Roger A. Mitchell, MD

Dr. Roger A. Mitchell Jr. is the 126th President of the National Medical Association and a board-certifiedforensic pathologist with 20 years of experience. He recently served as President of Howard UniversityHospital where he led sweeping transformation of one of the nation’s most historic academic safety-nethospitals. Prior to that, Dr. Mitchell served as Chief Medical Officer and Tenured Professor of Pathologyat Howard University Faculty Practice Plan. As Washington, DC's Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Mitchellmanaged thousands of autopsies and later became Interim Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice,working on violence prevention policy for the city. Dr. Mitchell co-authored Death in Custody: HowAmerica Ignores the Truth and What We Can Do About It, co-hosted the NAACP Image Awards-nominated podcast Official Ignorance, and appeared on numerous television programs like Dateline withLester Holt, PBS Frontline, Meet the Press, and Roland Martin. Dr. Mitchell studied at Howard University,Rutgers – New Jersey Medical School, George Washington University Hospital, and completed hisfellowship at New York City's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Barbara Pullen-Smith, PhD, MPH

Dr. Pullen-Smith’s public health career has span 35+ years.Her early career included community engagement and health advocacy work for theGeneral Baptist State Convention of North Carolina and American Cancer Society.At the state level, she served in key positions during her 27 years in theNorth Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, including foundingDirector of the NC Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities, serving inthat role for 19 years. Dr. Pullen-Smith’s national leadership roles includeserving as past President of the National Association of State Offices ofMinority Health (NASOMH) and contributor to the National Partnership for Actionto End Health Disparities, Department of Health and Human Services. Since retiring from state government in 2012, this author,Public Health consultant/grant writer, and entrepreneur continues to serveothers. She is a Co-Investigator for a five-year home blood pressure monitoringand control project and Consultant for a faith-led project focused onincreasing access to mental health services and youth suicide prevention inunderserved communities. Dr. Pullen-Smith is a 10-year breast cancer survivorand in 2021 helped to establish the Sister to Sister Alliance, LLC, a breastcancer awareness and support organization. Dr. Pullen-Smith obtained her undergraduate degree in PublicHealth Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Master’sdegree in Health Administration from Emory University, Atlanta Georgia and aPh.D. in Leadership Studies from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical(A&T) State University, Greensboro, N.C. She has been married to Keith Smith for 43 years and theyhave two adult sons.

Mara Youdelman, J.D., L.L.M.

Mara Youdelman, J.D., L.L.M., is the Managing Director, Federal Advocacy. Mara has worked at the National Health Law Program since 2000 on issues that include Medicaid & CHIP, the Affordable Care Act, language access, and civil rights (including Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act) and demographic data collection. Mara coordinates the National Health Law Program’s federal legislative and administrative work, leading the organization’s efforts to protect and expand access to and the quality of health care for low-income and underserved populations. Mara also co-chairs The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights’ Health Care Task Force and its Policy & Enforcement Committee.Mara is a leading and award-winning national expert on language access in health settings. She was a Founding Commissioner for the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI) and rejoined CCHI for another three-year term as Commissioner in 2023.She was named a 2010 Health Reform Champion by SHIRE (the Summit Health Institute for Research and Education) and a 2011 Language Access Champion by the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care (NCIHC).Before joining the National Health Law Program, Mara completed a teaching fellowship at Georgetown University Law Center’s Federal Legislation Clinic and spent two years litigating for the Administration for Children’s Services in New York City. Mara earned her LL.M. in Advocacy from Georgetown University Law Center in 2000, her J.D. from Boston University School of Law in 1996, and her B.A. from Tufts University in 1991. She also founded AWARE: Actively Working for Acquaintance Rape Education, an interactive educational program on acquaintance rape.Before law school, Mara was the general manager of a non-profit theater company in the Boston area that produced and toured original productions based on social issues. She has also bicycled twice from Washington, DC to Raleigh, NC, and twice from Boston, MA, to New York, NY to raise money for HIV and AIDS programs and research.