Therapy Entrepreneurs and Leaders of Color

Kendra Glasgow Podcast Interview

BIO

Kendra Glasgow, MPH, OTR/L is an occupational therapist and recently transitioned to her role as a research analyst within the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI).  Prior to joining CMMI, Kendra worked as a clinician in a variety of healthcare settings, ranging from a skilled nursing facility to an inpatient psychiatric unit.  She is now affecting change at a systemic level through her work implementing one of CMMI’s largest voluntary payment models, the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI Advanced) Model.  The BPCI Advanced Model promotes care coordination and value over volume among acute care hospitals and physician group practices across the nation.

 Kendra obtained her Master of Science in Occupational Therapy degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her Master of Public Health degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.  She has been a member of the Roster of Accreditation Evaluators for the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education since 2018.   Please contact Kendra at kendra.glasgow@cms.hhs.gov if interested in the OTD experience mentioned in this podcast.

 

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Omar Podcast Interview

Omar Mohiuddin OTR/L, MS, MPH

Occupational Therapist

Duke Eye Center – Vision Rehabilitation & Performance

Connect with Omar on Linkedin: Omar Mohiuddin OTRL, MSOT, MPH | LinkedIn

Omar earned his graduate degrees in Occupational Therapy and Public Health from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He has worked in both clinical and non-profit eye care settings as well as academia doing research in the field of preventive medicine. Before pursuing his career in OT, he worked in the public health sector for several years serving underprivileged communities and addressing health disparities. He worked for the Minority Health & Health Disparities Research Center at the UAB School of Medicine on several different grants looking at barriers to accessing care, engaging minorities, addressing communication issues such as health literacy, and finding ways to reach out to otherwise inaccessible populations. I He now works at the Duke Eye Center with Vision Rehabilitation & Performance where he sees clients with age-related and acute onset vision impairment and addresses how these changes in vision affect occupational performance challenges in activities of daily living and instrumental ADLs including community and work accessibility, functional mobility, and driving safety.  He also runs an acquired brain injury clinic addressing functional visual symptoms stemming from neurological conditions as well as a sports-vision clinic evaluating and training dynamic visual skills in athletes to improve on-field performance. As an occupational therapist, his focus is to maximize his clients’ independence and potential towards meeting their functional goals. Outside of work, he runs a non-profit called Eye Shine Foundation whose mission is to create social and recreational opportunities for visually impaired youth in the triangle region of North Carolina to participate in and explore leisure pursuits, socialize with peers, build social skills, and improve overall well-being.

 

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Dr. Jenkins Podcast Interview

Anne Elizabeth Jenkins, MA, Ed.M., M.Div. DMin, OTR/L

 

BIO 

Dr. Anne Elizabeth Jenkins is an educator, occupational therapist(OT), and an ordained minister. She has almost 50 years of extensive and varied experiences in rehabilitation therapy and education. Jenkins taught the only Afro-centric class (Kgn-3rd)supported in a North Carolina public school after desegregation (1995-1998). She owned an occupational therapy private practice and a private charter school for special needs students K through 12th grade. Dr. Jenkins serves as a national and international healthcare consultant. She has traveled on mission trips to developing countries in Africa, Asia, and South America. Collegiate teaching includes New York University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Winston-Salem State University. Jenkins was elected twice to serve in the Representative Assembly as the representative for internationally-based OT practitioners.  Dr. Jenkins is currently retired and serves as a board member for WSSU's Occupational Therapy Department and also serves as an associate pastor in a local community church. In addition, Dr. Jenkins is co-president of Forsyth County AARP, as well as an NC State AARP Volunteer.  She has an adult son August, who lives in Durham, NC; has two adult grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

E-mail: jenkins.anne67@gmail.com

 

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Victoria Garcia Wilburn Podcast Interview

Victoria Garcia Wilburn, DHSc., OTR, CLT is Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy in the School of Health and Human Sciences at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Garcia-Wilburn is a community-engaged scholar-practitioner researching outcomes and implementing community-based programs, both at the community and population level, that impact practitioners and consumers of occupational therapy services and delivery of occupational therapy services with an emphasis on underserved practice settings. Her most current projects focus on investigating the outcomes of implementing occupation-based programming for adolescents in substance use disorder recovery. She is an awardee of the Robert Wood Johnson New Connections Award, the Latino Leadership Circle from the Indiana Latino Institute, 2018 Occupational Therapist of the Year from the Indiana Occupational Therapy Association, and a recent Fellow from the American Occupational Therapy Association. She is the current Chairperson for the Affiliate State Associations of Presidents (AOTA) and is a candidate for a 2021 Board of Directors position.

 

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Dr. Arameh Podcast Interview

Social media handles: drarameh (IG)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arameh.anvarizadeh
COTAD website: Cotad.org
Click this link to vote: https://www.aota.org/AboutAOTA/Get-Involved/elections.aspx

 

Dr. Arameh Anvarizadeh, OTD, OTR/L is the Director of Admissions and Associate Professor of
Clinical Occupational Therapy at the USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and
Occupational Therapy. Dr. Anvarizadeh is responsible for developing the holistic admissions process and for maintaining effective admissions strategies and procedures within the division. She also oversees each academic program and makes certain the division is filled with high caliber diverse students.

Dr. Anvarizadeh is a Founding Member and Chair-Elect of the Coalition of Occupational Therapy Advocates for Diversity (COTAD), a non-profit organization striving to empower occupational therapy leaders to engage in practices that increase diversity, equity and inclusion for a more transformative occupational therapy profession. She is responsible for developing the COTAD toolkit, the Ignite Series, and COTAD Chapters. She tirelessly works to support and establish COTAD Chapters at academic programs across the country while empowering students to facilitate dialogue, awareness, and change related to issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion within the profession and beyond.

Dr. Anvarizadeh recently made history as the youngest woman of color to be inducted into the
prestigious Roster of Fellows (FAOTA). She is currently running for American Occupational
Therapy Association (AOTA) Vice President, where she is also the only woman of color on the slate.

Dr. Anvarizadeh also currently holds leadership positions with AOTA as the Credential Review and Accountability Committee (CRAC) Chair, as a Representative Assembly Leadership Committee (RALC) member, and as a Governance Task Force member. Dr. Anvarizadeh was also a member of the AOTA Special Task Force on Entry-Level Education and a crucial contributor to the professional dialogue on the entry-level degree requirements. She is a recent alumna of the 2020 cohort for the Executive Leadership Program for Multicultural Women.

Within the Occupational Therapy Association of California (OTAC), Dr. Anvarizadeh serves as a
member of the Advocacy and Government Affairs Committee. She is a recipient of OTAC’s Janice Matsutsuyu Outstanding Service Award and Vision Award. She previously held the position of Communications Chair for seven years.

Dr. Anvarizadeh is an accomplished speaker who has lectured in numerous state and national
conferences, as well as internationally at the World Federation of Occupational Therapists’ (WFOT) congress. Dr. Anvarizadeh is passionate about building healthy, diverse communities through inclusion, equity, empowerment, and advocacy. Using her skills as an occupational therapist and her passion for people, Dr. Anvarizadeh helps others discover, cultivate, and spread their dopeness.

 

Social media handles: drarameh (IG)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arameh.anvarizadeh
COTAD website: Cotad.org
Click this link to vote: https://www.aota.org/AboutAOTA/Get-Involved/elections.aspx

 

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Ms. Victoria Amu Podcast Interview

**Long deserving bio alert: Ms. Victoria Amu was born in Lagos, Nigeria and she is presently, a doctoral candidate at the prestigious Boston University, USA

Her passion for Occupational Therapy(OT) is in Women's Health, with an objective for advocacy and social justice. This led to her heeding the clarion call and returned to Nigeria with the vision for social justice and equality.

She began resuscitating the dying Occupational Therapy services in Nigeria, by joining the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) and changed the Department from two open spaces with four Occupational Therapy Assistants as staff to a department with six treatment areas( Neuro-Rehabilitation, Pediatrics, Orthopedic and splinting, Mental Health, ADL, Vocational Rehabilitation).  She worked not only as a HOD but also supervised clinical postings of OT and OTA students, besides her regular routine practice as an astute Therapist. In a bid to extend Occupational Therapy service to clients and patients, not in the mainstream of Government Hospital service, Ms. Amu became a consultant to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)Hospital, Benin Zone (2008-2011).

In further pursuit of her advocacy and social justice, she joined the Edo State Hospitals Management Board and made history by establishing the first OT Department in Nigeria within a State Hospital. She is presently the Director, Occupational Therapy, HOD, and member of the Central Hospital Management Committee.

Ms. Victoria Amu continues her quest to making notable advancements in Occupational Therapy. Today, Occupational Therapy practice and service delivery in Nigeria is synonymous with the name VICTORIA AMU.

Ms. Amu strives daily to integrate OT service into the Two Hundred and Five (205) Tertiary Hospitals across Nigeria. She is always at the forefront in advocating a revised curriculum of study for Bachelor of Occupational Therapy in Nigeria and increases employment of entry-level OT graduates into Hospitals and the Champion for the new salary scheme of service for OTs and OTAs. Internationally, her contributions to OT development in Africa cannot be quantified, she represented Nigeria in Yokohama, Japan 2014 and also in Kampala, Kenya during OTARG congress in 2015. She leads a team of Occupational Therapist to OTARG Ghana 2017.   

She has many publications on Occupational Therapy, systemic diseases, and breast health in reputable journals and newspapers to her credit. She is also, a public speaker on many issues of National Interest on the different media platforms. 

 Ms. Victoria Amu believes so much in contributing to Professional Development. Consequently, she has organized and attended many CPDs, seminars, and workshops in areas of Stroke Rehabilitation and Human Occupations within and outside Nigeria.

She is also a member of many Professional Organizations: World Federation of Occupational Therapist (WFOT), Medical Rehabilitation Therapist Board of Nigeria(MRTBN), Occupational Therapist in Nigeria (OTAN), America Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine(ACRM)

 She has won several awards which include distinguished academic achievement, was on the National Dean’s List (1993), for an outstanding student, and earned herself the Employee of the Year Award (VNSNY) in 2005. In 2018, Victoria was a recipient of the World Federation of Occupational Therapy, Merit Award in South Africa.

She is the past President of the Occupational Therapists Association (OTAN), formerly Nigeria Association of Occupational Therapist (2014 – 2020), also functions as World Federation of Occupational Therapy,  delegate (2014 – present), Chairman Curriculum Development Research and Strategy Committee(2016 – 2020),  Board member of the Medical Rehabilitation Therapists Board of Nigeria (2013 – 2016) She has also contributed immensely to humanitarian services both in Nigeria in the United State of America. She is a member of Lions Club International, Medical Reserve Corp – USA, American Red Cross, Salvation Army. She was also the co-coordinator, South-South Civil Society for the eradication of Tuberculosis. Her firm belief in the philosophy of persistence breaks resistance makes her a well-adjusted individual, to cope with every challenge that comes her way. Ms. Amu is a Christian and has four children. She loves reading, listening to music, and socializing.

*Email address: vickieamu@gmail.com

 

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Andre Johnson Podcast Interview

André Johnson has been an occupational therapy assistant for ten years. His clinical background is in his preferred setting of pediatrics (school-based & outpatient based) but he additionally has clinical experience in short term rehab, skilled nursing facilities, and some orthopedic experience. He has been in academia for the past six years first as an instructor for three years and for the last three years an academic fieldwork coordinator and instructor. His belief is every student brings a unique experience and perspective and encourages students to blend that unique piece of themselves into their development as a future occupational therapy practitioner. Mr. Johnson is also heavily involved in his state Florida Occupational Therapy Association (FOTA) and national professional organizations American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) and believes this is a necessary requirement for early transitioning therapists to be part of their professional organizations and maintain membership throughout their professional career. 

 

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Tomeico Faison Monologue

Tomeico’s Call to Action Monologue: Ask Everybody

Wayne Faison Podcast Interview

Dr. Douglene Jackson Podcast Interview

Dr. Douglene Jackson, Ph.D., OTR/L, LMT, ATP is a consultant occupational therapist (OT) and assistive Technology professional with over 21 years of experience in the rehabilitation and education fields. She holds a PhD in special education in early childhood, a Master's degree in Occupational Therapy, a Bachelor's degree in Rehabilitation Services with a concentration in counseling, and a Diploma in Massage Therapy. She has also obtained numerous certifications and is an active member of several professional associations and executive boards. Dr. Douglene has interests and expertise in program development, health and educational equity, telehealth, assistive Technology, early intervention, autism, mental-health evidence-based practice, and intervention services for various disabilities across the lifespan. She is a leader, speaker, advocate, educator, scholar, and consultant with international experience. She excels at developing people and programs through creating a simplified curriculum and content, as well as providing innovative and effective interventions and solutions to clients.

 

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