Friday common lunches with an extra space for you
Prevention Institute Staff
Executive Director: Larry Cohen
Manager of the Executive Office: Anna Realini
Managing Directors: Rachel Davis, Leslie Mikkelsen, Manal Aboelata
Program Directors: Sana Chehimi
Chief Communications Officer: Rob Waters
Program Managers: Jeremy Cantor, Annie Lyles, Linda Shak, Juliet Sims
Administrative Manager: Justin Probert
Senior Advisor: Rea Pañares
Program Coordinators: Dalila Butler, Menaka Mohan, Ben Simons, Benita Tsao, Sandra Viera, Lily Swartz
Bookkeeper: Linda Benson
Financial Coordinator: Roger Cox
Program Assistants: Ilana Blum, Perla Camacho, Sarah Mittermaier, Edward-Michael Muña, Cindy Phan, Shayla Spilker
Administrative Assistants: David Alcala, Anne Kim
Staff emails are available with individual staff bios.
Larry Cohen, Founder and Executive Director, MSW
larry-at-preventioninstitute.org
Larry Cohen, founder and Executive Director of Prevention Institute, a non-profit national center dedicated to improving community health and equity through effective primary prevention: taking action to build resilience and to prevent illness and injury before they occur. With an emphasis on health equity, Larry has led many successful public health efforts at the local, state, and federal level on injury and violence prevention, mental health, traffic safety, and food and physical activity-related chronic disease prevention. Larry helped to define violence as a preventable public health concern, and developed one of the nation's first courses on violence prevention. Prior to founding Prevention Institute in 1997, Larry formed the first U.S. coalition to change tobacco policy and created the nation's first multi-city smoking ban. He established the Food and Nutrition Policy Consortium, which catalyzed the nation's food labeling law. Larry also helped shape vehicle safety policy, including strategy to secure passage of bicycle and motorcycle helmet laws, and strengthen child and adult passenger restraint laws. Larry has received numerous awards, including the Injury Control and Emergency Health Services Section Public Service Award from the American Public Health Association. He received his MSW from SUNY Stony Brook. Learn more about Larry.
Anna Realini, Manager of the Executive Office
anna-at-preventioninstitute.org
Anna Realini, Manager of the Executive Office at Prevention Institute, is the principal contact for the Executive Director and provides support to the organization in all program areas with an emphasis on communications, outreach, writing and editing. She coordinates consultation services to government agencies, community collaboratives, nonprofit organizations, and foundations on sustainable strategies to improve health and health equity. Anna also serves as liaison to the Board of Directors. Prior to joining Prevention Institute in 2007, Anna was Membership Director for Media Alliance, a national media justice organization where she directed a health program for independent media workers. Anna's background is in legal services and social justice policy and advocacy.
Rachel Davis, Managing Director, MSW
rachel-at-preventioninstitute.org
Rachel Davis, Managing Director at Prevention Institute, oversees management of projects related to prevention violence, community health and reducing inequity, and mental health. She creates tools and materials to support local and state initiatives and educates government agencies, foundations, and community groups throughout the country. Rachel serves as Project Director for UNITY (Urban Networks to Increase Thriving Youth through Violence Prevention), Prevention Institute's CDC-funded national initiative to strengthen and support the largest U.S. cities in more effectively preventing violence. Rachel co-developed THRIVE (Toolkit for Health and Resilience in Vulnerable Environments), an interactive web-based tool to help identify and foster factors in the community environment that improve health outcomes and reduce inequity. She has written numerous publications, including First Steps: Taking Action Early to Prevent Violence. Rachel also co-authored A Time of Opportunity: Local Solutions to Reduce Inequities in Health and Safety, Health for All: California's Strategic Approach to Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health, and Good Health Counts: A 21st Century Approach to Health and Community for California. Prior to joining Prevention Institute in 1997, Rachel had extensive experience as a social worker for the San Francisco Unified School District. Rachel received her MSW from UC Berkeley's School of Social Welfare. Learn more about Rachel.
Leslie Mikkelsen, Managing Director, MPH, RD
leslie-at-preventioninstitute.org
Leslie Mikkelsen, Managing Director at Prevention Institute, advances the conceptual work of the organization and supervises the Supporting Healthy Eating and Active Living projects and team. She develops tools and materials to support local and state initiatives, and guides government bureaus, foundations and community organizations throughout the country on effective environmental approaches, coalition building, and interdisciplinary partnerships. Leslie is the co-founder and Project Director for the Strategic Alliance for Healthy Food and Activity Environments, a statewide advocacy network involved in creating healthy food and physical activity opportunities. Her research and publications had aided in the development of ENACT (Environmental Nutrition and Activity Community Tool), and the ENACT Local Policy Database. She is also a Policy Consultant to the national Convergence Partnership, where she directs research and helps shape national strategy related to policy priorities that support healthy food and activity environments. Leslie has written many articles, including Setting the Record Straight: Nutritionists and Health Professionals Define Healthful Food and Where's the Fruit? Fruit Content of the Most Highly Advertised Children's Food and Beverages. Prior to joining Prevention Institute in 1999, Leslie worked for the Alameda County and New York City Food Banks. Leslie is the winner of the American Public Health Association Food and Nutrition Section 2008 Catherine Cowell Award for Excellence in Public Health Nutrition. She received her MPH from UC Berkeley. Learn more about Leslie.
Manal Aboelata, Managing Director, MPH
manal-at-preventioninstitute.org
Manal J. Aboelata, Managing Director at Prevention Institute works collaboratively to improve access to healthy foods, prevent injuries, and increase access to physical activity opportunities. Her work emphasizes policy and community-based approaches, and demonstrates an overarching commitment to working with under-resourced communities to foster health and safety. Manal coordinates the Strategic Alliance for Healthy Food and Activity Environments, a statewide advocacy network involved in bringing healthy food and physical activity opportunities to all Californians. She chairs the Joint Use Statewide Taskforce (JUST), whose mission is to increase community access to playgrounds through the policy of joint use agreements between school districts and local governments. Manal is principal author of The Built Environment and Health: 11 Profiles of Neighborhood Transformation, Mapping the Movement for Healthy Food and Activity Environments: Organizational Snapshots, a contributing author for Cultivating Common Ground: Linking Health and Sustainable Agriculture, and co-authored Emerging Issues in Improving Food and Physical Activity Environments: Strategies for Addressing Land Use, Transportation, and Safety in 3 California-Wide Initiatives, which was recently published in the American Journal of Public Health. She also is a contributing author on Community Engagement in Design and Planning, a chapter in "Making Healthy Places: Designing and Building for Health, Well-Being, and Sustainability." She is certified as a California Walkability Expert by the California Department of Health Services and CalTrans. Prior to joining Prevention Institute in 1998, Manal received her MPH in Epidemiology from UCLA, where she was inducted into the Iota Chapter of the Delta Omega Honorary Society in 2001 and into the UCLA School of Public Health Alumni Hall of Fame in 2009.
Sana Chehimi, Program Director, MPH, 
sana-at-preventioninstitute.org
Sana Chehimi, Program Director at Prevention Institute, oversees projects related to healthy eating and active living, developing tools and strategies to promote healthier, more equitable food environments. She manages Prevention Institute's technical assistance and training work for Communities Creating Healthier Environments, a national initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation supporting diverse, community-based organizations and tribal groups in developing local policies that build food and recreation equity and address social injustice. Sana oversees national media advocacy efforts supporting prevention and health reform. She provides guidance and support for Strategic Alliance, and its statewide Rapid Response Media Network, providing tools and resources for effective media advocacy to promote healthy eating and active living. Sana is co-editor of Prevention Is Primary: Strategies for Community Wellbeing, one of the first academic texts on primary prevention. Prior to joining Prevention Institute in 2003, Sana worked in the HIV field. She speaks fluent Swedish and French as well as conversational Tunisian. She received her MPH in Health and Social Behavior from UC Berkeley.
Rob Waters, Chief Communications Officer
rob-at-preventioninstitute.org Before coming to PI as chief communications officer, Rob Waters worked in journalism for more than 30 years with a focus on health, science, mental health, health policy and child and family issues. He covered health, science and biotechnology for Bloomberg News, was a staff writer at Health magazine, a senior editor at WebMD, and the editor of the Tenderloin Times, a four-language monthly newspaper in San Francisco’s inner-city Tenderloin neighborhood. Rob co-authored a book on men’s health published by Scribner and wrote magazine features for Mother Jones, Parenting, San Francisco magazine, Reader’s Digest, Family Circle, Columbia Journalism Review and dozens of other publications. He was awarded fellowships from the University of Maryland Fellowships in Child and Family Policy and the Rosalyn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism. He continues to write for Forbes.com and other publications while directing communications for Prevention Institute, helping the organization craft its message and tell its story.
Jeremy Cantor, Program Manager, MPH
Jeremy Cantor, Program Manager at Prevention Institute, oversees projects related to health equity, community health, land-use and health, and health care reform. Jeremy coordinates coalitions and partnerships, consults with government and community agencies, and does writing and editing. Major projects he manages include a health equity training series he's developing for community advocates around California, the statewide Healthy Places Coalition, and a community-driven livability initiative in Alameda County. Jeremy is involved in building the economic case for prevention and has co-authored numerous publications, including The Imperative of Reducing Health Disparities through Prevention: Challenges, Implications, and Opportunities, Laying the Groundwork for a Movement to Reduce Health Disparities, and Reducing Healthcare Costs through Prevention. Prior to joining Prevention Institute in 2006, Jeremy was Program Director for Destination: College, an AmeriCorps program that trains and supervises undergraduate advisors placed in under-resourced schools. Jeremy received his MPH in Health and Social Behavior from UC Berkeley.
Annie Lyles, Program Manager, MSW 
annie-at-preventioninstitute.org
Annie Lyles, Program Manager at Prevention Institute, oversees projects to prevent violence, including community and street violence, violence against women, and sexual assault and exploitation. She manages UNITY (Urban Networks to Increase Thriving Youth), and she develops and hosts Prevention Institute's contributions to the webinar series PreventConnect. Annie is an advisor to STRYVE, the national violence prevention initiative at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and to the California State Department of Public Health's Teen Dating Violence initiative. She coordinated the Ms. Foundation Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Project and trains participants in the Catholic Health Initiatives Rural Violence Prevention Grant Program. Prior to joining Prevention Institute in 2008, Annie was a program specialist in the County of San Diego Office of Violence Prevention, and an adjunct professor at San Diego State University. Annie has more than 15 years of experience coordinating and providing direct services to families and adolescents through local government, community clinics, juvenile detention facilities, and school-based initiatives. She holds a BA in Social Policy from Northwestern University and a MSW from University of Washington with a concentration on social justice models in multi-ethnic practice.
Linda Shak, Program Manager at Prevention Institute, oversees projects related to healthy eating and active living, sustainable food systems, and mental health. Linda provides training and consultation to local government, foundations, and community collaboratives nationwide, helping them develop quality prevention policies and practices. She has worked with the National Association of Latino Elected Officials, Kaiser Permanente's Healthy Eating Active Living communities, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grantees. Linda has served in an advisory capacity to Health Care without Harm and is responsible for constituency building for the Strategic Alliance for Healthy Food and Activity Environments. She also manages the ENACT Local Policy Database, which provides policymakers and advocates with examples of nutrition and activity related policies that have been adopted in local jurisdictions. Prior to joining Prevention Institute in 2005, Linda was instrumental in developing the St. Louis Healthy Youth Partnership, a regional collaborative working to increase healthy eating and physical activity among children. Linda received her MSW from Washington University in St. Louis and is a graduate of the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs.
juliet-at-preventioninstitute.org
Juliet Sims, Program Manager at Prevention Institute, supports projects related to healthy eating and active living, with an emphasis on local, state, and federal policy initiatives aimed at increasing access to healthful food and limiting marketing practices that promote unhealthy food. She collaborates with agencies and organizations across the country, providing training and consultation to incorporate prevention strategies into their efforts. Juliet also provides staff support for Strategic Alliance, California's statewide network of food and activity advocates, including coordination of its Rapid Response Media Network, which fosters effective media advocacy to advance food and activity policy and practice change. Prior to joining Prevention Institute in 2008, Juliet worked in clinical nutrition. She is a Registered Dietitian, and received her MPH with an emphasis in Nutrition from UC Berkeley.
Justin Probert, Administrative Manager at Prevention Institute, oversees financial management, human resources, technology, administration, and facilities management. Prior to joining Prevention Institute in 2006, Justin was Operations Director for a statewide youth-led advocacy organization that connects school-based gay-straight alliance clubs to each other and to community resources as part of the safe schools movement. He was Director of Operations for A Home Away From Homelessness, which provides educational, social, and recreational opportunities to homeless and formerly homeless families in San Francisco and Marin counties. He spent eight years at the Tides Center, the national leader in fiscal sponsorship services to hundreds of nonprofit organizations. Justin has served on many local and national boards of directors, reflecting his ongoing commitment to community service. He received his BS in social science from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo.
rea-at-preventioninstitute.org
Rea Pañares is currently a health policy and philanthropy consultant in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a Senior Advisor with Prevention Institute, she works on projects to advance community prevention in health reform implementation and health care settings. At The California Endowment, Rea works on projects related to program development and capacity building with a racial equity lens. Most recently, Rea served as Director of Minority Health Initiatives at Families USA, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to the achievement of high-quality, affordable health care for all. Previously, Rea lead efforts in the areas of racial and ethnic health disparities for Grantmakers In Health (GIH). She was also involved with projects related to foundation support for public policy and advocacy, public health, and environmental health. Rea has held positions at the National Business Group on Health and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Rea holds a master's degree in health policy and management from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley in molecular and cellular biology.
dalila-at-preventioninstitute.orgDalila Butler, Program Coordinator at Prevention Institute, works in the areas of healthy eating and active living, health reform, and health equity. She also supports projects focused on the intersections of violence and chronic disease. She works with public health departments, community organizations, and foundations to provide training, technical assistance, and consultation for developing strategies to promote healthier and more equitable communities. Prior to joining Prevention Institute in 2009, Dalila worked in cancer prevention research. She brings to Prevention Institute knowledge of advancing health equity and experience working in several different sectors, including healthcare and nonprofit organizations. Dalila received her Masters in Public Health with an emphasis in health promotion from San Diego State University.
menaka-at-preventioninstitute.orgMenaka Mohan, Program Coordinator at Prevention Institute, works in the area of health equity and supports the development of the Tool for Health and Resilience in Vulnerable Environments (THRIVE) initiative. She also supports the preventing violence team. She works with local community groups, public health departments, and federal agencies to provide training, technical assistance, and consultation to develop strategies that create healthier and more equitable communities. Prior to joining Prevention Institute in 2011, Menaka worked at Active Living By Design as a graduate assistant where she supported the Healthy Kids Healthy Communities (HKHC) grant-making process and developed resource guides to help HKHC grantees change the built environment to promote healthy eating and active living. Before working at Active Living By Design, Menaka worked at Sustainable South Bronx where she organized everything from walking clubs and social marketing campaigns to coalition-based political advocacy and land use planning strategies related to a proposed highway decommissioning and a new greenway system in the South Bronx. Menaka received her Masters in Public Health with an emphasis in Health Education and Health Behavior, and a Masters in City and Regional Planning with a focus on transportation from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Ben Simons, Program Coordinator, MA
ben-at-preventioninstitute.org
Ben Simons joined Prevention Institute as a Program Coordinator in June of 2011. He works on efforts to reform the health system in the U.S. to shift the focus from the treatment of injury and illness to community prevention and promoting health and wellbeing. Ben supports projects advocating for health care institutions to play a greater role in community prevention efforts, such as the Community Centered Health Homes work, and assists in developing the economic case for prevention. Prior to joining Prevention Institute, Ben focused his efforts in food system analysis and food justice advocacy, including working with several community-based non-profits on healthy food access, sustainable agriculture, and youth development projects. He has traveled to South America and Cuba to conduct research on urban space and the development of urban agriculture. Ben received a Masters of Arts in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University and a BA in Geography from the University of Washington in Seattle.
Lily Swartz, Program Coordinator, BA
lily-at-preventioninstitute.org
Lily Swartz, Program Coordinator at Prevention Institute, coordinates and implements Prevention Institute’s communications approach and efforts, including overall strategy development, media advocacy, media outreach, messaging and framing, and technical support. She also developed and maintains the organization’s social media strategy, designed to expand the reach and impact community prevention work. Prior to joining Prevention Institute in 2009, she worked as an Assistant Teacher in a Pre-School at the People's Regional Opportunity Program in Portland, Maine. She has also worked as a Counselor, Retreat Coordinator and Gender and Sexuality Training Consultant at Farm and Wilderness Foundation in Plymouth, Vermont. In her college career, Lily was a founding member of Students Organizing Against Racism and Activist Resource Center, as well as Director of the Queer Resource Center. Lily received her BA in Sociology with minors in Art History and Women and Gender Studies from Brandeis University.
Benita Tsao, Program Coordinator, MPH, CHES
benita-at-preventioninstitute.org
Benita Tsao, Program Coordinator at Prevention Institute, works on initiatives that prevent violence and promote safety and health equity. She primarily supports Urban Networks to Increase Thriving Youth (UNITY) and helps develop training tools for organizations and communities to effectively prevent violence before it happens. Prior to joining Prevention Institute in 2010, Benita oversaw communications for the Asian Pacific Fund, a San Francisco Bay Area community foundation. She has coordinated youth programs and public education projects, and she contributed to the award-winning disaster preparedness handbook Protecting Your Family From Earthquakes, which is available in five languages. Benita is a certified HIV test counselor and interned with the Los Angeles County Immunization Program. She earned a master's degree in community health sciences at the UCLA School of Public Health, and received her bachelor's degree in sociology from UC Berkeley.
Sandra Viera, Program Coordinator, MPA
sandra-at-preventioninstitute.org
Sandra Viera, Program Coordinator at Prevention Institute, works to promote safe and healthy communities through projects focused on improving the built environment, preventing unintentional injuries and increasing equitable opportunities for physical activity and play. Sandra provides support to the Healthy Places Coalition, a statewide coalition seeking to advance public health involvement in land-use and transportation planning, and coordinates the Joint Use Statewide Task Force (JUST) whose mission is to increase community access to playgrounds through the policy of joint use agreements between school districts and local governments. Sandra provides technical support to four communities working to advance joint use on behalf of the California Convergence Partnership. Prior to joining Prevention Institute in 2010, Sandra was the Associate Director of Policy at Latino Health Access, a non-profit based in Santa Ana, California where she coordinated multi-sector healthy eating and active living initiatives. She received her Master's degree in Public Administration and Policy from the University of San Francisco and her BA in Political Science and International Relations from California State University, Long Beach.
Linda Benson, Bookkeeper
lindab-at-preventioninstitute.org
Linda Benson, Bookkeeper at Prevention Institute, handles the financial aspects of Prevention Institute's work, including grant budget reporting, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and organizational compliance. Linda feels privileged to have witnessed the impact the Institute has made in the public health sector. Prior to joining Prevention Institute shortly after its inception in 1997, Linda spent over fifteen years in the accounting industry, working with CPAs and focusing primarily in the nonprofit sector.
Roger Cox, Financial Administrative Coordinator
roger-at-preventioninstitute.org
Ilana Blum, Program Assistant, BA
ilana-at-preventioninstitute.org
Ilana Blum, Program Assistant at Prevention Institute, supports projects related to preventing violence. This includes the Urban Networks to Increase Thriving Youth (UNITY) initiative and efforts to prevent sexual and domestic violence. Prior to joining Prevention Institute in 2012, Ilana worked at the Minnesota Department of Health through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Public Health Associate Program. She helped create the Minnesota State Plan to prevent and reduce teen dating violence, and she coordinated an inter-agency initiative that addresses adverse childhood experiences and their longer-term health effects. Ilana earned her BA in public health at the University of California, Berkeley.
Perla Camacho, Program Assistant, BA
Perla Camacho, Program Assistant at Prevention Institute, supports projects relating to healthy eating and active living. As a Program Assistant, Perla provides strategy development and technical assistance to funders committed to equity and prevention across the U.S., including the national Convergence Partnership. Perla provides consultation to the National Leadership Academy for the Public's Health, a federally funded initiative to provide leadership skills to multi-sector partnerships committed to achieving health equity in communities across the country. Perla also supports the development of Prevention Institute's second book. Employed as an Administrative Assistant at Prevention Institute in 2011, Perla worked as part of the internal survey and evaluation team. Perla received her BA in English Literature from the University of California Berkeley.
sarah-at-preventioninstitute.orgSarah Mittermaier, Program Assistant at Prevention Institute, provides communications support to Prevention Institute's work. Prior to joining Prevention Institute in 2012, she worked as a Communications Assistant at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, supporting the Communities Putting Prevention to Work, Farm to School, Active Schools and Active Early initiatives. She has also assisted in the development of a range of environmental education materials for early childhood and K-12 settings. Sarah earned her BA in Journalism and History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
edward-at-preventioninstitute.orgEdward-Michael Muña, Program Assistant at Prevention Institute, assists with projects related to preventing violence and supports the Urban Networks to Increase Thriving Youth (UNITY) initiative. Prior to joining Prevention Institute in 2012, Edward initiated educational campaigns to counter Anti-LGBT bias and prevent hate crimes. He has led outreach activities to connect Pacific Islander high school students with mentoring and resources, and he has experience coordinating successful community events that foster leadership, unity and activism. Edward holds a BA in Political Science and a minor in Asian American Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Cindy Phan, Program Assistant at Prevention Institute, supports projects related to community health, the built environment, and health equity. Various projects she has worked on include Communities Taking Action, the California Approach project, and the Health Exchange Academy. Prior to becoming a Program Assistant in 2012, Cindy was an undergraduate intern at Prevention Institute. She also worked at the Children's Environmental Health Laboratory as a Research Assistant, where she conducted experiments that studied the effects of environmental exposures on genetics, and thus how it affected one's overall health outcomes. Cindy received her B.A. in Public Health and B.A. in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley.
shayla-at-preventioninstitute.org
Shayla Spilker, Program Assistant at Prevention Institute, supports projects related to community health and health equity, including the Tool for Health and Resilience in Vulnerable Environments (THRIVE) initiative. Prior to joining Prevention Institute in 2011, Shayla worked on a variety of health related projects in communities facing inequities. In 2010, she worked in Santiago, Chile on a research project providing low-income, high-school students with STI and HIV prevention education, and she supported an NIH-funded research project with Chilean clinics to increase access to healthcare services. She currently volunteers at the Berkeley Public Health Clinic, providing HIV and STI post-test counseling to uninsured clients in the Bay Area. Shayla received her BA in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley.
