Staff: Who We Are

Catherine Dunham, Ed.D.
Executive Director
Email- cdunham@cdhp.org

Dr. Dunham leads the CDHP team through the implementation of strategic initiatives , board management and development, project coordination, staff administration and management, resource development, and policy advocacy. Dr. Dunham is also the President and Founder of The Access Project, a research and advocacy organization that has worked to improve access to health care for people without adequate health insurance since 1998.  Dr. Dunham received her Masters in Education and her Doctorate in Social Analysis in Education from Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts.  She has faculty appointments at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and Brandeis University.

Meg Booth, MPH
Deputy Executive Director
Email- mbooth@cdhp.org
 
Ms. Booth is the Deputy Executive Director of CDHP where she manages policy efforts to improve the health and health care systems for children. Prior to joining CDHP Ms. Booth served as a Policy Analyst for children with special health care needs and early childhood issues at the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs. Her background includes working to educate policy makers on child health issues at the local, state, and national levels. Ms. Booth worked with local health department in North Carolina to assess and evaluate their strategies to enroll children into public health care coverage. Additionally, Ms. Booth also worked in the Family Services Bureau at the Iowa Department of Public Health developing the state Title V Block Grant application and outreach strategies for enrolling Iowa's children into Medicaid and SCHIP coverage. Additionally, Ms. Booth was a Policy Associate with the Alliance for Health Reform and a private consultant at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Ms. Booth holds a bachelor of arts in Community Health Education with a minor in Women's Studies from the University of Northern Iowa. She also obtained a Master's in Public Health from the Department of Maternal and Child Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 
 

Marcy Frosh, JD
Associate Executive Director, Infrastructure Development Initiative Related to Oral Disease Prevention and Oral Health Promotion
 
Marcy Frosh is the Associate Executive Director of CDHP where she manages state policy initiatives. Prior to joining CDHP, Ms. Frosh served as a consultant on health policy projects with MayaTechCorporation's Health Policy and Legislative Analysis Program. Under contract with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), she completed key phases of a project to develop an instrument to evaluate state childhood obesity policies related to the School Nutrition and Physical Activity Environment. She also served as a consultant on the development and implementation of a legislative evaluation system to enhance analyses of State Cancer Legislative Database data for NCI's American StopSmoking Intervention Study (ASSIST). She has dedicated her career to local, state and federal policy and legislative development with a particular focus on public health. Ms. Frosh holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Maryland. She also obtained her Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center.
 
Colin Pekruhn, MPP
Senior Policy Analyst
 
Colin Pekruhn is the Senior Policy Analyst at CDHP where he provides leadership in educating and advocating for effective oral health policies and programs for children. An expert in school and child health policy, Mr. Pekruhn served as the Childhood Obesity Prevention Project Director at the National Association of State Boards of Education prior to joining CDHP. Mr. Pekruhn holds a Masters of Public Policy with a Health Policy concentration from the George Washington University Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology from the College of William and Mary.
 
 
Colin Reusch, MPA
Project Associate
 
Colin Reusch is a Project Associate at CDHP where he manages electronic communications efforts, assists in the creation of publications, and provides support for project planning and policy efforts.  Prior to joining CDHP, Colin worked on young alumni programs at Eastern Kentucky University and local government policy issues at the Kentucky League of Cities.  Colin earned his Master's of Public Administration from Eastern Kentucky University in 2009
 
 
Akilah Williams, PHR
Operations Manager
 

Akilah Williams is the Operations Manager of CDHP where she provides financial and administrative support to strengthen CDHP’s financial standing efficiency; oversees general business management of the organization; and manages the daily administrative and office functions that support CDHP.  Prior to joining CDHP, Ms. Williams worked as a Recruiter/HR Generalist for Spherion where she managed the recruiting and staffing needs of high profile accounts who’s gross sales range from $50K to $1M plus. In this role, Akilah also managed the day-to-day operations of the branch office. Before joining the staffing industry, Akilah worked in association management and meeting/event planning for five years where she also acquired skills in public relations and administrative management.  Akilah holds an M.B.A. in Human Resources Management from the American Intercontinental University, and a B.A. in Communication from the University of Maryland at College Park. She is a member of the Society of Human Resource Management and has also completed the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) Certification.

 

CONSULTANTS

 

Libby Mullin
Email- libbymullin@starpower.net

 

Libby Mullin graduated from Lawrence University with a B.A. in political science in 1990.  After eight years of legislative experience on Capitol Hill, Libby opened her own health care consulting practice, Mullin Strategies, in 1999. Libby has worked extensively with non-profit advocacy and provider groups in identifying and directing their legislative and regulatory interests as well as providing strategic guidance on a range of issues from lobbying to coalition building to board development to corporate fundraising.

Highlights of Libby’s work include securing a 5 year, $20 million CDC campaign on women’s health, drafting and negotiating the inclusion of eight specific provisions on oral health to the S-CHIP Reauthorization legislation, drafting and helping pass legislation that authorizes a $100 million in new funding for children’s oral health, managing a $2 million federal grant on oral health and securing a new source of stable federal support for the operations of the nation’s children’s hospitals.

On the strategic consulting side, Libby works with clients to develop their overall strategic plans, develop key messages, identify new partners, build coalitions, run board meetings, and secure new sources of funding.  Libby routinely runs advocacy workshops on how to be effective with policymakers.

Libby is the recipient of the 1999 “Friend of Children and Children’s Hospitals” award from the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and the 2003 President’s Award of Excellence from the Interstitial Cystitis Association.

Prior to Mullin Strategies, Libby worked as a health policy advisor and chief of staff for several members of the U.S. House of Representatives who served on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.  During her tenure, Libby was intimately involved in Medicaid and Medicare reform, a wide range of public health service programs and the enactment of SCHIP.  On behalf of Rep. Diana DeGette, Libby successfully negotiated the only Democratic amendment to SCHIP during its enactment in the summer of 1998.