Meet the CHaSCI team

Robyn Golden | Robyn_L_Golden@rush.edu

Robyn Golden (she/her) serves as the Associate Vice President of Social Work and Community Health and Chair of the Department of Social Work at Rush University Medical Center. She is Co-Director of Rush’s Center for Excellence in Aging and the Director of Policy and Partnerships for the Center for Health and Social Care Integration. She serves as the Principal Investigator for Rush’s Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) and co-directs the Rush Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Disparities in Aging. Her faculty appointments are in Nursing, Medicine, Psychiatry and Health Systems Management.

For over 35 years, Ms. Golden has been actively involved in service provision, program development, interprofessional education, research and public policy aimed at developing innovative initiatives and systems integration to improve health and well-being. In 2003-04, she was the John Heinz Senate Fellow for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, and she is a Past Chair of the American Society on Aging. In 2017, she received the Gerontological Society of America's Maxwell A. Pollack Award for Productive Aging, and she recently served as a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) committee studying the integration of social needs care into the delivery of health care. She is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare and is a National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Social Work Pioneer. Ms. Golden holds a master’s degree from the University of Chicago and Bachelor’s degree from Miami University.

Robyn Golden, LCSW
Director of Policy and Partnerships

Walter Rosenberg | Walter_Rosenberg@rush.edu

Walter Rosenberg (he/him) is the Director of Social Work and Community Health at Rush University Medical Center. In this role he oversees community social work, health promotion, disease prevention, and mental health operations. In addition, Walter is also the director of growth and impact for the Center for Health and Social Care Integration at Rush (CHaSCI), where he directs its strategic planning and national training initiatives. He is the president of the Chicago District of the Society for Social Work Leadership in Health Care and serves on the advisory board of the Dominican University Graduate School of Social Work. He is a 2017 Hartford Practice Change Leader.

Walter received his Master’s in Social Work and BA from the University of Illinois at Chicago and his Master’s in Health Systems Management from Rush University.

Walter Rosenberg, MSW, MHSM, LCSW
Director of Growth and Impact

Bonnie Ewald | Bonnie_Ewald@rush.edu

Bonnie Ewald (she/her) is the Managing Director of CHaSCI and Program Manager of Strategic Development and Policy for Rush University Medical Center’s Social Work and Community Health department. In this position, she leads several program development, training, and policy advocacy initiatives related to integrating health care and social services in collaboration with internal and external partners. Bonnie also assists with department-wide grant development, leads a team of AmeriCorps members, leads the policy core of Rush’s Center for Excellence in Aging, and serves as an assistant professor in Rush’s Department of Social Work and as adjunct faculty in Rush’s Health Systems Management department. She also serves on the Healthcare and Aging Network Leadership Council and the Chicagoland Regional Planning Council for the American Society on Aging.

Bonnie has her master’s degree in public policy studies from the University of Chicago (2018), a post-graduate certificate in Sustainable Urban Design from Archeworks (2013), and a bachelor’s in mathematics and geography from the University of Wisconsin (2011).

Bonnie Ewald, MA
Managing Director

 

Lizzi Chandler | Elizabeth_Chandler@rush.edu

Elizabeth (Lizzi) Chandler (she/her) , MSW, LCSW is the Manager of Clinical Excellence and Training within the Department of Social Work and Community Health of Rush University Medical Center. Lizzi is also the Senior Manager of Training and Site Engagement with the Center for Health and Social Care Integration (CHaSCI), providing clinical and training support to health systems and community-based organizations across the nation as they implement CHaSCI Care Models.

In addition to her work at Rush, Lizzi is the Secretary for the Society for Social Work Leadership in Health Care-Illinois Chapter. Lizzi holds a Master of Social Work from DePaul University in Chicago, IL and Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. 

Lizzi Chandler, MSW, LCSW
Senior Manager of Training and Site Engagement

Teresa Moro | Teresa_Moro@rush.edu

Dr. Teresa Moro (she/her) is a Health Services Researcher at CHaSCI and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work within the College of Health Sciences at Rush University. Dr. Moro is also a Translational Research Coordinator III managing several federally funded clinical trials in the Rush College of Nursing. With CHaSCI, Dr. Moro supports multiple efforts to promote health and social care integration. Dr. Moro is also on the Board of Directors for The Alliance for Disability in Health Care.

Dr. Moro ’s focus is on improving health care for individuals with chronic illness and disabilities. Her dissertation work explored end-of-life care for adults with intellectual disability living in small community agency group residences. Dr. Moro has co-authored multiple peer-reviewed and conference presentations in social work, nursing, and public health.

Teresa Moro, PhD, AM, LSW
Health Services Researcher

 
 

Alyssa McFadden | Alyssa_McFadden@rush.edu

Alyssa McFadden (she/her) is a Research and Policy Associate at CHaSCI and a Program Coordinator within the Social Work and Community Health Department and the Center for Health and Social Care Integration at RUSH University Medical Center. Within this role, she supports a variety of research and evaluation projects exploring the efficacy of social care with a variety of populations. Alyssa also assists with policy advocacy initiatives and grassroots organizing focused on the integration of health care and social services. Prior to working with RUSH, she maintained a clinical practice as a board-certified music therapist while contracting as a research assistant on a variety of music and wellness-based research projects.

Alyssa has her master’s degree in social work from the University of Chicago at Urbana-Champaign (2022) and her bachelors in music education with an emphasis in music therapy from the University of Kansas (2017). In addition to her current work, Alyssa holds volunteer positions with the Illinois Association for Music Therapy and the International Association for Premenstrual Disorders.

Alyssa McFadden, MSW, LSW, MT-BC
Research and Policy Associate

Emily Levi-D’Ancona | Emily_Levi-DAncona@rush.edu

Emily Levi-D’Ancona (she/her) is the Training and Operations Manager for CHaSCI and AmeriCorps at RUSH University Medical Center. In this role, she works to optimize the CHaSCI team’s operations and communications, manages the development of social care workforce training curricula, coordinates various social work and CHW training programs, and helps to coordinate monthly meetings for the National Coalition on Care Coordination (N3C). Emily is also an alum of the AmeriCorps program housed within CHaSCI, which she now manages and supervises.

Emily has her Master’s degree in public health policy and administration from the University of Illinois at Chicago (2023) and her bachelors in international studies from Kenyon College (2016).

Emily Levi-D’Ancona, MPH
Training and Operations Manager

Teresa Berumen | Teresa_Berumen@rush.edu

Teresa Berumen (she/her/ella) is a Senior CHW Trainer for CHaSCI and a CHW Supervisor in the Office of Community Health Equity and Engagement (CHEE) at RUSH University Medical Center. Teresa was instrumental in developing and implementing a community health worker program and serves as the day-to-day lead for the team. Teresa and her team conduct social determinant of health screenings primarily in the emergency department as well as provide assistance in applying for public benefits and connection to community resources. In her role, Teresa has also trained Community Health Advocates for Blue Cross of California and serves as an advisor to Rush University students working to assist community members with social needs. Teresa is proud to serve as Chair of the Illinois Community Health Workers Association.

Teresa formally began her career as a Community Health Worker in 2014 at Enlace Chicago. While at Enlace, she served as the ACA Enrollment Assistor and developed a robust team of community health workers. She also served as community resource educator at Saint Anthony Hospital. Additionally, Teresa previously served as a member of the Illinois Community Health Worker Advisory Board in 2014. This Board, commissioned by the Illinois Department of Public Health, was tasked with defining the needs of the CHW workforce for the State of Illinois.  Proud of her Durango, Mexico heritage, Teresa immigrated to the United States with her family when she was a teenager.  Teresa has completed coursework at Loyola University Chicago in Communications and resides in Chicago with her family.

Teresa Berumen
Senior CHW Trainer

 
 

Ebony Henderson | Ebony_G_Henderson@rush.edu

Ebony Henderson (she/her) is a Lead Community Health Worker within the Office of Community Health Equity and Engagement at Rush University Medical Center. In this position, she supervises a team of Community Health Workers who lend their expertise in various areas of community outreach, coordinates community events and foster partnerships with local Community-based organizations. Ebony is also a trainer for internal and external partners for Community health Workers, Mental Health First Aid, and facilitates workshops for the Chronic Disease Prevention programs.

Ebony has an Associates of Applied Science which she used as a Medical Assistant previously at St Vincent’s Hospital system in Indianapolis. Ebony has also completed course work through Malcolm X College receiving her certificate as a Community Health Worker.

Ebony Henderson
CHW Trainer

Yessenia Cervantes-Vázquez | Yessenia_Cervantes@rush.edu

Yessenia Cervantes-Vázquez (she/her/ella) is a bilingual Lead Community Health Worker (LCHW) in the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention team within the Social Work and Community Health Department at Rush University Medical Center. In this role Yessenia provides direct patient and community member chronic disease self-management health education and social support resource connection. Yessenia also collaborates with various community partners to implement evidence-based programs (EBP) in their community. Yessenia is also a Master Trainer of SMRC evidence-based programs which has allowed for an increase in Rush’s capacity to training additional Spanish speaking facilitators of EBP in Chicago. She is also a member of the Rush Immigrant Health Working Group and a trainer with Center for Health and Social Care Integration (CHASCI) at Rush.

Yessenia began her career as a CHW with Alivio Medical Center. Yessenia obtained her AA from Harold Washington College in 2012. She completed the Community Health Worker Certificate Program at Malcolm X College in 2022. Yessenia was one of the collaborators for the Spanish Vaccine Ambassador Course currently offered at Malcolm X Community College in Chicago.

Yessenia Cervantes-Vázquez
CHW Trainer