Keynote Speaker
Jonathan Koppell, PhD
Jonathan G.S. Koppell, Montclair State University’s ninth president, is a nationally recognized scholar of policy, organization and management with a reputation as a visionary leader in higher education emphasizing public service and solutions-oriented engagement in the community.
Before taking office at Montclair State on August 2, 2021, Koppell served as dean of Arizona State University’s Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions and vice provost for public service and social impact, leading the nation’s largest comprehensive public affairs college.
Known as one of the most entrepreneurial leaders at ASU, an institution that is widely regarded as one of the nation’s most innovative universities, Koppell guided Watts College to add some 20 new degree programs, greatly expand its online offerings and global programs, launch a unique joint college in Hainan, China, and create the nation’s first Public Service Academy. National rankings skyrocketed under his leadership with numerous programs now rated in the top 10 nationally.
Koppell also brings to Montclair State a national reputation as a leading scholar of policy, organization and management. He earned doctoral and master’s degrees in political science from the University of California – Berkeley and a baccalaureate degree in government from Harvard University. At ASU he held the endowed Lattie and Elva Coor Presidential Chair as Professor of Public Administration and Policy and is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. At Montclair State he is a tenured faculty member in political science.
Professor Koppell’s research and writing broadly examines the design and administration of complex organizations in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. His book “World Rule: Accountability, Legitimacy and the Design of Global Governance” reveals the hidden world of “global governance organizations” such as the World Trade Organization, the International Organization for Standardization and the International Accounting Standards Board that have more effect on our daily lives than we might imagine. Both his academic articles and previous book, “The Politics of Quasi-Government” address many of the key policy issues of the moment; including government involvement in for-profit enterprise, regulation of financial institutions and corporate governance.
Panel Speakers
Tomás León
Tomás León serves as the President of the Equality Health Foundation, an Arizona-based nonprofit organization focused on advancing equal health for all. He recently led Equality Health LLC’s marketing and strategy, with the responsibility of scaling the brand across multiple markets.
With over two decades of collective experience in healthcare, business development, community mobilization, health equity, policy advocacy, philanthropy and marketing communications, Tomás brings an innovative, purpose-driven approach to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion in healthcare. In a prior role as the president and CEO of the Institute for Diversity in Health Management, an affiliate of the American Hospital Association, he created and launched award-winning equity of care campaign to eliminate health care disparities that engaged nearly 1,500 hospitals and health systems and 50 state hospital associations in this national initiative.
His previous senior executive roles include president and CEO of the People of Color Network, Inc.; president of Friendship Community Mental Health Center; equity partner of MarCom Worldwide LLC; vice president of the Community Foundation of Southern Arizona, president and CEO of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, executive director of Youth On Their Own, Inc.; and associate director of the Border Health Foundation.
An avid outdoorsman and aspiring chef, Tomás has been married to Wendy León for nearly 30 years, and they have four beautiful children: sons Thomas and Alec, and daughters Austin-Nicole and Sasha.
Alyx B. Porter Umphrey MD, FAAN
Dr. Porter is a neuro-oncologist at Mayo Clinic in Arizona and is an Associate Professor of Neurology. Since her arrival in 2008, she has worked diligently to provide care for patients with tumors and cancers involving the nervous system in addition to patients who have neurologic complications resulting from their systemic cancers. Dr. Porter received her undergraduate education at Spelman College and went on to receive her medical degree at Temple University School of Medicine in 2003. She completed her internship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester in Internal Medicine, residency in Neurology, and Fellowship in Neuro-Oncology in 2008.
Dr. Porter serves as the Outpatient Practice Chair and Vice-Chair of the Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, and is co-chair of CNS disease group for the Mayo Clinic Enterprise Cancer Center. She is the medical director of the Undergraduate Plummer Scholars Program, an early undergraduate medical pathway programs for Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine and Science and enjoys teaching Cultural Humility and Cross-Cultural Communication in the Mayo Clinic, Alix School of Medicine, Arizona Campus. Her research interests are aimed at ensuring that patients with brain cancers have the best quality of life as possible.
Recently she and her husband, Dr. Gregory Umphrey awarded $100,000 in scholarships to medical students through their national non-profit, ElevateMeD, founded in 2019. ElevateMeD is committed to elevating the field of medicine by providing financial support, mentorship and leadership training to future physicians from racial and ethnic backgrounds underrepresented in medicine.
Francisco Lucio, JD
Francisco Lucio serves as the inaugural associate dean of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix. Lucio is responsible for the continued cultivation of a diverse, inclusive and equitable environment for all faculty, residents, fellows, students, post-docs and staff. He has helped create a five-year inclusive excellence strategic plan, establish a Women in Medicine and Science group and bolster LGBTQ+ programming — amongst other initiatives. In part, these efforts have contributed to the College of Medicine-Phoenix receiving the prestigious 2019 INSIGHT Into Diversity Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award.
Prior to joining the College of Medicine-Phoenix, Lucio was the director of Diversity and Inclusion at New York University School of Medicine, where he helped lead the development of key institutional diversity initiatives. His extensive pipeline program experience allowed him to successfully oversee two $500,000 New York State of Education Department grant-funded programs. These programs targeted the development of underrepresented and socioeconomically disadvantaged high school and college students into the STEM fields.
Lucio has served on multiple local and national boards aimed at increasing diversity of underrepresented students in the health fields. He obtained his Juris Doctorate from St. John’s University School of Law, where he was the recipient of the American Bar Association, Health Law Section and National Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. Award of Excellence in the Study of Health Law.
Anne Newland, MD, MPH
Anne Newland, MD, MPH is the Chief Executive Officer for North Country HealthCare, a federally qualified community health center with clinics in 12 communities in northern Arizona. Prior to joining North Country in 2013, Dr. Newland worked for the Indian Health Service in Kayenta, AZ for eight years. She trained in Internal Medicine-Pediatrics at the University of Tennessee-Memphis, served as Chief Resident for Internal Medicine at UT, and later completed a Master in Public Health degree at Harvard School of Public Health as a Commonwealth Fund Fellow in Minority Health Policy. Her professional interests are in reducing health disparities for rural and underserved communities and well as strengthening training pathways for underrepresented populations. North Country houses an Area Health Education Center (AHEC) that provides youth enrichment programming to encourage greater diversity in the health professions. Since 2008, North Country has been a community campus for AT Still University medical students. In June 2020, North Country launched its first class of community-based, family medicine residents. North Country is a Teaching Health Center.
Closing Session Speaker
Aliya Bhatia
Aliya Bhatia is the Acting Executive Director at Vot-ER & Civic Health Month. In her role, she supports Vot-ER to advance towards its vision of healthy communities powered by an inclusive democracy. She previously worked at the crossroads of education, housing, and health & wellness at Purpose Built Communities. Aliya began her career as a Teach For America corps member in New Orleans and as a strategy consultant at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in Atlanta. While at BCG, she supported a range of clients across sectors both on business strategy and on diversity & inclusion efforts. She completed her Masters in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School as a Sheila C. Johnson Leadership Fellow and is a graduate of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.