MOTION Coalition

2026 MOTION Summit

Guest Speakers

Leona Medley

Executive Director of the Joe Louis Greenway Partnership

Leona Medley’s work is rooted in a lifelong commitment to community, shaped by her upbringing on both Detroit’s west and east sides in a family grounded in service, education, faith, and public leadership. From an early age – serving as class president at Finney High School, she developed a deep sense of responsibility to people and place that continues to guide her work today.

As Executive Director of the Joe Louis Greenway Partnership, Leona brings together public agencies, nonprofits, philanthropy, and neighborhood voices to advance a transformative public space that connects communities across Detroit. Her leadership is collaborative and people-centered, focused on building trust and aligning partners around shared goals and long-term impact.

Leona is a leading voice in advancing resident-centered neighborhood development throughout Southeast Michigan. She is a fierce advocate for equitable access to public space and a committed champion for the region and its communities—blazing trails along the Greenway while shaping a bold, resident-centered vision for inclusive public spaces across the region

Previously, Leona held senior leadership roles with the Rock Family of Companies and spent more than 17 years in leadership with The Home Depot, where she led community development and economic mobility initiatives across Southeast Michigan.

She is currently a member of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy and has previously served on boards and advisory groups including Habitat for Humanity Detroit, StreetWise Partners of Michigan, Neighborhood Legal Services of Michigan, and Detroit Means Business. Her work has been recognized by organizations such as Crain’s Detroit Business, the Michigan Chronicle, and Who’s Who in Black—acknowledgments that reflect not only her accomplishments, but her ability to work across sectors to create meaningful change.

Rachel Chadderdon Bair

Rachel Chadderdon Bair has worked with Kalamazoo Valley Community College as Director for Sustainable Food Systems since 2015, when the College constructed its Food Innovation Center and Healthy Living Campus. She develops academic, workforce, and enrichment programming that focuses on sustainability and community economic development in the food system. This programming revolves around ValleyHUB, a social enterprise urban farm and food hub that actively works to connect farms with institution, retail, and restaurant markets throughout Southwest Michigan, and supports a dynamic set of nutrition education and food access programs on and off Kalamazoo Valley’s campuses.

Prior to her role at Kalamazoo Valley, Rachel worked for the nonprofit Fair Food Network as the director of the statewide Double Up Food Bucks program. Rachel earned a BA from Northwestern University, and Master of Public Health and Master of Science in Natural Resources degrees from the University of Michigan. She is proud to live, work, and garden in the city where she was born and raised. Her favorite vegetable is asparagus.

Lindsay Pielack

Lindsay Pielack is the Executive Director at Friends of Rouge Park. Lindsay joined the organization in 2025, serving as the organization’s first Executive Director since the organization was founded in 2002. In 2025, Lindsay began the work to strategically lay the foundation for the organization’s evolution in this exciting time in Rouge Park, all while celebrating the centennial anniversary of this beloved park.  Previous to joining Friends of Rouge Park, Lindsay was the Co-Director at Keep Growing Detroit, where she worked with the urban agriculture community for over 20 years. Lindsay was raised in NW Detroit in Rosedale Park and loves to spend time in all of Detroit’s parks.

Katrina Keeby-Watkins

Katrina Keeby-Watkins is a dedicated community leader, nonprofit professional, and long-time resident of Detroit, Michigan, with a strong passion for grassroots change and equitable development. A former educator, therapist, and social worker, Katrina brings a unique, people-centered perspective to her work, shaped by over 25 years of experience serving individuals and families across Metro Detroit. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Siena Heights University and a Master’s degree in Adult Education from Central Michigan University. Throughout her career, Katrina has built impactful workforce development programs, cultivated strategic community partnerships, and led initiatives that uplift underserved neighborhoods.

Currently, Katrina serves as the Founder and CEO of Bailey Park Neighborhood Development Corporation (BPNDC), an organization committed to revitalizing Detroit’s McDougall-Hunt neighborhood through economic empowerment. Under her leadership, BPNDC has become a trusted anchor in the community, transforming vacant land, supporting vulnerable populations, and creating opportunities for sustainable growth. Katrina’s vision is rooted in the belief that with the right tools and support, every individual has the power to thrive.

Kimberly Faison

Kimberly Faison is the Vice President of Thriving Resilient Neighonborhoods at Detroit Future City (DFC), an urban innovation center and think-tank that provides clear, data-driven, and community-rooted guidance toward their mission to advance economic equity and quality of life for Detroiters. In this role, she oversees operations and strategy for three teams focused on on-the-ground, inclusive neighborhood planning and urban design strategies. By integrating economic inclusion with urban planning, the teams supports equitable, inclusive neighborhood planning through two core strategies – leveraging land use and design to reimagine Detroit’s underutilized vacant lots through innovative and inclusive strategies that transform vacant land, enhance green space, and promote sustainability and combining original research, cross-sector collaboration, technical assistance, and policy development to build thriving communities.

She previously served as a program officer for the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, supporting the foundation’s work in nonprofit support and innovation, entrepreneurship and economic development and early childhood initiatives. Kimberly also served as the founding director of ProsperUs Detroit, a citywide collaboration supporting emerging entrepreneurs. In this role, she developed and managed a team, program operations, fundraising, grants management, and extensive data analysis. She has worked in community and economic development for 25 years in the public, nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. Kimberly has a bachelor’s degree in urban and regional planning from Eastern Michigan University.

2025 MOTION Summit

Guest Speakers

Naim Edwards
Director: MSU-Detroit Partnership for Food, Learning and Innovation

Naim Edwards moved to Detroit in 2014 after earning a Master’s Degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Michigan. His thesis examined how urban gardens and farms can be managed to support biodiversity. Also a Morehouse Man and Catholic, Naim approaches his work with a spiritual preference for service and justice as well as a deep appreciation for all creation.

Bio

Caelan Keenan

Healthy Community Zones Coordinator – MDHHS

Caelan brings more than a dozen years’ experience in the nonprofit sector to her role as the Healthy Community Zones Coordinator with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Her previous work focused on building and managing community-based programs in areas of youth development, food security, and gender equity. She hopes to be a resource for Healthy Community Zones grantees and a partner in the work of making good health attainable for all Michiganders. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of Michigan and a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Vermont.

Janee Moore

Food Access Public Health Consultant – MDHHS

Janee is a public health professional, who is a passionate about improving population health through impacting the social determinants of health and increasing health/racial equity.  She attended the University of Michigan where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Women’s Studies focusing on Women’s Health.  Afterwards she attended Emory University and graduated with a MPH. Prior to working for the State of Michigan, she worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a Public Health Advisor in the areas of HIV, Environmental Health, and Chronic Disease.  She is currently the Food Access Public Health Consultant at MDHHS. She strives for food security for all Michiganders through sovereignty and justice.

Barbara Blum-Alexander, MPH, MSW

Public Health and Social Work Professional

Barbara Blum-Alexander is an experienced public health and social work professional, with over 25 years in the field.  She has a Master of Public Health and a Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan.  Most of her work has been in Detroit and surrounding communities. She is grateful to partner with diverse, multicultural community members and organizations around social drivers of health, with the goal of eliminating health disparities. Her career has allowed her to focus on healthcare access at a federally-qualified health center, adolescent health and family planning, food system/food access and nutrition security, the built environment/active living, policy, systems and environmental change, trauma and resilience, and diabetes prevention.  She is the co-chair of the MOTION coalition and has her own company called BBA-Bolstering Community Well-Being Authentically.

Tyra Evans

Chief Operating Officer – Authority Health

Tyra is a charismatic, participatory leader with over 20 years’ professional health care experience.  Tyra is Chief Operating Officer for Authority Health. Immediately preceding this role, she served as National Director of Operations for Trinity Health corporate office, in Livonia, MI.

Tyra’s commitment to serving and bringing about positive change in Metro Detroit has been demonstrated through active participation in the community as a leader and volunteer. She is a lifetime member of Jack and Jill of America, Inc., a family organization providing cultural, social, civic and recreational activities that stimulate and expand the mind to enhance the lives of children. She is on the board Neighborhood Services Organization, National Association of Health Care Executives, and a mentor in Women of Tomorrow.

Tyra makes free time to enjoy her book club, travel, and spending time with her family.

Chef Phil Jones

Community Food Specialist, Detroit City Council District  

With roots in Ohio and a culinary journey spanning the East Coast and Caribbean, Chef Phil Jones now calls Detroit home—where he works at the intersection of food, education, and justice. From selling meat patties in St. Croix to shaping food policy in Detroit, his work centers on reimagining food systems with a focus on equity, culture, and community empowerment.

Phil currently serves as Community Food Specialist for Detroit City Council District Three and Food Policy Specialist with the Detroit Food Policy Council. His efforts prioritize food justice, grocery access, and sustainable, community-led solutions.

Honored as Chef of the Year by the Detroit Free Press and Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers in 2021, Chef Phil’s leadership was instrumental during the COVID-19 crisis and in initiatives like Farmacy Food and City Food Community Concepts. His work celebrates cultural heritage and uplifts Black and Brown communities through food sovereignty, storytelling, and practical action.

2024 MOTION Summit

Guest Speakers

Lauren Holaly-Zembo, CEO
Crim Fitness Foundation

Bio

Elizabeth K. Towner, PhD
Wayne State University School of Medicine
Family Medicine & Public Health Sciences

Presentation Title: Community-Driven Health Campaigns for Childhood Obesity Prevention in Detroit

Bio

Patrice Brown, Senior Manager,
Community Food Network,
Eastern Market Corporation – Partnership

Bio

Ceara O’Leary, AIA
Professor of Practice
University of Detroit Mercy

Presentation Title: Planning for Resilience + Health Equity: Everyday and Emergency Infrastructure in Detroit Neighborhoods

Bio

2023 MOTION Summit

Guest Speakers

Dr. Rebecca Hassan, Associate Professor

University of Michigan

Bio

Alex Allen 2nd, President & CEO

Chandler Park Conservancy

Bio

Dara OBryne, AICP – Chief Parks Planner

City of Detroit

Bio

JJ Velez, Director of Public Space

Gilbert Family Foundation

Bio

Charles Walker, Retail Specialist

Fair Food Network

Bio

Julie Cassidy, Policy Analyst

Michigan League for Public Policy

Bio

Julie Rice, Deputy Director

Hope Village

More About the MOTION Coalition Efforts

The MOTION Coalition was established in 2012 by Authority Health as a community coalition concerned with the growing incidence of obesity among young people. It meets quarterly for information sharing and advocates for policies that promote active living and healthy eating.

Childhood obesity is not just a medical matter, but a community predicament. To make an impact in this epidemic, a whole family approach is needed.
The MOTION Coalition (the “Coalitionâ€) is a unique collaboration of stakeholders representing health plans, schools and early childhood programs, organizations supporting nutrition and fitness, local government, health providers, health systems, universities and other nonprofits, among others.

The Coalition is comprised of more than 30 organizations across the region. Co-chaired by Barbara Blum Alexander, MPH, MSW and Dr. Susan Woolford, MD, MPH, the action-oriented Coalition works together to identify opportunities to advocate for improved nutritional programming, the creation of safe green spaces and the development of community resilience. The Coalition holds an Annual Summit to share findings and collaboratively identify community strategies.

For more information on the MOTION Coalition, contact Dr. Prashanti Boinapally, MOTION Coalition Lead, at pboinapally@19m.411.myftpupload.com.

Statement on dog attacks (revised August 5, 2021)

Who We Are