PROCEED, Inc

Ms. Pemberton is a public health leader with over a decade of experience in building sustainable and responsive public health programs that respond to the needs of countries and communities.   For the 13 years, Ms. Pemberton has worked as a practitioner and administrator in the field of HIV/AIDS, both domestically and internationally.  Her passion for public health and social justice, combined with her expertise in the areas of program management, organizational development, capacity building, strategic partnerships, and leadership development, has helped to distinguish Ms. Pemberton as a leader in her field.

Ms. Pemberton is currently employed at PROCEED Inc. as the Director of the National Center for Training, Support and Technical Assistance.  Prior to holding this position, Ms. Pemberton worked with the University of Medicine and Dentistry’s FXB Center’s Global AIDS Program where she served as the Caribbean Program Manager, with special projects in Africa.   Ms. Pemberton earned her Masters of Public Health from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ and is also a Certified Health Education Specialist.  She is currently a student at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s, School of Public Health where she is pursuing a doctoral degree in Public Health.

Jeff has been involved in the field of nonprofit program and organizational development and management for the past 25 years.  He is an Organization Development (OD) Practitioner with a wide range of generalist experience, but particular expertise in strategic planning, strategic management, Board, and staff development.  Jeff has worked, in some capacity, with more than 250 organizations, managing and implementing multifaceted organizational change interventions during his tenure at PROCEED Inc.  Jeff began his social service career as a youth counselor and mentor at Claremont Public Housing in the City of Baltimore.  He holds a B.A. in Economics from Rutgers University and a Master of Administrative Science degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Brenda Cruz is a bilingual Human Services professional with 15 years of nonprofit work experience. Ms. Cruz has expertise in training modalities, content development, and training execution with an extensive knowledge base in organizational development, strategic planning, training/meeting management and web-based training solutions. Ms. Cruz has proven experience with interacting on a professional level with nonprofit executives and HIV prevention, care and treatment direct service health providers nationwide. She is trained as a Facilitator in eight HIV prevention initiatives: Healthy Relationships, Safety Counts, SISTA, Partner Counseling and Referral Services, Voices/Voces, Real AIDS Prevention Program (RAPP), Respect and Modelo de Intervencion Psicomedica (MIP). Since 1999, Ms. Cruz has worked with nonprofit organizations, providing HIV prevention and related services to culturally and linguistically diverse target groups throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to deliver tailored technical assistance. She is currently employed by PROCEED, Inc., National Center for Training, Support and Technical Assistance where she serves as the Manager of Trainings and Special Events. In her position, Ms. Cruz is responsible for the successful execution of all capacity building educational events, regional conferences, web-based trainings and special programs/meetings for health and human service organizations within the US, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

Sarahjane Rathhas been working in the field of public health for the past 10 years and is currently employed as a Capacity Building Coordinator and Trainer by PROCEED Inc. National Center for Training, Support and Technical Assistance.    In this role, Ms. Rath works directly with non-profit organizations to identify and address their capacity building needs in the areas of organizational infrastructure and program development.  Ms. Rath also trains in Effective Behavioral Interventions (EBIs) including Safety Counts, Voices/Voces and MIP and Public Health Strategies (PHS), such as Motivational Interviewing and HIV Prevention Counseling.  She has an undergraduate degree in Community Health Education and a graduate degree in Public Health from University of Medicine and Dentistry, Newark New Jersey.  She previously worked for Planned Parenthood of Greater Northern New Jersey (PPGNNJ) as a Sexuality Educator and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of Newark as a Health Education Specialist in the OB/GYN clinic where her duties included designing and running the teen pregnancy program, and implementing reproductive health education programs and community outreach and education.

In March 2008, Corynna Hines joined the dynamic team at PROCEED, Inc.’s National Center for Training, Support, and Technical Assistance (NCTSTA) to assume the position of Capacity Building Coordinator. Ms. Hines coordinates the provision of capacity building assistance among agencies funded by the New Jersey Department of Human Services – Division of Addiction Services (DAS) that results in the enhancement of their respective prevention services. She serves as a conduit of resources, information, and support to these organizations to help build their organizational infrastructure by enhancing their operation, boosting the knowledge, skills, and efficacy of management and other staff members, and strengthening their ability to respond to the prevention, care, treatment, and cultural and linguistic needs of clients. In addition, she spearheads the provision of group-level trainings, one-on-one technical assistance, mentoring, and coaching in areas such as cultural and linguistic competence, board development, strategic planning, and prevention programming. Corynna Hines is passionate about her role in the prevention field and strives to be an advocate of underserved persons. She holds a MPH degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey – School of Public Health and is an active Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES).

Yuriko de la Cruz joined the team at PROCEED, Inc. - National Center for Training, Support, and Technical Assistance in July 2008 by taking on the role of Program Support Specialist. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Public Health at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Upon graduation, she served as a Community Health Volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic. After completing her service, she coordinated community health programs and outreach at La Casa de Don Pedro (Newark, NJ) and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (Newark, NJ). Yuriko has conducted various trainings geared towards organizational and program development and facilitated trainings on HIV awareness and prevention, reproductive health, youth development, social investigation techniques, focus groups, program planning and implementation, and monitoring and evaluation.