Moderator: Jean Streetar

Jean Streetar is retired from the Washington County Department of Public Health and Environment where she worked as a health educator and public health program manager for 19.5 years. She holds an undergraduate degree from Minnesota State University-Mankato (MSU-M) in Physical Education, Art, and Health Education along with a Coaching Certificate. Her graduate degree in Community Health is also from MSU-M.

Ms. Streetar followed her first career path teaching and coaching in Faribault, Nicollet, and Mankato, MN. She then earned a graduate degree and pursued a chemical dependency counseling certificate. This led to opportunities at MSU-M, St. Joseph’s Hospital in Mankato, Todd County Public Health, St. Cloud-Catholic Charities and finally Washington County.

Currently, Ms. Streetar is active in the MN Public Health Association and is Secretary for the MN Society for Public Health Education. She has been a Certified Health Education Specialist since 2003.

Panelist: Lisa Clemons

Lisa Clemons is a retired Minneapolis Police Sergeant and the founder of A Mother’s Love Initiative (AMLI), a Boots on the Ground grassroots organization she founded in 2014 to give leadership and a voice to African American

mothers and daughters, two groups she believes are often forgotten. One of seven kids born into poverty in Chicago and raised by a strong single mom, Lisa was inspired as a child to pursue a career in law enforcement after witnessing a positive giving act toward her and her mother by Chicago Police. She later moved to Minneapolis with her family when she was 15 years old and

became a Minneapolis Police Officer nearly a decade later.

Lisa is a single mother of five and serves as Executive Director of A Mother's Love Initiative. A Mother’s Love’s grassroots outreach work looks at both the cause and effects of violence against women as well as the correlation between violence against African American women and poverty. Because of her work with A Mother’s Love, Lisa was appointed by Governor Tim Walz as a representative of the Missing and Murdered African American Women Task Force. The A Mother’s Love motto is: Save the mother, you save the child. Save the father, you save the family. Save the family, you save the community.

Panelist: Cedrick Frazier

Panelist: Mark Osler

Mark Osler is the Robert and Marion Short Professor of Law at the University of St. Thomas (MN), where he was chosen as Professor of the Year in 2016, 2019 and 2022. He also holds the Ruthie Mattox Preaching Chair at First Covenant Church, Minneapolis. Osler's writing on clemency, sentencing and narcotics policy has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and The Atlantic and in law journals at Harvard, Stanford, the University of Chicago, Northwestern, Georgetown, Ohio State, UNC, William and Mary, and Rutgers. He is the author of Jesus on Death Row, Prosecuting Jesus, and a casebook, Contemporary Criminal Law, which is now in its second edition.

A former federal prosecutor, he later won the case of Spears v. United States in the U.S. Supreme Court, with the Court ruling that judges could categorically reject the 100-to-1 ratio between crack and powder cocaine in the federal sentencing guidelines. Osler is a graduate of the College of William and Mary and Yale Law School.

Past 2022-2023 MPHA "Public Health Matters" Policy Forums

January 20, 2023…at Work

January 20th Recording

January 20th Agenda

Workplace and worker safety are growing concerns. Panelists at this forum will examine safety measures and training programs designed to keep where we work and who we work with safe.

October 28, 2022…at Home

October 28th Recording

October 28th Agenda

Our homes are havens but keeping them that way is no accident. Our panelists will explore the world of policymaking, safety codes, and more to making living in our homes safe.

Moderator: Kenneth Bence, MHA, MBA, Past MPHA President 

Kenneth Bence is the Director of Research, Analysis and Policy for the Association of Residential Resources in Minnesota (ARRM), a non-profit association of nearly 200 providers, businesses and advocates dedicated to leading the advancement of home and community-based services supporting people living with disabilities. In this role, he is responsible for creating and maintaining data systems that support ARRM’s legislative agenda and advocacy efforts on behalf of its members. With over 30 years of experience in healthcare and related sectors, he has worked with managed care organizations, state and local public health departments, coalitions, community health improvement partnerships, and non-profit foundations. He has served on several Boards of Directors for non-profit organizations, and is a past president of the Minnesota Public Health Association. Finally, with over 20 years as a paid-on-call firefighter and current Battalion Chief with the Golden Valley Fire Department, he brings a unique public safety perspective to his work.

Panelist: Lisa Smestad

Lisa Smestad has worked for the Minneapolis Health Department for over 25 years and is currently the manager of the Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes unit. She has run multiple Federal grants for lead hazards, healthy homes and asthma and participated in several research projects on asthma.

Panelist: Dawn Simonson

Dawn Simonson has more than 20 years of experience in the field of aging, healthcare and advocacy, Dawn is recognized for her leadership as an innovator and collaborator. She is the current chair of the Minnesota Leadership Council on Aging and is past president of the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, currently serving on their Mission Forward Committee. Dawn has a Master of Public Affairs degree from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota. She was named one of the 100 most influential healthcare leaders in 2020 by Minnesota Physician magazine.

Panelist: Amanda Swenson