Food insecurity is among the top social determinants of health (SDoH) for patients in the safety net. Rooted in their communities and mission-driven to provide whole person care, community clinics and health centers are well-positioned to advance health equity in Los Angeles County. CCALAC, Venice Family Clinic, and Food Forward have used human-centered design thinking practices to build a produce prescription program serving patients and community members alike. But before this impactful work can be done, we must first systemically screen patients for social risk factors. Join us as we take a deep dive in operationalizing practices that will help the safety net swim upstream.

By the end of the training, attendees will be able to:

• Define and recognize social determinants of health
• Operationalize screening patients for SDoH
• Design food distribution programming within the community clinic setting
• Develop and sustain partnerships with community-based organizations
• Improve patient social risk factors
• Link social health interventions to improve health outcomes

Presented by:

Amir Zambrano, Director of Programs, Food Forward

Karen Vest-Taubert, Senior Consultant, CoMagine Health

Pearson King, Outreach and Communications Manager, Los Angeles Food Policy Council

Regina Neal, Consultant/Systemwide Quality Improvement

Rigoberto Garcia, Director of Health Education, Venice Family Clinic

Sarine Pogosyan, Health Equity Manager, CCALAC

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Complimentary for CCALAC Members

Instructor Biographies:

Amir Zambrano, Director of Programs, Food Forward

Amir Zambrano (He/Him) is the Managing Director of the Wholesale Recovery Program, Food Forward’s largest program, recovering over 66 million pounds of fresh nutritious produce in 2021.  His primary responsibilities are to provide leadership, innovate, create and execute on programmatic strategies. Amir is also a member of the Food Forward leadership team and is involved in all facets of the organization’s business.

Amir has also served as Operations Director at Food Forward where he helped grow the Organization from 6 – 24 employees, overseeing all 3 food recovery programs, finance, human resources and operations.  Prior to his roles at Food Forward, he was an accounting and finance professional with decades worth of experience in the Tech and Legal Industry. His passion for food stems from his family’s restaurateur origins, where early on the importance of fresh nutritious home cooked meals left its indelible mark.  Amir began working in his parents’ restaurants as soon as he was old enough to stop breaking them.

Karen Vest-Taubert, Senior Consultant, CoMagine Health

Karen Taubert RN, BSN, MBA (she/her) is a Senior Consultant and NCQA Certified Content Expert at CoMagine Health. Ms. Taubert possesses 40 years of clinical and administrative leadership experience in acute, home health, nursing facility, and safety net settings. She is currently a Senior Consultant for Comagine Health, a position in which she provides a variety of technical assistance activities related to the company’s medical home consulting engagements. Before joining Comagine Health, Ms. Taubert served as the Chief Nursing Officer for an FQHC, Su Clinica Familiar, in Texas. In that role, she directed the work of more than 100 employees, project managed a PCMH recognition project, and oversaw a variety of performance improvement and accreditation projects. Ms. Taubert previously held positions as the Director of Nursing for two other organizations and served in clinical positions in oncology and medical-surgical settings.

Pearson King, Outreach and Communications Manager, Los Angeles Food Policy Council

Pearson King (he/him) is the Operations & Communications Manager for the Los Angeles Food Policy Council. In this position, Pearson supports the infrastructure that keeps LAFPC ticking, including the maintenance of our Healthy Neighborhood Market Network Program and the internal operations of the organization as a whole. He also helps connect the stories of our staff, our members, and our communities to better inform LAFPC’s strategic vision. Pearson is a passionate advocate for equity in food systems, sustainability, and the outdoors and believes in place-based, community-led solutions to systemic injustices. His experience includes working as a sustainability consultant for small farms and managing a grass-fed beef cattle ranch. Prior to joining LAFPC, Pearson worked at Food Forward where he oversaw partnerships with organizations distributing fresh produce for free in their communities, and he formerly co-chaired the Food Waste Prevention & Rescue Working Group. In addition to his duties at LAFPC, Pearson is a member of the leadership team for Climb the Gap, a group dedicated to increasing diversity and equity in the rock climbing community. Pearson graduated from the University of Vermont with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Policy & Community Development. He has completed formal training in human-centered design with the Center for Care Innovations and is a licensed Innovation Catalyst through their Human-Centered Design & Innovation for the Safety Net program.

Regina Neal, Consultant/Systemwide Quality Improvement

Regina Neal, MPH, MS (she/her) is an experienced consultant, practice coach, and trainer and has substantial experience in system redesign and improvement.  Her perspective on supporting organizations in the work of improvement is informed by more than 30 years of experience gained through positions within care delivery systems, health plans, public health departments, and consulting firms. Using a problem solving approach, she uses her skill and experience to support organizations as they learn and use the methods and tools of improvement science to successfully achieve their goals to support and enable accountable, sustainable and patient-centered systems of care.

Ms. Neal holds a Master of Public Health and a Master of Science in Urban Planning from Columbia University. She also earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Marymount Manhattan College.

Rigoberto Garcia, Director of Health Education, Venice Family Clinic

Rigoberto Garcia, MPH (he/him) is the Director of Venice Family Clinic’s (VFC) Health Education Department.  In his role, Rigo oversees the direction of VFC’s Health Education Services, Comprehensive Perinatal Service Program, Diabetes Education Program, Maternal Health, Food Programming, and leads innovative projects like value based care model of care and doula services.  Rigo develops health education materials, contributes to the Quality Improvement Committee and their work on quality measures which have focused on improving cancer screening rates amongst its patient population.  Rigo continues to strengthen VFC’s clinical-community linkages by partnering with the American Cancer Society and the NFL to bring resources to its community.  Rigo graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, and Master’s in Public Health in Health Education.  Rigo has worked in community health centers for over 17 years, in School-Based Clinics and in FQHC’s.  His focus has been on health literacy, chronic disease management, reproductive health, cancer prevention and food security.  As a Public Health professional, Rigo is determined to empower populations to understand their health and strive for a healthier tomorrow.

Sarine Pogosyan, MBA, Health Equity Manager, CCALAC

Sarine Pogosyan, MBA (she/her) is the Health Equity Manager at CCALAC. Her role focuses on the advancement of health equity practices in community clinics by advocating for and addressing the social determinants of health. Sarine helps oversee CCALAC’s homeless health work including the facilitation and co-design of coordination efforts for all street medicine providers across Los Angeles County. She also assists on many of the transformation initiatives including CalAIM and Population Health Management. Sarine also serves as a coach to San Fernando Community Health Center in the DPH Solutions for Healthier Communities project. Prior to her work at CCALAC, Sarine worked with a non-profit clinical care and research center whose mission is to advance treatment for rare and orphaned diseases. Her experience with FQHCs comes from her time at QueensCare Health Centers where she oversaw the Outreach and Enrollment Department. Sarine earned a Master of Business Administration from Pepperdine University with a concentration in Leadership and Managing Organizational Change and a Bachelor of Science degree from USC in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention.