Summit List of Presenters

Presenters

Anjulyn Ballard is a graduate of Fort Valley State University with a B.S. in Food & Nutrition. She previously worked with the DeKalb County Board of Health as a Nutritionist with WIC. She currently works with Bright From the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning as a Nutrition Program Consultant. Anjulyn recently became certified as a Group Fitness Instructor with the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA).

Mara Galic is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian and works as the Project Coordinator for Georgia’s Obesity Prevention Initiative (funded through CDC) with the Georgia Department of Human Resources, Division of Public Health. Mara holds a Masters of Health Science degree in Community/Public Health Nutrition from the University of Toronto. She is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian and brings approximately 10 years of combined public health and community nutrition experience from Toronto, Canada and Georgia.

Ruth McGibbon is the latest addition to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Community Development and Advocacy team, working on the Fit Kids Program. Ruth recently graduated from Georgia State University with a Master’s Degree in Exercise Science and has been a certified personal trainer and group exercise instructor for 5 years. With a passion for educating families on the benefits of living a fit and healthy life, Ruth was led away from a “Corporate America” account representative job to a new career in fitness and public health.

Kelly Bryant (formally Kelly Cordray) is an Extension Nutrition Specialist with the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension in Athens, GA. She provides nutrition program support for the Expanded Foods and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), a nutrition education program that teaches healthy eating on a budget to low-income families in Georgia. Kelly is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian. She received two degrees from the University of Georgia, College of Family and Consumer Sciences: a Bachelor’s degree in Dietetics in 1999 and a Master’s degree in Foods and Nutrition in 2001.

Debra L. Kibbe serves as Director of the Physical Activity and Nutrition (PAN) Program at the ILSI* Research Foundation / Center for Health Promotion (ILSI RF CHP), located in Atlanta, Georgia. Working with ILSI since 1998, Ms. Kibbe currently is also the Acting Executive Director for the Center and has served as a program manager and international branch coordinator. Debbie has coordinated several conferences and journal supplements as well as authoring papers on childhood obesity prevention, treatment, and assessment. The work of the Center focuses on implementing childhood physical activity and nutrition intervention programs in the health care and school environments including the successful TAKE 10!® physical activity promotion program. Debra earned her BS in Psychology from Hiram College, Ohio, and her MS in Personnel & Employment Relations from Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to joining ILSI CHP, Debra served as a human resource professional and as the Assistant Competition Manager for Olympic Volleyball and Paralympic Volleyball during the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Beth Passehl is the Program Coordinator for FIT KIDS - one of the Community Health Development and Advocacy Department's programs for childhood obesity prevention. She has been with Children's Healthcare of Atlanta for seven years and on the same team with CHDA since that time. Beth's education and experience started with a Master's in Marriage & Family Counseling over 25 years ago, working in private practice and with non-profit children's collaboration & advocacy organizations. Beth has had extensive experience working with a wide variety of areas from alcohol and drug rehab to childhood obesity prevention in terms of program development, implementation, teaching and management. She is a certified personal trainer and has been the FIT KIDS program coordinator for the past five years.