Staff: Who We Are

Patrice Pascual, MA 
Executive Director
ppascual@cdhp.org    

Ms. Pascual joined CDHP in November 2012. Her responsibilities include overall leadership, strategic management and fundraising. Until recently, she was the contract lead for the Head Start Dental Home Initiative, supporting the federal Office of Head Start and state teams in ensuring effective oral health services for children ages birth to 5. Before that, she was Executive Director of the Journalism Center on Children and Families at the University of Maryland, which provides journalists with resources and training to support coverage of social issues. She began her career in creative services at Connecticut Public Television and has been a VISTA volunteer. Ms. Pascual holds a bachelor's degree in international relations and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Maryland.

Meg Booth, MPH
Director of Policy
mbooth@cdhp.org 

Ms. Booth is the Director of Policy 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

Director of Programs
mfrosh@cdhp.org 

Marcy Frosh is the Director of Programs 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 Reusch, MPA

Policy Analyst
creusch@cdhp.org
 

Colin Reusch is a Policy Analyst at CDHP where he tracks implementation of health care reform, researches and drafts issue briefs and policy documents, and provides guidance and direction in identifying and pursuing policy initiatives as they relate to improving oral health.  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

Director of Operations
awilliams@cdhp.org 

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

Burton Edelstein, DDS, MPH Burton Edelstein DDS MPH, a Board Certified pediatric dentist, founded the Children’s Dental Health Project in 1997 as the voice for children and their oral health whenever policymakers address issues of children’ health and wellbeing. Edelstein has served children’s interests as a clinician, teacher, researcher, analyst, advocate, and policy expert. He practiced pediatric dentistry in New London County, Connecticut, and taught at Harvard and UCONN for 21 years before committing to full-time health policy practice and research. His health policy work began as a 1996-7 Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow in the Office of Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle, then continued as leader of the Department of Health and Human Services Oral Health Initiatives from 1997-2000. He is now Professor of Dentistry and Health Policy at Columbia University where he chairs the department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the College of Dental Medicine. Edelstein has authored over 100 publications on topics related to pediatric oral health, dental education and health policy. He has consulted widely with professional associations, national organizations of policymakers, foundations, health and child advocates, State governments, and federal agencies. He serves as a Commissioner of the Congressional Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC). He is a graduate of Harpur College, SUNY Buffalo School of Dentistry, Harvard School of Public Health, and the Boston Children's Hospital pediatric dentistry residency program. Edelstein is a Fellow of the American College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists. His work with CDHP and others has been recognized by professional and public health associations, student groups, universities, and others with the following awards: · Distinguished Service Award, Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors · Distinguished Service Award, American Association of Public Health Dentistry · Pediatric Dentist of the Year, American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry · Presidential Citation, American Dental Education Association · Outstanding Service Award, American College of Dentists · Public Advocacy Award, Friends of the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research · Foundation of Excellence in Community Service Award, NY State Dental Association Foundation · Visionary Leadership Award, Medicaid-SCHIP Dental Association · Dental Visionary Award, American Student Dental Association · Cushing Award, Chicago Dental Society · Fones Memorial Medal, Connecticut State Dental Association · Clinical Research Award, American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry · Distinguished Alumnus Award, Harvard School of Dental Medicine · Fogarty Memorial Lecturer, Baltimore College of Dentistry · Edward Zegarelli Teaching Award, Columbia University College of Dental Medicine · Dr. Edward B. Shils Entrepreneurial Education Fund Award

Libby Mullin
libbymullin1@me.com 

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.