Mission:
To advance health equity by addressing the root causes of poor health and supporting equal opportunities for good health.
Board of Directors
Richard Mann
Richard Mann is the president of Richard Mann & Associates, Ltd. His consulting firm provides planning, writing, training, and marketing services for medical device, health care, and industrial organizations. He was elected to the Vice-Chair position of the Center for Cross-Cultural Health in 2006. He is a native Minnesotan and currently serves on two other nonprofit boards. Richard holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and a master's of education degree in technical training and development from the University of Minnesota.
Kenneth Bence
Ken Bence, M.H.A., M.B.A. is Director, Community Health Initiatives for the State Public Programs division of Medica Health Plans, based in Minnetonka, Minnesota.
Mr. Bence currently holds appointed positions on the Minnesota Department of Health’s Health Care Disparities Task Force and Maternal and Child Health Advisory Task Force.
Mr. Bence earned his Masters in Healthcare Administration from the School of Public Health and his Masters in Business Administration from the Carlson School of Management, both at the University of Minnesota. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.
Boris Kalanj
As Director of Health Care Equity at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, Boris Kalanj leads organizational efforts to deliver equitable and culturally competent care. His responsibilities at Children's have included oversight of language access services, workforce education toward cultural competence, and development of data collection, evaluation and research capacities to identify, understand and reduce healthcare disparities. Prior to his appointment at Children’s, Boris was a clinical team leader at the Center for Victims of Torture in Minneapolis and a coordinator of international programs at the University of Minnesota. He has consulted and given numerous workshops for providers in health, human services, and education fields on communication skills, working with interpreters and other areas of cultural and linguistic competence. Boris has a Master’s degree in social work from the University of Minnesota, and a B.A. in social work from the University of Zagreb, Croatia.
Andrew Kiragu
Dr. Andrew Waititu Kiragu is currently the Medical Director of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Hennepin County Medical Center. He joined the Department of Pediatrics at Hennepin over six years ago. He is also an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School.
He completed his undergraduate studies at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada and subsequently graduated from Howard University in Washington, DC with an MD degree in 1994.
He served his residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota, 1994-1998, followed by a fellowship in Pediatric Critical Care, 1998-2001. He was one of the Walter Ramsey Endowment Fellows at the university. During his fellowship he was awarded the Mark Snelling Outstanding Teaching Fellow for three consecutive years, in recognition of his commitment to resident education.
He has also been the recipient of the George R. Noren Award from the Department of Pediatrics at HCMC and the Outstanding Faculty Educator Award from the University of Minnesota in recognition of his commitment to resident and student education.
During his critical care fellowship, he was awarded a Vikings Foundation Grant to study the inflammatory effects of cardiopulmonary bypass. He was a co-Primary Investigator in for a 4-year project funded by the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation to establish an Injury Free Coalition for Kids site in Minneapolis at HCMC with a goal of studying and promoting injury prevention here in the Twin Cities. He is board-certified in Pediatrics, Pediatric Critical Care and Internal Medicine.
In addition to his service with the Center for Cross Cultural Health, Dr. Kiragu also serves on the boards of the Brain Injury Association of Minnesota and the Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He is also currently the President of the Minnesota Association of Black Physicians.
Dr. Gary N. McLean
Dr. Gary N. McLean is senior professor and executive director of international human resource development programs at Texas A&M University, and former professor and coordinator of human resource development and adult education at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul. He has served as President of the Academy of Human Resource Development and the International Management Development Association. As an OD practitioner in McLean Global Consulting, Inc., he works extensively globally. His research interests are broad and diverse, focusing primarily on organization development and international HRD. He was the acting board chair of the former International Health Education Alliance (IHEA).
Sharon Oswald
Sharon Oswald has 13 years experience in organizational and program development in the Twin Cities region. Her professional experience includes non-profit consulting in the areas of fund-raising, board development and strategic planning, and program management in small business development, early childhood, and health. In her current position at Greater Twin Cities United Way United Way she manages preventive health strategies including community investments and partnerships for instigating social change. In addition to serving as board member of the Center for Cross-Cultural Health she serves as board chair of the Early Childhood Resource and Training Center.
Michael Scandrett
Michael Scandrett is Health Policy Director for Halleland Health Consulting, Special Counsel with the law firm, and co-chair of the firm's health law practice. Michael concentrates his practice on health policy, strategic planning, regulatory compliance, and consulting support for innovative projects for health care organizations, nonprofits and governmental entities. He has been a trusted advisor and policy analyst for Minnesota's health care leaders and policy makers for 20 years. He was an influential force in the formation of many of Minnesota's important public policies and reforms in health care, from managed care regulation to the Minnesota Care program for the uninsured, from health care quality measurement to long-term care reimbursement policies.
Donald Whipple Fox
Donald Whipple Fox is an enrolled member of the Santee Sioux (Dakota) Nation. His Dakota name is Hushasha (Red Legs). Donald worked in the 1990s at the East Metro (St. Paul) Unit of the American Cancer Society as Multicultural Director. He assisted in founding the International Health Education Alliance and served on its Board of Directors. Donald currently is the Executive Director of the Indigenous Theological Training Institute of North America, Inc (ITTI). He also serves as the Vice-President of Grants and Programming for Philanthrofund Foundation (PFUND), a foundation serving GLBT organizations and individuals. He speaks German, likes to eat Persian food, is a philatelist, and owns a saucy shih-tzu named Wa'ste (which means "good" in Dakota).