Beneli Andert

Beneli Andert, MPH, (they/them/theirs) has a background working as a Wisconsin Population Health Service Fellow placed at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services in the Chronic Disease Prevention Unit. Through the Fellowship, Beneli was able to work to improve health in Wisconsin communities while simultaneously building public health and leadership skills around health equity and coalition building. They also have extensive experience working with LGBTQ health, mental health, education, and advocacy.

Linda Baumann

Linda J. Baumann, PhD, RN-C, FAAN  is Professor Emerita University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing and an affiliate faculty member in the School of Medicine and Public Health. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and a Fellow of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. Professor Baumann received her nursing degrees from the University of Michigan and her PhD in health psychology from the UW-Madison. She practiced as an Adult Nurse Practitioner in primary care settings with underserved populations in both urban and rural settings and internationally. Her research examines how beliefs about health and illness influence self-care behaviors. Professor Baumann has been involved in healthcare workforce development in Uganda and Vietnam, and in rural Wisconsin. She is a founding member of the UW-Madison Global Health Institute and active in many national and international professional organizations. She has served as president of the Society of Behavioral Medicine and as a member of the US Preventive Services Task Force. Most of her teaching career has involved delivering interdisciplinary courses for health science and public health students. Professor Baumann remains active in her community in volunteer organizations and continues to enjoy gardening, sailing, and traveling.

Kiersten Frobom

Kiersten holds dual master’s degrees in Public Affairs and Public Health, and a certificate in Global Health, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During graduate school, Kiersten worked as a project assistant with County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, interned with nonprofit Health Access Connect on its Monitoring and Evaluation team in Uganda, and held a German Language and Area Studies fellowship. Prior to graduate school, Kiersten worked at the statewide research project Survey of the Health of Wisconsin and at the Wisconsin Historical Society. She has a B.A. in History and certificate in Women’s Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Gillian Giglierano

Gillian is the Evidence and Policy Analysis Team Lead at CHR&R. She most recently served as an evidence analyst on the E&PA team. This team’s work includes What Works for Health (WWFH), an online database that provides community leaders, coalitions, and others with promising strategies to advance health and equity. Prior to joining County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, Gillian worked in public education as an orchestra program director where she focused on program accessibility and educational equity.

Gillian holds a Master of Public Affairs from University of Wisconsin-Madison’s La Follette School and a bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University. 

Julianna Manske

New to Public Health Residency Program Manager

Julianna Manske is the program manager and co-founder of the New to Public Health Residency Program and is employed with the University-Wisconsin Madison School of Nursing. Julianna spearheaded the workgroup in 2016 that developed and implemented the Southeastern Wisconsin Public Health Nurse Residency Program. This program, which ran from 2017-2020, served as a foundation to build the New to Public Health Residency Program, which supports public health professionals in their first year of employment at a local, regional, tribal, or state health department. Julianna serves on the Association of Public Health Nurses’ Board of Directors (Education and Professional Development Committee Chair 2018-2022, Secretary 2022-2023; President rotation 2023-2026). Julianna graduated from Concordia University with a Master of Science in Nursing Education, and Carroll University with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Julianna is passionate about workforce development, and she is grateful to work with an incredible team developing and facilitating the New to Public Health Residency Program; and collaborating with public health leaders across the country.

McKenzie Liegel

New to Public Health Residency Program Specialist

McKenzie Liegel is the Program Specialist with the New to Public Health Residency Program. She received her Masters in Public Health with a focus in Community Health from East Tennessee State University and her BS in Biology from UW Madison. Prior to joining the N2PH team, McKenzie was with the UW Population Health Institute where she worked as a coach for communities across Wisconsin to help them implement policy, systems, and environmental changes and improve health equity. She also focused on public health workforce development and training.

McKenzie has previous experience in local governmental public health, working as a Population Health Service Fellow at two LHDs in rural Wisconsin. In her time as a Fellow, she focused on the CHA/CHIP process, COVID-19 response and communications, accreditation, coalition building, and implementing health equity training for staff. She has also served as an AmeriCorps VISTA member in Appalachian Tennessee, worked on COVID-19 response with WI Department of Health Services, and provided technical assistance around substance misuse for the Opioid Response Network.

Rachel Meyer

Rachel Meyer is a chronic disease prevention epidemiologist at the Wisconsin state health department. Rachel conducts statewide surveillance on diabetes and heart disease data. Additionally, she conducts surveillance on risk factors for heart disease and diabetes like obesity, access to fruits and vegetables, and access to exercise opportunities.  Her work supports funding to improve the opportunities for all Wisconsinites to live a healthy life. Rachel graduated from the University if Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public health with a Master’s in Public Health. Rachel is passionate about the social drivers of health and how this relates to a person’s ability to eat a healthy diet and have a safe place to exercise.

Jessica Rubenstein

Jessica holds dual masters degrees in Public Affairs and Public Health from the University of Wisconsin Madison’s La Follette School of Public Affairs and the School of Medicine and Public Health and a B.A. in Political Science and History. During graduate school she worked as a project assistant with County Health Rankings & Roadmaps and as a research analyst for Wisconsin AHEC and the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. Prior to graduate school, she was a project manager and implementation specialist at Epic, installing electronic health records at primary care clinics and hospitals throughout the country. Her interests focus on health and social justice, particularly through maternal and child health and alleviation of socioeconomic inequities.

Jessica Solcz

Jessica holds a Master of Public Health from the Central New York Master of Public Health Program, a joint venture between Syracuse University and the State University of New York Upstate Medical University. She has a Certificate of Advanced Study in Health Services Management and Policy from Syracuse University. During graduate school, she worked as a research assistant to Dr. Thomas Dennison of the Maxwell School, interned at the Health Foundation for Western and Central New York, was a residential assistant, and worked as a phlebotomist. She received a B.A. in History from Colgate University. Her research interests include health equity and community development, particularly around health care access & quality, housing, tobacco use, and health in all policies.

Kelli Stader

Kelli Stader, MPH, RD, is the Nutrition Coordinator for the Chronic Disease Prevention Unit at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. In this role, she implements policy, systems, and environmental change strategies to support breastfeeding and healthy eating. She works closely with state and local partners to foster coordination and collaboration across communities, prioritizing equity to reduce disparities in healthy behaviors and related outcomes.

Barb Duerst

Ms. Barbara Duerst was the Deputy Director of the School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) Master of Public Health (MPH) Program. She began her career as a public health nurse and eventually served as the health officer in the Green County Health Department in southern Wisconsin. She received a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Edgewood College in Madison and a master's degree in community health nursing and administration from UW-Madison.

Hannah Hayes

Hannah Hayes was a co-developer of the New to Public Health Residency Program. In 2018, Hannah completed her Master of Public Health (MPH) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During that time, Hannah partnered with the Southeastern Wisconsin Public Health Nurse Residency Program, where she assisted in the co-development of a toolkit for the dissemination and implementation of the residency program, which served as the foundation for the New to Public Health Residency Program. Hannah Hayes currently works as a nurse at Access Community Health Center.  Hannah graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2016.

Lena Swander

Lena Swander, MPH, was an epidemiologist with the Chronic Disease Prevention Unit at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. She monitors chronic diseases and investigates their environmental, social, and behavioral underpinnings to support health promotion programming.

Jill Denson, PhD, ABD, MSW, APSW
University of Wisconsin-Madison Prevention Research Center

Deborah Heim, PhD, MS, MN, BSN
Public Health Nurse Consultant (PHNC), retired
Wisconsin Division of Public Health
Office of Policy and Practice Alignment (OPPA) for the SE region

Ajay Sethi, PhD, MHS
UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health

Katie Gillespie, DNP, RN, CPH, FAAN
University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Nursing

McKenzie Liegel, MPH, CHES
University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Nursing

Cathy Goodpaster, RDH BS
Metro Public Health Department, Nashville/Davidson County, Tennessee

Julianna Manske, MSN, RN, OCN
University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Nursing