Program

The Movement is Life Summit is a collaborative event bringing together stakeholders from diverse backgrounds to discuss healthy equity challenges and solutions. The Summit program features nationally known speakers who are experts on health disparities and social determinants of health. Summit attendees engage with speakers and each other during interactive workshops focused on social issues as well as creative movement activities. 

View the schedule at-a-glance for the 2023 Summit below. Schedule is subject to change.

All times are in Eastern Standard Time.

Thursday, November 30, 2023*

Breakfast & Registration
7:00 am – 8:00 am
 
Welcome & Opening remarks
8:00 am – 8:15 am
 
Mary O’Connor, MD
Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer, Vori Health
Chair, Movement is Life
Plenary Session
8:15 am – 9:15 am
 
Weathering Injustice: Unpacking Its Impact, Causes, and Pathways to Equity
Arline Geronimus, ScD
Professor, Health Behavior and Education, University of Michigan
Author, “Weathering: The Extraordinary Stress of Ordinary Life in an Unjust Society”
 
                    Moderator: Mary O'Connor, MD
                                          Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer, Vori Health
                                          Chair, Board of Directors, Movement is Life
Plenary Session
9:15 am – 10:15 am
 
Health Equity: How Medicine and Medical Education Needs to Change to Achieve True Health Equity
Pedro “Joe” Greer Jr., MD, FACP, FACG
Founding Dean, Roseman University of Health Sciences
Recipient, President Medal of Freedom (2009) and MacArthur Fellow (1993-1998)
 
      Moderator: Claudia Zamora, MPA, Founder and CEO, Zamora Consulting Group
 

 
Break
10:15 am – 10:45 am
Workshops
10:45 am – 1:15 pm
 
Workshop - Artifical Intelligence and Health Equity: A Cautionary Tale
 
  • William B. Jordan, MD, MPH, Director of Health Equity Policy, AMA Center for Health Equity
  • Maia Hightower, MD, MPH, MBA, CEO, Equality AI
  • Rebecca Stone, Executive Director, Generation 7 Industries 

Moderators: Melvyn Harrington, Jr., MD, FAOA
                      Professor, Residency Program Director, Adult Reconstruction Fellowship Director
                      Vice Chair for Diversity and Inclusion, Department of Orthopedic Surgery

                      Doreen Johnson, MSN, RN, ONC
                      Retired Nurse Educator, Hospital for Special Surgery
                      Adjunct Nursing Faculty, Adhelphi University
 
Workshop - How to be a Health Equity Influencer to Advance Your Cause
 
  • Taelor Bakewell, Edelman, Vice President, Influence Marketing
  • Jerail Fennell, MSM, Director of Marketing and Communications, 904WARD
  • Beth O’Connor, M. Ed., Executive Director, VA Rural Health Association
  • Maria Portela Martinez, MD, MPH, Chief of Family Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, The GW Medical Faculty Associates

Moderators: Sharon LaSure-Roy, MS
                      Vice President of Social Marketing, VyStar Credit Union

                      Sarah Hohman, MPH
                      Senior Associate, Capital Associates Inc. 

 
Workshop - Empowerment and Joy through Movement
 
  • David Sabgir, MD, Founder, Walk with a Doc
  • Isha M. Renta López, Founder and Director, Semilla Cultural

Moderators: Hadiya Green, PT, DPT
                      Founder and President, Healthy Healing Community, Inc. 

                      Christin Zollicoffer, PMP
                      Vice President, Belonging and Equity Office, Lifespan

 
Workshop - MIL Shark Tank: Teaching People How to Fish for Funds Using the Right Bait
 
  • Al B. Reid, Former VP Corporate Development, Abbott Laboratories
  • Velma Monteiro-Tribble, Former Director of Grants and Programs, Florida Blue Foundation
  • D. Deone Powell, General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer, Vanguard Charitable

Moderators: Willis Steele, MDiv.
                      Representative, Conference of National Black Churches
                      Director, Patient Advocacy - Worldwide Hematology, Bristol Myers Squibb

                      Erick Santos, MD, PhD, FAAOS
                      Physician-Engineer Consultant, Biodynamic Research Corporation
                      Secretary, American Association of Latino Orthopaedic Surgeons
                      Preceptor, Nth Dimensions

Lunch and Poster Exhibits
1:15 pm – 2:15 pm

We offer Community-Based and Academic Organizations the opportunity to exhibit posters at the meeting. The goal of the poster exhibit is to provide an opportunity to increase awareness of the various community-based and academic programs addressing health disparities and to provide an opportunity to network.

Workshops
2:15 pm – 4:45 pm
 
Workshops will be repeated from the morning session to allow participants an opportunity to attend more than one workshop.
Break
4:45 pm – 5:00 pm
Plenary Session
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
 
Closing America's Death Gap: Solutions for Leaders
David Ansell, MD, MPH
Associate Provost for Community Affairs, Rush University
Author, “The Death Gap: How Inequality Kills”
 

                    Moderator: Cara Harwell, MD
                                          Medical Director, University Hospitals Otis Moss Jr. Health Center
                                          Associate Professor of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine,
                                          Division of Internal Medicine
                                          Associate Program Director, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center Internal Medicine Residency                                                Program, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
                                          Vice Chair, Board of Directors, Movement is Life

Award Ceremony & Reception
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Friday, December 1, 2023*

Breakfast & Registration
7:00 am – 8:00 am
Welcome & Opening Remarks
8:00 am – 8:15 am
 
Mary O’Connor, MD
Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer, Vori Health
Chair, Movement is Life
Plenary Session
8:15 am – 9:00 am
 
Social Capital as a Catalyst to Health Equity
Bree Jones
Founder, Parity Homes
Fellow, Fund for New Leadership
 

                    Moderator: Michelle A. Leak, D.Ed., MBA, Administrator, Emerius, Mayo Clinic Florida

               
Plenary Session 
9:00 am – 9:45 am
 
“Food as Medicine”: How Kroger is Improving Health in Vulnerable Communities
Marc Watkins, MD, MScPH, FACOEM
Chief Medical Officer, Kroger Health
 

                     Moderator: Mary O'Connor, MD
                                           Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer, Vori Health
                                           Chair, Board orf Directors, Movement is Life

Movement Break
9:45 am – 10:00 am
Break
10:00 am – 10:15 am
Plenary Session 
10:15 am – 11:00 am
 
California Surgeon General: Opportunities for Cross-Collaborative Partnerships
Diana Ramos, MD, MPH, MBA, FACOG
California Surgeon General
 
                    Moderator: Claudia Zamora, MPA, Founder and CEO, Zamora Consulting Group
Plenary Session 
11:00 am – 11:45 am
 

Unearthing the Roots of Health Inequity: Addressing the Legacy of Racism in Education and Healthcare

  • Jennifer Holmes, JD, Senior Counsel, Legal Defense Fund
  • Michellene Davis, Esq., President and CEO, National Medical Fellowships

Moderator: Tamara Huff, MD, MBA, Owner and Orthopedic Surgeon, Vigeo Orthopaedics, LLC

Lunch 
11:45 am – 12:45 pm
Plenary Session 
12:45 pm – 1:30 pm
 
Pause on Purpose: Sustaining High Performance with Unapologetic Self-Care
Ariel Belgrave, Founder, Gym Hooky, Health and Fitness Coach, Consultant, and International Speaker
 
                    Moderator: Tamara Huff, MD, MBA, Owner and Orthopedic Surgeon, Vigeo Orthopaedics, LLC
Roundtable discussions
1:30 pm – 2:15 pm
 
Summit participants and speakers will have the opportunity to connect over important topics such as social determinants of health, racial/ethnic/gender bias, and disparities in healthcare.
Plenary Session
2:15 pm – 3:15 pm
 
Health Equity: Why It Matters And How We Get There
Jerome Adams, MD, MPH, FASA
20th United States Surgeon General (2017-2021)
Presidential Fellow, Executive Director of Purdue's Health Equity Initiatives, and Distinguished Professor of Practice, Purdue University
 
                     Moderator: Mary O'Connor, MD
                                           Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer, Vori Health
                                           Chair, Board of Directors, Movement is Life
Closing Remarks
3:15 pm – 3:30 pm
 
Mary O’Connor, MD
Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer, Vori Health
Chair, Board of Directors, Movement is Life

*please note this schedule is not final and is subject to change*