Matt directs and manages all aspects of the Alliance’s initiatives, operations and budgeting. Matt leads efforts to build partnerships with government, public and private health systems, organizations, and individuals to foster the Alliance’s work.
Matt received his bachelor’s degree in health sciences and dental hygiene from Marquette University and a master’s degree in public health from A.T. Still University. Matt is a past president of the American Dental Hygienists Association
Matt enjoys spending time traveling and camping with his wife and son, Marquette basketball, cooking, home improvement and cycling outdoors when weather permits and year round on his Peloton.
Sarah oversees conference and event logistics for each of the Alliance’s key initiatives.
Sarah received her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Northeastern University, where she focused her studies on marketing and management.
In her free time, Sarah enjoys swimming, listening to podcasts and hiking with her husband and dog.
Program Leader - Creative Services and Student Development
Tara Goris, MS
Tara works with the Alliance initiatives to develop and maintain graphic and branding standards. Tara is responsible for editing, design, layout and production of communication and promotional materials. She oversees and manages the interns and HealthCorps members at the Alliance.
Tara received her bachelor’s degree in public health from Indiana University, a master’s degree in adult education and human resource development from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and an associate’s degree in graphic design from Milwaukee Area Technical College.
Tara is grateful for her role with the Alliance, as it is a unique blend of her high regard for public health and love of design. Tara enjoys downhill skiing, reading and hiking.
Sage supports the Alliance’s key initiatives through marketing and communication. She is responsible for social media, website management, storytelling, creative writing and editing.
Sage received her bachelor’s degree in communication from Carroll University. Before joining the Alliance team, she planned fundraising events for Children’s Wisconsin Foundation, including Miracle Marathon and Briggs & Al’s Run & Walk.
In her free time, Sage enjoys spending time with family, enjoying the outdoors with her husband, listening to podcasts and reading.
Program Leader - Emergency Medical Services for Children
Carissa Brunner, MPH, CLC
Carissa is the program leader for the Wisconsin Emergency Medical Services for Children initiative. In this role, she works with statewide partners to improve pediatric emergency care in both prehospital and hospital-based settings.
Carissa earned a master’s degree in public health from Colombia Southern University with a concentration in community health education, as well as a bachelor’s of science majoring in Applied Health Sciences and minoring in biology from University of Wisconsin-Parkside.
In her free time, Carissa enjoys spending time with her family, taking long walks with her dog, hiking, listening to podcasts and doing yoga.
Carissa Hoium serves as the program leader for the environmental health initiative. In this role, she focuses on improving health outcomes for children with asthma and on eliminating lead poison risks. Her asthma work focuses on leading program activities related to the statewide asthma work plan, including coordinating the Wisconsin Asthma Coalition, School-Based Asthma Management Program, school and child care environmental walkthroughs, and medication assistance website. Her lead poisoning prevention work involves collaborating with partners to mitigate ongoing environmental lead exposures and decrease childhood lead poisoning through education, coordination of services and the implementation of effective policies and practices.
Carissa has a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and obtained her Master of Public Health degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin. Prior to working with the Alliance, she focused on injury prevention work at Children’s Wisconsin, specifically motor vehicle safety. She is passionate about the health and safety of Wisconsin’s children.
Carissa enjoys spending time with her family and friends, traveling with her husband and two daughters, reading and getting outside to enjoy nature.
Sarah serves as program manager for the environmental health initiative, focusing on asthma health management and enhancing air quality monitoring in the Milwaukee area. In this role, she works with statewide and local partners to strengthen knowledge of air quality risk factors within neighborhoods and provides tools to use as proactive measures to protect health. She leads multiple program activities that follow nationally known models, to improve health outcomes for children with asthma.
Sarah has a Bachelor of Arts in social work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master of Arts in special education from Cardinal Stritch University. Prior to joining the environmental health team, Sarah was an educational specialist with Children’s Wisconsin and a special education teacher. She is excited to continue partnerships with local communities to build a healthier future for Wisconsin’s children.
In her free time, Sarah enjoys spending time with her family and friends, traveling, being a foodie, attending concerts and being outdoors.
Geeta is program leader of the medical home initiative. She oversees and manages projects in this section of the Alliance designed to support physicians, partners and parents in providing family-centered, high quality care.
Geeta Wadhwani received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. She completed her master’s degree in public health at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Geeta enjoys her family, running, hiking and traveling.
Program Leader - Injury Prevention and Death Review
Karen Nash, MBA
In this role, Karen works to reduce the burden of injury and fatality to children and young adults through leadership of Wisconsin’s Child Death Review (CDR) program. Her main role is to provide technical assistance to CDR teams statewide by helping them to learn and understand the case review process, collect information that translates into useful data, then use the data to inform recommendations that will prevent similar deaths. Karen works collaboratively with partners to help them identify barriers and implement strategies that lead to improved local and statewide injury prevention outcomes.
Karen earned a Master’s in Business Administration from Ottawa University and has a Bachelor of Arts from Alverno College.
Karen enjoys working for the Alliance because her work promotes positive change in the lives of Wisconsin children. In her spare time, Karen likes to read and spend quality time with family and friends.
Program Manager - Injury Prevention and Death Review
Amy L. Cline, MSW, APSW
As the program manager for Injury Prevention and Death Review, Amy supports child death review teams across Wisconsin as they review infant and child deaths, for the purpose of preventing future child deaths.
Amy received her bachelor’s degree in sociology and teaching English for speakers of other languages from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she focused on Community & Organizational Leadership, Children and Family Welfare, and obtained a certification in trauma informed care. Before joining the Alliance, Amy supported anti-violence efforts in Milwaukee County, by leading a collaborative of a multidisciplinary partners and advocates, an urgent advocacy response, and advisory board that worked to support youth experiencing commercial sexual exploitation.
Amy is honored to expand her impact in the lives of children, youth, and families across her home state of Wisconsin in her role at the Alliance. In her free time, Amy enjoys playing in card leagues, working out at her local gym, watching Green Bay Packers and Milwaukee Bucks games, and spending as much time outside as possible.
Program Manager - Injury Prevention and Death Review
Joanna O’Donnell, GC-C
As the project manager for Injury Prevention and Death Review, Joanna’s focus is working with local child death review teams to review infant and child death for the purpose of preventing future child deaths.
Joanna worked closely with grieving families at a Milwaukee area cemetery prior to working for the Alliance. She received her bachelor’s degree in English from UW-Milwaukee. In her free time, she is a voracious reader and loves to laugh with her family and friends.
As the epidemiologist for the injury prevention and death review initiative, Catheryn analyzes data regarding infant and child deaths in the state of Wisconsin to inform prevention efforts. She also provides technical support and training to help child death review teams record and use data to improve child and infant safety in their own jurisdictions.
Catheryn has a Bachelor of Arts in biology from Macalester College and a Master of Public Health with a focus on epidemiology from George Washington University. Before joining the Alliance, she worked as an epidemiologist at the Maryland Department of Health, supporting viral hepatitis prevention.
Catheryn is grateful for the opportunity to work with the Alliance to improve the health and safety of children in Wisconsin. In her free time, she enjoys spending time outdoors with her dog, reading and traveling.
Geeta is program leader of the medical home initiative. She oversees and manages projects in this section of the Alliance designed to support physicians, partners and parents in providing family-centered, high quality care.
Geeta Wadhwani received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. She completed her master’s degree in public health at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Geeta enjoys her family, running, hiking and traveling.
Morgan serves as a Project Manager with the Medical Home Initiative. In this role, she works with statewide partners to increase early identification and intervention for children with special health care needs. She provides trainings, support and resources in the areas of developmental screening and mental health screening for health care professionals. In addition, she works with local public health departments who choose developmental screening as a national performance objective.
Morgan received her bachelor’s degree in special education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to joining the Medical Home team, Morgan was a special educator and department chair. Her passions lie in the area of disability advocacy and she is excited to continue to work supporting system-wide changes that benefit children and youth with special health care needs across the state.
In her free time, Morgan enjoys traveling, camping, baking and spending time with her family at their cabin in Northern Wisconsin.
Anna serves as a program manager with the medical home initiative. In this role, she works with partners statewide to increase early identification and care coordination for children and youth with special health care needs, and supports trainings in developmental screening for health care professionals throughout Wisconsin.
Anna received her bachelor’s degree in health sciences from the University of South Dakota, and a master’s degree in public health from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.
In her free time, Anna enjoys spending time with her friends and family, traveling, being outdoors and going on long walks with her dog.
Lindsay serves as the project manager for the oral health initiative as well as our environmental health initiative. In this role, she works with partners statewide to improve access to oral health services through various projects and policy initiatives. Lindsay leads and manages the work of the Wisconsin Oral Health Coalition and Milwaukee Oral Health Coalition. In addition, she is responsible for the non-clinical aspects of the Wisconsin Medical Dental Integration Project. As project manager, she creates and presents trainings, facilitates meetings and establishes collaborative relationships with a diverse group of partners.
Lindsay has over 20 years of experience in public health working as a registered nurse. Much of this time Lindsay has advocated for the health of children in the community while working within a school setting providing nursing services, asthma education and coordinating a dental varnish program. Lindsay received her Bachelors of Science in Nursing from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee.
In her free time, Lindsay enjoys spending time with her family, walking her golden retriever, reading and knitting.
Amanda serves as a program manager for the oral health initiative. In this role, she serves as the State Implementation Coordinator for the Maternal and Child Health Improving Oral Health Integration Project. Her role contributes to medical dental integration in Wisconsin through strategic partnerships and implementation of evidence-based strategies to improve oral health. She’s passionate about maternal and child health, improving access to care and policy change that advances public health.
Amanda received her Bachelor of Science degree in sociology from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, and her Master of Public Health degree from A.T. Still University. She also holds a Certified Health Education Specialist designation. In addition to oral health, Amanda has worked on a variety of public health topics during her career, including injury prevention and indoor air quality.
In her free time, Amanda enjoys reading, traveling and spending time outdoors with her family.
Kasia serves as the program coordinator for the oral health initiative. In this role, she leads outreach and education efforts for the Maternal and Child Health Improving Oral Health Integration Project. Kasia supports outreach and education statewide and with our partners to improve oral health literacy in both primary care providers, patients and their caregivers. In addition to her outreach and education work, Kasia supports both the Wisconsin and Milwaukee Oral Health Coalition. She is passionate about uplifting community voice and fostering health equity through impactful outreach.
Kasia received her Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of Florida in 2020, and her Master in Biomedical Engineering and a graduate certificate in life science communication from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2024. She also spent time in Poland as a Fulbright Student Researcher and supported Ukrainian refugee humanitarian efforts.
In her free time, Kasia loves to draw, play Nintendo games, travel and is currently learning Portuguese.
