Jaye Clement, MPH, MPP: Public Member of the Board
This year, we are adding a public member to the Board of Directors (BOD). The process was managed by the ACNM Consumer Engagement Committee. A call for applications was sent to members, and applicants were asked to share their experiences as consumers of midwifery care as well as their ability to bring “effective and unique contributions to the Board’s work and the organization’s governance”. This “unique” value was described as: enhancing the Board’s credibility to the public; making the Board more accountable to the public; and bringing a different perspective and new ideas to the Board’s deliberations and priorities. Candidates were ranked by the committee members using a rubric, and the top two candidates participated in an interview as well as reference verification. There was unanimous agreement to recommend Jaye Clement, MPH, MPP.
Jaye Clement is the Director of Community Health Programs and Strategies with the Office of Community Health, Equity and Wellness at Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) in Detroit. She is responsible for aligning the System’s commitment to its communities by engaging new and existing partners around issues of community health and managing metrics and data sets to continuously improve strategies that contribute to engagement and community health improvement strategies. She serves as a health care advocate and liaison to external audiences, including community, civic, and faith-based organizations, volunteers, and other key publics.
Besides working to align the HFHS Community Health Needs Assessment and the corresponding Implementation Plans for each of its five hospitals, Jaye also staffs the Detroit Regional Infant Mortality Reduction Task Force and holds administrative oversight for their nationally-recognized and award-winning Women-Inspired Neighborhood Network: Detroit program. She helps staff the health system’s community health steering committee, Community Health ANchor Council Enterprise-wide (CHANCE). CHANCE aims to improve social and environmental factors affecting the health of our communities with the goals to reduce unnecessary care, cost, and suffering, and promote equity, community well-being, and sustainability as core principles of healthy communities. Jaye also directs the Community Health Worker (CHW) Hub for the health system, which is responsible for the integration and deployment of CHWs throughout the System for the purpose of promoting a culture of wellness through enhanced care coordination that simultaneously addresses clinical factors and social determinants of health, ensuring CHWs are a valued part of the healthcare workforce, and taking a population-based approach to extend care beyond hospital walls.
Jaye earned her Master of Public Health (MPH) in health behavior and health education from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and her Master of Public Policy (MPP) from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, both in 2005. Her experiences range from working in major health systems, nonprofits, and local government, as her career is dedicated to community health, advocacy, and the pursuit of health equity. In 2017, she completed a three-year fellowship in the inaugural class of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Community Leadership Network. She also works closely with the Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center (URC) as a Community Policy Advocacy Trainer, serves as chairperson of the board of directors for the Michigan Community Health Worker Alliance, and is an advisory board member for Black Mothers’ Breastfeeding Association. Jaye is a mother of two boys, wife, and life-long Detroiter.
Jaye will assume the position of public member to the BOD at the 66th ACNM Annual Meeting on May 25, 2021.
Selena Wells, RN, BSN, SNM: Student Representative to the Board
Each year, a new student member is appointed to the Board of Directors (BOD) to represent the voices of all students. The process of choosing the student is facilitated by the Students and New Midwives Committee based on an alphabetical list of the schools. The school next on the list identifies the student they recommend. This year, The Ohio State University nominated Selena Wells, BSN.
Selena is the mother of three adult children and a postpartum nurse with LDRP experience in Columbus, Ohio. Nursing is her second career, following a 20-year stint in early childhood education. Selena is a midwifery student at The Ohio State University with expected graduation in August 2023. Becoming a midwife is her life-long dream. Her passion in midwifery practice is to help pregnant people thrive during pregnancy and the birth experience with the utmost respect and dignity. Her goal is to foster confidence and comfort of women of color with their health professionals through ascribing validity and importance to their concerns.
Selena will assume the position of student representative to the BOD at the 66th ACNM Annual Meeting on May 25, 2021.