intravenous drug users (IDU), homeless and runaway
teens, and trans populations. In 1999, he developed some of the
first program objectives, data collection and evaluation strategies
for agencies using the Internet to reach clients online and
developed the first policies, procedures and protocols for agencies'
use in minimizing liability. Kenny has been a pioneer in the
development of Internet and social media-based approaches and
travels the U.S. lecturing and
training on their application in public health campaigns, reaching
youth and MSM, and the impacts of new media on health and
at-risk populations' behavior.
Kenny has coordinated statewide and national male sexual and
reproductive health projects, designed large scale social marketing
efforts, designed, organized and facilitated conferences at the
national and local level, and most recently served as a capacity
building specialist on behalf of the Centers for Disease Control’s
Capacity Building Branch.
With a
background in acting and theater, Kenny is a dynamic speaker and trainer and
consistently lauded for his ability to simplify and teach
sophisticated concepts effectively and entertainingly.
CHS Associate
Consultants:
Wally Cantú
Wally Cantú has been involved in all areas of fundraising planning
for over 12 years, including research/analysis,
goal/objective/outcome development, and proposal writing. He has
successfully written grants for social service non-profit agencies
in Texas; Washington, DC; and New York. After receiving degrees in
Economics and Education, Mr. Cantú worked in public education while
advocating for improvements in minority and low-income health. His
vision for culturally appropriate health services for all led him to
segue into full-time public health work. His work has helped shape
new programs and curricula around minority health, focusing in
comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention, education, and care. Among the
organizations from which Mr. Cantú has successfully secured funds
are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA);
Texas Department of Health; Washington, D.C. Department of Health,
NY AIDS Institute; as well as numerous national corporations and
foundations.
Imelda Walavalkar
Imelda Walavalkar specializes in strategic and management consulting
for health and social service programs domestically and
internationally. Most recently, Ms. Walavalkar was responsible for
managing a CDC-funded grant providing training, technical
assistance, consultation and skills-building to community based
organizations, health departments and other service organizations
implementing effective HIV prevention interventions for at-risk
populations. In addition, Ms. Walavalkar has extensive expertise in
process and outcomes monitoring and evaluation, behavior science,
and intervention curricula development. Ms. Walavalkar has a dual
Masters in Public Health and in International and Public Affairs
from Columbia University as well as an undergraduate degree in
Political Science from University of California at Berkeley.
Sonia K. González
Sonia
K. González received her Master's of Public Health from the Mailman
School of Public Health at Columbia University in 2003. She has been
working on HIV and reproductive health issues for over 15 years. Ms.
González has designed and implemented programs, developed
organizational strategic plans, planned regional conferences,
conducted process evaluation as well as outcome qualitative and
quantitative evaluation, and has worked directly with poor urban
youth of color, homeless youth, and LGBTQ youth. Additionally, her
pledge to addressing issues of poverty has supported her work with
coalitions. The last 5
years of her work has focused on the areas that have been hardest
hit by HIV in NYC: Central Brooklyn, East Harlem, and the South
Bronx. She has co-founded
short-term action oriented projects with community members,
representatives of members from City Council, and providers that
serve South Brooklyn. She also co-founded the Young Women of Color
HIV/AIDS Coalition (YWCHAC), which has received funding from the New
York Women’s Foundation, New York AIDS Fund, and the Office of
Women’s Health, to name a few, to support structural prevention
methods engaging young women of color from New York City. From
2007-2009, Ms. González
served on the Prevention Planning Group of the New York City
Department of Health, which recommends prevention strategies and
programs directly to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC). Currently, Ms. González
is pursuing her Doctorate of Public Health at the Graduate Center of
The City University of New York and is a NIMH (National Institute of
Mental Health) Fellow as a participant of the Research in HIV
Intervention: Skills for the Community Fellowship. Her research
interests are HIV prevention and young people of color in urban
areas.
Brian Toynes
For over twelve years, Brian Toynes has worked with governmental and
non-profit organizations to develop innovative HIV prevention
interventions and social marketing campaigns targeting
disenfranchised and under-served populations. Through the creation
of his company in 2000, Wonder Interactive Media, Mr. Toynes has
found his niche in providing professional graphic design services to
non-profit organizations at flexible and competitive rates. His goal
as a technical assistance consultant is provide governmental and
non-profit organizations with the ability to harness the power of
social marketing to support their agency’s missions and goals. Mr.
Toynes' digital design expertise as well as his project management
and marketing skills have aided him in the conceptualization and
development of social marketing campaigns for numerous clients
including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the New
York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the National
Library of Medicine, and the Texas Department of Health.
Steve Anthony
Stephen Anthony, has developed web-based interventions for community
based organizations targeting Latino and African American MSM and
young women of color in Texas, New York, and Washington D.C. Stephen
has been responsible for online recruitment of community leaders for
peer education programs and baseline survey participation to the
development of online support groups targeting young MSM.
Additionally, he has assisted clients with marketing design and
testing as well as research and development of policy briefings.
Most notably, Stephen spearheaded the first adaptation of an online
HIV prevention outreach model targeted specifically towards young
women of color for the organization Love Heals. He holds a BA degree
in psychology from Marymount Manhattan College.
Additional Staff
Connected Health Solutions was created with the understanding that
any organization working with the underserved deserves
flexible, efficient, and cost-effective consulting services;
therefore, CHS works with highly qualified consultants and
specialists across the United States to meet the regional and
individual needs of our clients. CHS associate consultants are
chosen for their dedication to excellence and attention to detail
and work closely with Principals to ensure consistent, high quality
performance.
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