Instructors:

Linda Usdin, DrPH

Linda Usdin received her undergraduate degree from Duke University; a Master's Degree in Public Health from the University of California at Berkeley, California; and her Doctorate in Public Health from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. For six years she managed Tulane University School of Public Health programs in Africa. For the last eight years she has worked as a planning and evaluation consultant to the Mayor's Office, the State Office of Public Health, local and national foundations, and community-based organizations. She was the team leader on a successful multi-year, multi-million dollar grant application for the New Orleans Jobs Initiative and for a violence prevention collaborative. She currently is working as Team Evaluator for the Annie E. Casey Making Connections Initiative in New Orleans. In addition, Dr. Usdin has taught courses on Building Community Collaboratives for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Graduate Certificate Program and for the South Central Public Health Leadership Institute.
 

Anne Witmer, MPH

Ms. Witmer is currently the Executive Director of PACE Louisiana, a community coalition of health and social service providers, government leaders, advocacy groups and concerned citizens who seek to promote optimum quality of life for frail and isolated elders at risk of nursing home placement. Previously, Ms. Witmer served as a senior staff member of the Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI) where she directed the Louisiana Turning Point Partnership, and the New Orleans Partnership for Care of the Uninsured. She had also served as the Program Coordinator, of the CDC/UC Public Health Leadership Institute and its alumni association, the Public Health Leadership Society. Ms. Witmer has written and published on several topics including the effective utilization of community health workers, innovative programs in health professions education, multi-sector collaboration in developing healthy communities, alternative structures for public health practice and collaborative leadership for public health. Ms. Witmer has had a variety of international and cross-cultural experiences including a four-month fieldwork fellowship in Mexico City; Vice President and Chair of the Health Committee for the local San Francisco chapter of Partners of the Americas; a study expedition on public health in Cuba; and extensive travel throughout Southern and Southeast Asia. She holds a Master of Public Health degree from the University of California at Los Angeles and a Bachelor of Psychology degree from the University of California at Berkeley from which she was graduated with honors.