SUMMIT SALE EXTENDED! JOIN US FOR DAY 2 AND DAY 3! PLUS GET THE REPLAY!
You’ve Been Hit Hard. Now It’s Time to Rise Like a Phoenix. Rest, Reimagine, & Rebuild Your Public Health Calling in a Season of Crisis and Opportunity.
If the system shook you, this is your comeback space. Discover new opportunities, new collaborations, and new pathways rooted in rest and renewal.
Buy Now, Pay Later Available
Questions? Email [email protected]
REST.
REIMAGINE.
REBUILD.
A 3-Day Virtual Summit for Public Health Leaders, Entrepreneurs, Community Advocates and Organizations Rising From Crisis
Join the summit
January 14-16, 2026
When funding collapses, programs disappear, and jobs are wiped overnight, most people assume your purpose disappears with it.
But that’s not your story.
You’re still here, still committed, still called — even in a landscape full of uncertainty.
The Public Health Joy Summit (January 14–16, 2026) was built for public health innovators, organizations, practitioners, entrepreneurs, and community-rooted leaders who are navigating:
If the system shook you, this is your sanctuary — a protected space where you can rest, rebuild, and rise.
This Summit gives you:
✨ Rest as a leadership tool
✨ Rest as resistance
✨ Rest as a prophetic strategy
Because before you rebuild, you must restore.
Before you lead, you must ground yourself.
Before you rise, you must rest.
And from that place, you’ll learn how to:
✨ Reimagine income streams
✨ Rebuild programs with community power
✨ Leverage research justice and data sovereignty
✨ Form cross-sector partnerships
✨ Create work that outlives political cycles
This is the space where you rise from the ashes — with clarity, strategy, and joy.
WHY THIS SUMMIT MATTERS NOW
Public health is shifting — rapidly. Funding won’t look the same. Workforce pipelines won’t look the same. Leadership won’t look the same. Traditional career routes are disappearing.
And yet…
Your calling hasn’t changed.
Your purpose hasn’t expired.
Your impact isn’t over.
This Summit helps you rise above the instability by giving you:
📌 New opportunities even when old systems collapse
📌 New collaborators when you’ve been working alone
📌 New pathways rooted in equity, rest, and community power
📌 New strategies for income, funding, and sustainability
📌 A new identity as a public health leader who pivots with purpose
REPLAY & CHES CREDITS INCLUDED
Buy Now, Pay Later Available
Need CHES Credits?
The Public Health Joy Summit has officially been approved by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing (NCHEC) for Category I CHES Credits! Register now!
WHAT YOU'LL WALK AWAY WITH….
You’re not coming to another “conference.”
You’re entering a season shift.
A sustainable career roadmap for a post-funding world
Alternative funding strategies (grants, philanthropy, private partnerships)
Community-led research frameworks (IRBs, dissemination, evaluation)
Blueprints for organizational resilience
Joy-centered leadership models
Renewal for clarity and direction
Rest practices that elevate your judgment, focus, and resilience
A cross-sector collaboration network
Templates, tools, and replays to transform your next 12 months
Opportunities for sponsorship and partnership
Category I CHES credits for professional development
We've got the best in the industry
Meet the speakers
Learn from the best in public health.
The ones out here doing the work amid the chaos.
The leaders who are sharing their insights with you.
Dr. Nandi
Marshall
The Future of community power
Dr. Nandi A. Marshall is a community-engaged scholar committed to maternal and child health equity and preparing the next generation of the public health workforce. She is a Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Community Health and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health at Georgia Southern University. Dr. Marshall holds a BA from Spelman College, an MPH from East Stroudsburg University, and a DrPH from Georgia Southern University. Dr. Marshall is also a certified health education specialist, a certified lactation counselor, and a certified diversity executive.
Dr. Marshall has over 22 years of community engagement experience at the local, state, and national levels, particularly around health inequities and is President of the American Public Health Association (APHA). Dr. Marshall is compassionate, creative, and solution-driven with experience that has transformed her leadership in the public health.
Dr. Lisa Bowleg
Revolutionizing public Health Leadership
Lisa Bowleg, PhD, MA is the Founder and CEO of the Intersectionality Training Institute, and a leading scholar of the application of intersectionality to health equity and social justice research. She is a soon to be Professor Emeritus, having retired in December 2025 as a Professor of Applied Social Psychology in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the George Washington University.
She is excitedly awaiting the publication of her latest article, “A Framework for Applied Intersectionality Research (FAIR): Reframing Intersectionality as a Tool to Advance Health Equity and Social Justice Action, Not Just Empirical Research,” in the Annual Review of Public Health.
Quisha
Umemba
Reimagining Public Health with
AI and Tech
Quisha Umemba is the CEO of Umemba Health, a training and consulting firm that helps health-focused organizations and mission-driven leaders build, deliver, and scale high-impact learning experiences using proven curriculum design and AI innovation.
A Registered Nurse, Public Health Practitioner, Amazon Best-Selling Author, and recognized AI Literacy & Workforce Development Expert, Quisha brings a rare blend of healthcare expertise, instructional innovation, and AI fluency to every stage and classroom she steps into. Widely known as the “AI TranslatorTM,” she helps leaders and learners cut through complexity to find clarity, and positions herself as the missing piece of the AI puzzle.
Dr. Courtney McCluney
Rest & Wellness is our resistance
Dr. Courtney L. McCluney is the Founder and CEO of EquiWell Partners. Dr. Courtney started her career in academia as a professor of organizational behavior with a focus on well-being at work. She has completed courses in embodied writing, equitable design, somatic healing in social justice, and critical appreciative inquiry.
Together with her doctoral training in organizational psychology and behavioral science, Dr. Courtney offers relatable and rigorous insight into the science of human sustainability practices and how to embed it into our everyday lives.
Corinna Kelley
Revolutionizing public Health Leadership
Corinna Kelley, MPH, is a Leadership Health Strategist, Speaker, and USAF veteran committed to helping people who serve others lead with clarity, resilience, and authenticity. With 20 years of experience in public health, she has partnered with leaders and organizations to co-create equity-driven strategies that strengthen workplaces and improve community health outcomes.
As a volunteer site visitor for the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB), she brings a systems-level, equity-centered lens to leadership and organizational wellbeing. Corinna also draws deeply from her lived experience navigating military-to-civilian transition, adapting through identity shifts, sustaining personal wellbeing, and balancing motherhood of three with 18 years of marriage.
These experiences inspired her to found C.R.E.I.D. Consulting & Coaching—Culturally Rooted Equitable Inclusive Development—to advance regenerative leadership practices that empower leaders and communities to grow sustainably.
Lamarr Lewis
Rest & wellness is our resistance
Lamarr Lewis’ lifelong mission is to leave the world better than how he found it. He is a dedicated advocate, author, and agent of change. With a focus on community-based mental and public health, (the human side of workplace culture) he supports diverse groups including individuals living with psychiatric disabilities, people in recovery from substance abuse, and at-hope youth (He does not use the term at-risk).
His career spans over twenty years with experience as a therapist, consultant, public speaker, facilitator, trainer, and human service professional. Lamarr integrates “A therapist’s lens to organizational problems,” fostering accountability, healing, and equity in the communities he serves.
He has been a featured expert for such organizations as; Boeing, Region IV Public Health Training Center, the Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network, Fulton County Probate Court, Mississippi Department of Health, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, ASTHO, NNPHI, and many more.
Maudra Brown
Policy & government landscape: how do we move forward?
Maudra R. Brown, MPH, CHES, APM, PAHM is a public health strategist who helps leaders stay steady, informed, and community-rooted in an era where policy is shifting faster than practice can keep up. As the founder of MRB Public Health and creator of the Take Care and Blue Apple Village initiatives, she works at the intersection of policy, lived experience, and systems transformation.
Her work is grounded in three core pillars:
(1) translating federal and state policies into real strategies for marginalized communities,
(2) building infrastructure and capacity for independent public health leadership, and
(3) facilitating trust-centered spaces where data, community voice, and justice guide the direction.
Her message is simple: if the policy doesn’t land at the kitchen table, it’s not working and public health has both the responsibility and the power to respond with clarity, courage, and community-led action.
Dr. Lauren Josephs
Funding Strategies & opportunity
Dr. Lauren Josephs (PhD, LMHC, NCC) is a social and behavioral scientist and CEO of Visionary Vanguard Group, Inc., an SBA-certified, woman-owned research and evaluation consulting firm based in Orlando, Florida. With over 25 years of experience, she partners with government agencies, health systems, foundations, and nonprofits to leverage data for stronger programs, informed strategies, and measurable outcomes.
Dr. Josephs has led multi-million-dollar research and evaluation initiatives that drive impact and innovation. She also guided Visionary Vanguard Group in securing over eight figures in funding. Building on this expertise, she launched the Grants and Contracts Incubator, empowering organizations to win multiple seven-figure awards through practical, repeatable funding strategies.
To expand access to these insights, Dr. Josephs created a YouTube channel dedicated to helping small businesses and nonprofits compete successfully for grants and contracts. Her videos break down complex funding processes into clear, actionable steps, making high-level strategies accessible to everyone.
Ede Crittle
Community Engaged research & Evaluation
Ede Taylor-Crittle is the Founder of the Healthy Communities Coalition (HCC) and a long-time champion of community-driven research, equitable partnerships, and capacity-building for grassroots and faith-based organizations.
With over two decades of experience—including her impactful work at the Johns Hopkins Office of Community Health, where she advanced community engagement and health equity initiatives—Ede specializes in helping organizations use research to strengthen programs and improve outcomes.
She launched the Beyond the Gift Card Community Conversation Series to bridge the gap between researchers and communities in culturally grounded and practical ways. Ede has served as a Merit Reviewer for PCORI and Northwestern University’s ARCC and holds nonprofit management certifications from the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. Known widely as “The Community Lady,” she works with organizations across the nation and lives in Chicagoland.
Dr. P. Herbert Caldwell
Community engaged research & evaluation
Herb Caldwell is an educator and creative based near St. Louis, MO. For more than 25 years he’s served in various capacities of administration in higher education; including stints at MacMurray College, The University of Illinois, and Saint Louis University.
Caldwell is producer of the documentary film, My Mama Joe, Hope & Help, which captures his family experience in providing care for their matriarch as a person living with Alzheimer’s dementia. The film streams nationwide on the PBS platform, and is part of a larger initiative called The Mama Joe Project, which focuses on educational outreach to support caregivers, promote healthy aging, and improve outcomes for families navigating dementia.
Meet Dr. Joyee Washington — Guiding You Into a Season of Rest, Recalibration, and Rising
Dr. Joyee Washington is a national voice in community-led research, equitable systems, and joyful leadership.
She is known for the message that shifted the field:
“Research belongs to the people. If it ain’t done with us and by us, it ain’t for us.”
Dr. Joyee brings fire, strategy, faith, and a gentle invitation into rest — helping public health leaders rise into their next assignment with clarity and joy.
What our past summit attendees experienced:
-HEalth Equity Advocate
I appreciated the message (echoing throughout the summit) that our work may look a little different, we may use different terminology, but the DEI work still goes on! Very motivating for those of us who felt helpless and overwhelmed with this administration.
-Organizational Leader
I came away thinking that even with the presidential administration, there are plenty of opportunities within the government sector that would make sense for me to pursue. I'm grateful for this new perspective.
-Public health entrepreneur
I can't thank you enough for allowing me to sit in the room today!....Though the beauty in it all was seeing I wasn't alone in the anxiety of the unknowns. Regardless who is in administration there is still money to be made and contracts to be secured!
FAQ
Q: What is the Public Health Joy Summit?
A 3-day virtual event designed to help public health leaders, organizations, and entrepreneurs rebuild their careers, programs, and partnerships through rest, equity, research justice, collaboration, and practical strategy.
Q: When is it?
January 14–16, 2026.
Q: Who is it for?
Public health organizations, entrepreneurs, practitioners, researchers, funders, advocates, and mission-driven leaders.
Q: What does the ticket include?
Live access, replays, digital resources, networking, labs, and summit swag.
Q: What does it cost?
Regular $247
Buy Now, Pay Later available.
Q: Are sessions live?
Yes, with replays included.
Q: Are CHES credits available?
Yes! The Public Health Joy Summit has been approved for over 7 Category I CHES Credits.
Q: Can I promote my business?
Yes — through the Public Health Joy Partner Program.
Q: Are sponsorships available?
Yes. Email [email protected].
Q: When does registration close?
January 13, 2026 or until seats are full.
$247
REPLAY INCLUDED!
CATEGORY I CHES CREDITS INCLUDED!
PAYMENT PLANS AVAILABLE!
Your Rest.
Your Rebuild.
Your Rise Starts Here.
REGISTER NOW — $247 | Buy Now, Pay Later Available