Shaunessy Lofton is a North Carolina native and Public Health professional. She received her Master of Public Health with a concentration in Community Health Education from her alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. During her studies as a masters student, she also obtained a certificate in Ethnic and Rural Health Disparities from East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine. As a public health professional, Shaunessy has contributed greatly to the NCDHHS’s NC Community Health Workers statewide initiative, developing a toolkit where she provided technical assistance for Advanced Medical Homes to integrate and optimize community health workers into their clinics. She believes that this work is integral to understanding the Social Determinants of Health that contribute to one’s health status. Shaunessy advocates for true equity being a priority in all care systems and knows that there is always space for bidirectional learning.

Shaunessy‘s professional goal is to normalize a culture that prioritizes equitable measures in research, implementation, and integration of strategies. Her dream is to live in a world where there’s a normalized culture that enables patients to be empowered in clinical settings to discuss biological, cultural, social, and psychological perspectives that contribute to health outcomes.  Shaunessy has a passion for bringing qualitative data and the community’s voices to all decisions being made on the behalf of a community having created and facilitated many focus groups and advisory boards to help inform the work being done. During Shaunessy‘s spare time, you will generally find her volunteering in vulnerable communities with local organizations, spending time with her daughter, cooking, or traveling.

Erin Storie is a native North Carolinian, born in Western Hickory, NC and raised in Northeastern Gates, NC. She holds a Bachelor of Spanish from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. From 2014-2022, she worked at Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center, located in Ahoskie NC, first as a Special Populations Outreach Worker and later as the Communications & Advocacy Coordinator. While at RCCHC she worked to ensure patients were connected to affordable healthcare services and advocated for funding of community health centers and increased access to care for underserved populations, including undocumented and Low English Proficiency individuals.

She also provided medical interpretation services to Spanish speaking patients and their families. As Communications & Advocacy Coordinator, she handled communications for the health center during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on providing culturally appropriate, evidence-based information. She was also the lead for RCCHC’s Health Equity Workgroup which oversaw changes to quality improvement methods and DEI culture to better serve both staff and patients. When Erin isn’t at work, she enjoys spending time with her family, and trail running, especially with her two dogs.

Weyling White is a proud native of Ahoskie, a small rural town located in eastern North Carolina. Born and raised in Ahoskie, Weyling left to attend college and returned back to Ahoskie to bring change to his community. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science from Winston-Salem State University, and he obtained his Master of Business Administration in Healthcare Management from the University of Phoenix.

Weyling joined the Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center in 2013, as the Director of Hertford Health Access which has led to hundreds of patients receiving free or reduced health care services throughout Eastern North Carolina, as well as, improving the health outcomes of many of these vulnerable patients. In this role, he also established the TRIP program which has allowed many chronically ill patients in his community to access free rides to medical appointments and other resources.

While working to provide access to care for the uninsured population, Weyling was also instrumental in founding numerous initiatives surrounding social drivers of health, youth wellness, and health equity. He has served on the Board of Directors for Care Share Health Alliance, while also serving as Co-Chair of the Collaborative Network Committee.  In 2017, Weyling took on the role as the RCCHC’s Practice Administrator and has continued to remain committed to community partnerships as he is the current Co-Chair of the Hertford Health Maintenance Alliance.

In 2019, Weyling made history as he was elected as Ahoskie’s first African American Mayor. Weyling is a graduate of the Rural Economic Development Institute with the NC Rural Center, as well as, a Leadership North Carolina Class XXVI graduate, and is a current Bernstein Health Leadership Fellow. He has a strong passion for health equity, social justice, and rural health.