Speakers
Celebrating 50 Years of Exceptional Nutrition Services
Director Kelly Kennedy Garcia
Presentation Title:
Opening Remarks and Welcome
Praised for transformative leadership, Kelly Kennedy Garcia serves as the inaugural Director of the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Governor Kim Reynolds appointed Garcia to oversee the state’s social services agency in November 2019. She was unanimously confirmed by the Iowa Senate on February 26, 2020. Later that year, Garcia was asked to serve as interim public health Director. As a dual director, Garcia led the agency’s pandemic response, while shepherding consolidation to a single health and human services structure.
Two years later, Kelly leads Iowa’s largest agency, focused on life-span services and prevention, with a commitment to transparency and accountability. The key to this success is building strong teams, transforming the agency’s business processes, and driving home on a human-centered strategic vision.
Before moving to the Hawkeye state, Garcia led improvements in organizational structure, program management, and policy development in the great state of Texas, including serving in several executive positions at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Garcia has more than 20 years of experience in program evaluation and budget, planning and policy development.
Garcia is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin and received her MPA from The Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. She is Chair of the American Public Human Services Association Leadership Council, and is actively engaged in the Center for Public Sector AI. She is married to attorney Dan Garcia, and they have two children.
Katie Ferraro
Presentation Titles:
Diet Diversity Matters: A Hands-On, Practical Approach for Increasing Variety in Infant Feeding
How to Eat the 8: Safe Introduction of the Big 8 Allergenic Foods for Babies (+ Sesame)
Research and Insights on Breastfeeding Support, Dietary Diversity, and Tackling Trickier Textures in Infant Feeding
Katie Ferraro, MPH, RDN is a Registered Dietitian specializing in infant feeding and she is the foremost nutrition authority on baby-led weaning (BLW) in the United States. Katie runs the online site @babyledweanteam and is a mom of 7. She teaches nutrition at San Diego State University and hosts the top-rated parenting podcast BABY-LED WEANING with Katie Ferraro. Katie is the founder of the original 100 FIRST FOODS™ approach to baby-led weaning and her program has helped tens of thousands of parents, caregivers and healthcare providers give their babies a safe start to solid foods using baby-led weaning. More information at https://babyledweaning.co/.
Tami Foley
Presentation Title:
Tools to Help Families Find Quality Child Care
Tami Foley is a Policy Program Manager in the Child Care Bureau, Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. Tami has a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics Extension from South Dakota State University and master’s studies in Human Development and Family Studies at Iowa State University. Tami has over 25 years of public policy work for the State of Iowa and 17 of those years in the Child Care Bureau. She previously served for many years on the State Technical Assistance Team for Early Childhood Iowa and currently manages the multi-strategy Shared Services Project. Tami is also responsible for the Statewide Child Care Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan. Tami strives to bring public and private partners together to develop and implement strategies and solutions to improve the quality and sustainability of child care businesses.
Clancy Harrison
Presentation Titles:
Food Dignity: A Paradigm Shift for Nutrition Security
Create Community Collaborations to Foster Food Dignity® Movement
As a food equity advocate, registered dietitian, TEDx speaker, and international thought leader, Clancy Harrison challenges the way food equity is approached and discussed. Her mission to demolish the stigma around food access places her on the cutting edge of advocacy.
Clancy is the founder of the Food Dignity® Movement, a strategic program for leaders who want to shift how they approach nutrition outreach by making healthy food access a priority. She transforms the lives of thousands of people through her work with corporations, non-profit organizations, and universities. Currently, Clancy is an advisory board member for the Pennsylvania American Academy of Pediatrics Food Insecurity EPIC program, Ambassador of the National Dairy Council, and a past President of the Al Beech West Side Food Pantry where her team has served over 5 million meals during the COVID-19 pandemic. You can tune in weekly with Clancy at The Food Dignity® Podcast
Heidi Hotvedt
Presentation Title:
Tools to Help Families Find Quality Child Care
Heidi Hotvedt, RN BSN is the Healthy Child Care Iowa Program Coordinator for the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. Heidi graduated from California State University Fresno with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and certificate of Public Health in 1989. She has worked with children and families in community health throughout her career. In 2007 she began working with Healthy Child Care Iowa as a local Child Care Nurse Consultant for two rural counties in eastern Iowa. She was hired as the program coordinator in 2015 and has a passion for the child care health consultant role.
Lindsey Jones
Presentation Title:
HHS Panel
Lindsey Jones, MHA, serves as the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (Iowa HHS) Title X Family Planning Director. Lindsey has been at Iowa HHS for 14 years and with the Title X Family Planning Program since 2018. Lindsey provides leadership and coordination for the Title X program, ensuring compliance with all federal and state rules, provides contract management and implements program plans. Prior to coming to the state she worked at the local level, providing public health services for 4 years. In Lindsey’s free time she loves spending time with family and friends, going on bike rides and trying new restaurants.
Steve Siemens
Presentation Title:
Celebrating The Past With The BEST Yet To Come
He has become known as “THE PEOPLE BUILDER” to audiences all over the world. Steve Siemens, CSP, has delighted hundreds of audiences in over 20 countries and in every State in the United States. People love his message filled with useful skills and tools, wrapped in humor because they find nuggets that can be used in every area of their lives, both professional and personal. Steve has been labeled as one of the best professional speakers and you will understand why after you’ve heard a presentation.
He is the author of three books. His fourth book will be released in late 2024, “Don’t Die Until You’re Dead!” He is a past College President and the Past 2005-06 International President of Kiwanis International. His leadership of many boards includes Chairmanships of the Iowa Easter Seals and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Steve has been awarded the CSP, Certified Speaking Professional, from the National Speakers Association. Only ten percent of the speakers worldwide have passed the rigorous criteria to attain the CSP.
You will enjoy his interactive, humorous, motivational style. You will benefit from his common sense, practical ideas, and relevant message. Whether you hear him for the first time or one hundred times, the message always have a new twist and you will leave a better person because of the PEOPLE BUIILDER’S gift of words!
Carol Tripp
Presentation Title:
Who are our Customers and What is Their Persona?
Mountaintop to Washouts….Exploring Your Customer’s Journey
Making the Customer Experience Great (Because “Good” is Not Good Enough)
Carol M. Tripp is the President of MERIT Management Resources, Inc., a management consulting and training firm. Through MERIT Carol has been providing training and consulting services across the country for the past 34 years. She has developed and presented seminars on over 30 topics for both private and public firms. Currently Carol facilitates 3 training classes for the State of Iowa and works with public employee teams across the state in all levels of government. At the heart of every service provided is MERIT’s belief that superior business skills always focus on the development of people.
Carol has two masters degrees, an M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy and a Masters of Ministry. Her experiential background includes serving in management roles for federal agencies, not-for-profit organizations, and financial institutions. She taught at the university level for 24 years, instructing over 20 different courses in communications, psychology, sociology, religion, human services, and general education. Carol resided in California for 19 years, having moved home to her family farm in northwest Marshall County, Iowa in 2006. DCT Mormon Ridge Farms raise beef cattle, grain crops, alfalfa, and have a fruit and nut orchard.
Sommer Trower
Presentation Title:
HHS Panel
Sommer Trower is a Registered Nurse at Iowa HHS supporting both the Maternal (Title V) and Reproductive (Title X) Health programs within the Community Access and Eligibility Division. She has over 14 years nursing experience working in a variety of settings including: circulating operating rooms, the pediatric emergency room and providing home visits to pregnant women. When she is not working, she enjoys cooking and baking, being outside, and weekend adventures exploring small Iowa towns with her boyfriend and boys (Dempsey, 9yo and Cameron, 4yo.)
Suzy Wilson
Presentation Title:
HHS Panel
Suzy Wilson, RDN, LD is a SNAP-Ed Nutrition Consultant at the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. In her role, Suzy manages the Pick a Better Snack program, which provides monthly nutrition education to K-3 grade students in 24 Iowa school districts. Suzy has worked with many nutrition educators and provides training and materials to support their work. Her professional background has focused on community nutrition initiatives and programs, including nutrition education, social marketing and systems work. Suzy has a Bachelor of Science degree in Dietetics from Iowa State University.
Melissa Woodhouse
Presentation Title:
HHS Panel
Melissa practiced twenty-two years within private dental offices in central Iowa, then transitioned to local public health where she found her passion. Melissa was the I-Smile Coordinator for 10 rural counties in south-central Iowa and eventually came to Iowa HHS to join the Oral Health Section of the Wellness & Preventive Health Subdivision.
In her free time, Melissa enjoys being with her family, traveling, and swimming.