Conference Speakers

Anita R. Brown-Graham, J.D.
Director, Institute of Emerging Issues

Ms Graham joined the Institute for Emerging Issues (IEI) as director in January 2007. Brown-Graham has worked at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill's Institute of Government since 1994. Prior to that, she served as law clerk to the Honorable William B. Shubb in the eastern district of California and as business litigation counsel in a Sacramento, California, law firm. Brown-Graham has provided significant training and written books and articles focused on developing the economic base of distressed communities. She also currently serves on the boards of several development organizations and foundations. Brown-Graham earned an undergraduate degree from Louisiana State University and, after attending graduate school at LSU, she earned a law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Hilda R. Heady, MSW
Senior Fellow; Chair, Rural Health Research and Policy Group; Atlas Research

Ms Heady served as the past President and former Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the National Rural Health Association. She has served as a board member of the Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, and various other national and state task forces and committees addressing health, rural health, rural women’s health, rural veterans, community-academic partnerships, and rural economic development issues. She is past Associate Vice-President for Rural Health at the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center of West Virginia University. She is jointly appointed to the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission and works with the Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences. She previously served as the Executive Director of the West Virginia Rural Health Education Partnerships, an interdisciplinary, rural health training program covering 50 of West Virginia's most under-served counties. Ms. Heady holds a Masters degree in Social Work, West Virginia University and a Bachelor of Science, University of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette, LA.