Who We Are

As Program Officer, Daijah Davis leads the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) Foundation’s focus on oral health, working to ensure that everyone in North Carolina has access to quality, affordable oral health services.

Daijah joined the Blue Cross NC Foundation in April 2022. Most recently, she worked as the Oregon State Director for Family Connects International, where she supported the Oregon statewide roll out of the Family Connects postpartum nurse home visiting model.

Daijah received her Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies in Social Science – Health and Society from Michigan State University and a Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

As Vice President, Program and Strategy, Ms. Eyes supports the program team to develop, implement, and adjust strategy across the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) Foundation’s priority areas. In addition, she manages grantmaking related to the BCBSNC Foundation’s focus on improving oral health. She works closely with her team as well as external and corporate stakeholders to broaden the BCBSNC Foundation’s perspective, build partnerships to accelerate its progress, and deepen its commitment to those communities that experience the greatest inequities.

Ms. Eyes joined the BCBSNC Foundation in 2009 as Operations Manager after working several years to promote best practices in food pantries, soup kitchens, and other emergency food outlets. After a year in the operations role, where she guided implementation of the BCBSNC Foundation’s outcomes framework, she joined the program officer staff in what was previously known as the health of vulnerable populations focus area. Ms. Eyes is a member of the 2014 Terrance Keenan Institute for Emerging Leaders in Health Philanthropy, a board member for the North Carolina Network of Grantmakers (NCNG) and was previously co-chair for the NCNG annual meeting. She has an undergraduate degree from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and a Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan.

Ms. Leysath is an accomplish businesswoman with vast experience. Ms. Leysath is a highly successful motivational speaker and presently serves as Executive Director of The Cornerstone Community Development Corporation. Ms. Leysath is dedicated and determined to making a difference in the lives of others as an expert in Mental Health Disaster Case Management/Relief and Community Engagement. She has spent the last 20 years building partnerships and coalitions to meet community needs. Ms. Leysath has a very diverse background with over 35 years’ experience as a clinical social worker, a partial hospital day program director, a program manager, a mental health crisis consultant, a long-term care facility administrator, a special education instructor, a bereavement and volunteer coordinator, an oral health outreacher, and a disaster relief director.

Elaine is the vice president of community engagement and government relations for Delta Dental of North Carolina (DDNC). She joined DDNC in March 2015 as director of community and public relations. Elaine earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology with a minor in French from Wake Forest University and a Master of Business Administration in Global Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management. Elaine brings a wide range of experience to DDNC. She worked in outdoor air quality, owned a pre- and post-natal fitness company, and managed accounting and operations for World Wildlife Fund in Washington, D.C. She serves on the Board of Directors for Girl Scouts – North Carolina Coastal Pines, WakeEd Partnership and the American Lung Association – North Carolina. She is an alumna of Leadership North Carolina Class XXI.

Caroline McLeod, RDH, MS, is the value-based solutions manager for CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. She supports education, research, and health improvement program implementation centered on value-based care approaches for oral health.

Caroline’s dental hygiene experience ranges from traditional practice to school-based and mobile programs, and clinical teaching. She is a member of the American Dental Hygienists Association (ADHA) and serves as a delegate for her local district of the North Carolina Dental Hygienists Association (NCDHA).

Caroline is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a BS in Dental Hygiene and a Master of Dental Hygiene Education. She worked previously as a teledentistry specialist and educational trainer for MouthWatch.

Juvencio Rocha-Peralta is Executive Director of the Association of Mexicans in North Carolina (AMEXCAN). A native of Veracruz, Mexico, he has lived in North Carolina since 1980. He has served on a number of task forces and boards, including the East Coast Migrant Head Start Project and the Eastern North Carolina Latin-American Coalition, Inc. (ENCLACO).

Dr. Rhonda Stephens is a board certified Dental Public Health specialist, currently serving as the Acting Section Chief and State Dental Director for the NC Division of Public Health, Oral Health Section. She is a proud alumna of the University of Michigan, where she earned her dental degree in 2004. She then completed a General Practice Residency in hospital dentistry and MPH degree at Indiana University and subsequently received a certificate in Dental Public Health from the NC Division of Public Health. Prior to relocating to NC, she served 10 years as an FQHC dental director in Indiana.

In her current role at the Oral Health Section, Dr. Stephens provides direction and general oversight to the development and implementation of the state’s dental public health programs and services. She also directs the Division’s Dental Public Health Residency Program to educate and train future dental public health specialists. In her time with the Section, Dr. Stephens has secured and administered grant funding, most often to support oral health workforce development initiatives in collaboration with partners across the state. She has also had the opportunity to work with the NCDHHS Historically Marginalized Populations Workgroup on equity-driven pandemic response efforts, and now co-chairs efforts to strengthen public health workforce capacity through training and other supports. Dr. Stephens is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc, National Dental Association, American Dental Association and the American Association of Public Health Dentistry, for which she serves as co-chair of the Council on Educational Affairs. Outside of public health, she loves food of all kind, outdoor festivals, action-sci fi movies and her 14-year old Westie, Sasha.

A native of Eastern North Carolina, Rachel Stewart graduated with a B.S. in Dental Hygiene from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2005. She worked in private practice for 14 years and became familiar with patients of various backgrounds and demographics, as well as many aspects of general dentistry and practice management.

Her interest in public health began with participation in NC Missions of Mercy clinics, the Give Kids a Smile program, and various mobile dental clinics. In 2019 Rachel earned her MPH-D from A.T. Still University. In 2019, she began her employment with East Carolina University School of Dental Medicine as a public health dental hygienist working as a case coordinator for a school-based oral health prevention program.

Rachel has previously served as vice president of the North Carolina Dental Hygienists’ Association (NCDHA) and as a North Carolina delegate to the American Dental Hygienists’ Association. She currently serves as a component trustee for the NCDHA.

Kaylan Szafranski is the Health Programs Director for NC Child and leads the organizations Medicaid and oral health policy agenda. Prior to her role at NC Child, Kaylan championed children’s health in Illinois, serving as the head policy analyst for Legal Council for Health Justice. In this role she led statewide efforts on children’s Medicaid policy including access to EPSDT, infant and early childhood mental health, environmental health reforms, and expanding eligibility and services for infants and pregnant persons. Kaylan also served as the Manager of Health Reform for EverThrive Illinois, focusing on maternal and child health policy at both the state and federal levels. In addition to her deep knowledge of Medicaid policy, Kaylan is a former early child educator and Developmental Therapist, spending nearly 7 years serving families in her hometown of Greensboro, NC. She holds her Masters of Social Work and Masters of Child Development from Erikson Institute.

Hugh Tilson is the Director of the North Carolina Area Health Education Centers (NC AHEC) Program and Associate Dean and Assistant Professor in family medicine at the UNC School of Medicine. Mr. Tilson has extensive experience in health care, including particular experience in hospital and provider issues, health policy development, and North Carolina’s Medicaid Transformation.

Over the course of more than 20 years, Mr. Tilson served in roles of increasing responsibility at the North Carolina Hospital Association. He first joined the organization in 1996 as director of legal and regulatory affairs, eventually becoming the group’s executive vice president and chief operating officer and ultimately spending a year as interim president. Upon his departure, he was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine by Governor Roy Cooper for his proven record of extraordinary service to the state. Most recently, he operated Tilson Solutions, offering strategic planning, public affairs, and other consulting services to a range of clients.

As director of NC AHEC, Mr. Tilson provides overall direction for the statewide program, oversees the organization’s budget and program office, manages health workforce planning and development initiatives across a range of health professions, fosters collaboration among academic programs and organizations across the state, and represents the organization on the state and national level.

Mr. Tilson is a graduate of the University of North Carolina and the UNC School of Law. He holds a Master of Public Health from Harvard.

Ms. Warren is a Program Officer at The Duke Endowment.  She joined the Endowment in 2014 after working at the North Carolina Office of Rural Health and at Community Care in Raleigh, where she was responsible for managing programs focused on improving the quality of health care for children. Ms. Warren has also worked at an assessment center for foster children and at a Raleigh-based nonprofit that provides mental health services to children and adults across the state.

Dr. Jane A. Weintraub, former Dean of the UNC Adams School of Dentistry, is widely recognized for her expertise in oral epidemiology, dental public health, and clinical research. She is a leader in research to understand and prevent oral health disparities.

Dr. Weintraub earned her Doctor of Dental Surgery from the State University of New York at Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine in 1979. She received her graduate training in public health and dental care administration from Harvard University and practiced dentistry in neighborhood health centers in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1982, Dr. Weintraub began her career in academia at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, followed by several years at the University of Michigan.

In 1988, Dr. Weintraub began her first appointment with the UNC Adams School of Dentistry as an assistant professor in the Department of Dental Ecology. After seven years at UNC, Dr. Weintraub received an appointment at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Dentistry, as the recipient of the school’s first endowed chair, becoming the Lee Hysan Professor of Dental Public Health and Oral Epidemiology. She served as the principal investigator and director of the Center to Address Disparities in Children’s Oral Health, also known as “CAN DO.” The Center focuses on preventing early childhood caries, a condition that is difficult and expensive to treat. She also served the UCSF School of Dentistry as the chair of the oral epidemiology and dental public health division in the school’s preventive and restorative dental sciences department until her departure.  

Dr. Weintraub returned to UNC in 2011 to serve as dean of the Adams School of Dentistry. During her tenure, the school’s research funding increased 50 percent and moved up from number seven to the number two ranking among dental schools in research funding from the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research. The number of applications to the school’s Doctor of Dental Surgery program increased 32 percent. 

Dr. Weintraub’s focus and research in public health dentistry helped shape scientific guidelines regarding sealants and fluoride that have become a part of mainstream dental and public health practices. She is a past president of the American Association of Public Health Dentistry and the International Association of Dental Research’s behavioral sciences and health services research group. She was one of the scientific editors and contributing authors for the first Surgeon General’s Report on Oral Health.