Congresswoman Terri Sewell of Alabama’s 7^th Congresswoman Terri Sewell of Alabama’s 7th District “Thrilled” to Co-Host the 3rd Annual SMART Student Health and Wellness Congressional and Industry Leaders’ Breakfast Panel

Congresswoman Terri Sewell, U.S. Representative for Alabama’s 7th congressional district is pictured here with SMART Model sponsors and partners at the 2018 SMART Congressional Briefing. (From left to right: Dr. Karl Hamner, Director of the Office of Evaluation Research and School Improvement for The University of Alabama, College of Education; Dr. Peter Hlebowitsh, Dean of the College of Education at the University of Alabama; David Casey, Chief Diversity Officer and Vice President of Workforce Strategies, CVS Health; and Ernie DuPont, Senior Director of Workforce Initiatives, CVS Health; Congresswoman Sewell; Melanie Ginn, President and CEO of Ginn Group Collaborative and Architect of the SMART Model; Antonio Tijerino, President and CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation; and Jami Leveen, Director of Communications and Strategic Partnerships, Aramark.

(Washington, D.C.) Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-AL) is confirmed as the official co-host for the SMART Congressional and Industry Leaders’ Breakfast Panel along with the Hispanic Heritage Foundation and Ginn Group Collaborative (GGC) on the morning of Wednesday, December 11, in rooms 2043 and 2044 of the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill. The SMART Model’s Legacy Sponsor, CVS Health, and Patron Partner, Aramark, are sponsoring this prestigious gathering, including providing full scholarships for every SMART Clinical Team Member and their schools’ principals and faculty representatives to attend.

Sewell, U.S. Representative for Alabama’s 7th Congressional District, and Co-Chair of the Ways and Means Committee’s Rural and Underserved Communities Health Task Force attended both the Inaugural 2017 and the 2018 Annual SMART Congressional Briefing in support of the work of her local constituents. She has praised the approach and results that SMART has offered to students and community members in Pickens County and across the nation. Born and raised in the heart of Alabama’s rural Black Belt, Congresswoman Sewell was the first black valedictorian of Selma High School. She is an honors graduate of Princeton University and Oxford University in England and received her law degree from Harvard Law School.

“I am thrilled to be co-hosting the 2019 SMART Congressional and Industry Leaders’ Breakfast. The SMART Model has had an immediate impact on the Pickens County, Alabama community, and I am excited to work with industry leaders and health, education, and workforce development stakeholders to replicate and expand the SMART Model’s reach across the nation, especially in underserved and vulnerable areas.” — Congresswoman Terri Sewell (AL-07), Co-Chair of the Ways and Means Committee’s Rural and Underserved Communities Health Task Force

The expert panel presentation will highlight 6 years of SMART Model impact and outcomes for the Whole Child, Whole School, Whole Community, presented by Melanie Ginn, President and CEO of GGC and Architect of the SMART Model. The panel will also feature Dr. Peter Hlebowitsh, Dean of the College of Education at the University of Alabama, and Dr. Liza Cariaga-Lo, CEO, LCLO Group and former VP of Brown University.

The Congressional and Industry Leaders’ Breakfast Panel is the culminating event of the three-day Annual SMART Symposium, an interdisciplinary, multi-sector, professional development training opportunity for SMART’s medical and behavioral health providers and educational leaders from across the country. Attendees gather in Washington, D.C. to share best practices and create further innovation on the Model’s capacity to effect positive change in urban and rural school districts from grades PK–12 and in post-secondary arenas for vulnerable populations.

The keynote speaker for this year’s SMART Symposium is Allyson Mackey, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. She earned her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of California, Berkeley and her B.S. in Biological Sciences from Stanford University.

Her research focuses on brain plasticity, learning, and structural and functional neuroimaging with the goal of promoting positive educational and health outcomes for all individuals, regardless of socioeconomic background. She will be presenting on the correlations between curiosity and brain plasticity and the conditions that allow growth mindset and resiliency to flourish.

SMART (School Health Model for Academics Reaching All and Transforming Lives) maximizes conditions for optimal learning to ultimately break the cycle of poverty and improve the trajectory of lives. SMART was developed in Chicago in 2013 with Melanie Ginn, President and CEO of Ginn Group Collaborative, as the chief architect and strategist, in collaboration with funding and thought leader partner CVS Health, with David Casey, Chief Diversity Officer and Vice President of Workforce Strategies, and Ernie DuPont, Senior Director of Workforce Initiatives. Additional new partners include Aramark, joining in 2018 with a 5-year commitment to fund infrastructure for expansion; the University of Alabama, as a regional rural leader; and Heartland Health Centers and Pickens County Primary Care, as Certified SMART Medical Providers.

SMART Student Health and Wellness Centers are now serving a total of eight schools: four schools in the Rogers Park Neighborhood in Chicago, in partnership with medical provider Heartland Health Centers, and four schools in Pickens County, Alabama with certified SMART Medical Provider Pickens County Primary Care, improving health and educational outcomes for thousands of students, school faculty, and families across diverse communities.

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About Ginn Group Collaborative

Ginn Group Collaborative (GGC), led by President and CEO Melanie Ginn, is a nationally recognized design management firm with a proven track record in delivering exceptional outcomes and incisive analysis for clients. GGC brings objective and insightful perspective and expertise to review, research, develop, and deliver advanced business and legal analysis, strategies, and solutions. Learn more at www.ginngroupconsulting.com.