Panel session 3 — 2 p.m. CT
2020 challenged frontline workers to work together in a new, unfamiliar world. This panel will address how they overcame obstacles to keep communities safe and informed.
Moderator
David Haynes
Retired Ideas Lab Editor, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
David D. Haynes is the retired editor of the Ideas Lab at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He worked as a journalist for more than four decades at news organizations in Indiana, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin. He led the Journal Sentinel’s editorial board from 2011-2022 and the newspaper’s community engagement efforts, including the Main Street Agenda project in 2022, a collaboration between USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin, the La Follette School of Public Affairs, and Wisconsin Public Radio.
Panelists
Lieske Giese
Director and Health Officer, Eau Claire City-County Health Department
Elizabeth (Lieske) Giese, RN, MSPH, has served as the director/health officer of the Eau Claire City-County Health Department for 10 years. She has worked for the past 30 years in a variety of public health roles in Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Minnesota including for the Wisconsin Division of Public Health and the City of Milwaukee Health Department. Lieske also currently serves on the Governor’s Public Health Council and on the Medical College of Wisconsin Consortium Board as well as being the co-chair of the joint Wisconsin Public Health Association (WPHA)-Wisconsin Association of Local Health Departments and Boards (WALHDAB) Policy and Advocacy Committee.
Lisa Summers
Area Manager, Oneida Nation Business Committee, Oneida Nation
Lisa Summers has served the Oneida Nation government in various roles since 2002 and is utilizing her twenty plus years of experience in her current role as the area manager for the Oneida Nation’s Business Committee. One of Lisa’s most prominent roles was service in the Oneida Nation’s elected secretary position from 2014 to 2020. During her tenure, she became a strong advocate for the use of good governance principles in government decision-making and was a co-sponsor and project champion for the successful amendments in the Oneida Nation’s constitution as well as the implementation of Oneida’s judicial branch of government. Lisa also serves her community as a guardian ad litem, a role she has been active in since 2012 and for which her bachelor’s degree in management of criminal justice from Concordia University, is served well.
Dr. Diamond D. Williams
Outreach Program Manager, Wisconsin Department of Health Services COVID-19 Response and Recovery Team
Dr. Diamond D. Williams currently serves as the outreach program manager for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services COVID-19 Response & Recovery Team. In her role, she oversees the administration of one of the largest statewide COVID-19 vaccination health equity grants with more than $30 million invested in communities across all 72 counties. In addition to her robust experience advocating for equitable and effective local public health policies and practices, Dr. Williams has managed more than $340 million in grants and organizational budgets. A dynamic leader whose enthusiasm buoys her team, Dr. Williams is a committed health leader and equity strategist with 10-plus years of experience supporting, creating, and implementing community-led programs that impact population health. A native of Milwaukee, Dr. Williams is a proud alumna of Howard University in Washington D.C., Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA, and Walden University in Minneapolis, MN.