Meet Our Staff
Penrose Jackson
VtPHI Interim Executive Director
Penrose Jackson serves as CEO of the Institute. She served for 15 years as Community Health Improvement director at the University of Vermont Medical Center, leaving that position in late 2018. During her time with CHI she provided leadership to three Community Health Needs Assessments, as well as to establishment of the Community Health Team and Medication Assisted Treatment team at the Medical Center. She continues to serve as an Advisory Board member of the Association for Community Health Improvement, a subsidiary of the American Hospital Association. She currently works with diverse clients on project planning and management, fund-raising, and population health. In 2020 she and several co-authors published an e-book through Frontiers in Public Health Education and Promotion focusing on Community Benefit research and evaluation after ten years’ experience under the Affordable Care Act.
Heidi Klein, MPH
Advisor and Staff Lead
Heidi Klein is the Managing Director of Healthy and Equitable Communities at Health Resources in Action (HRiA). She is the VtPHI staff lead in supporting the creation of a Community Advisory Board for the UVM Justice Research Center. She brings over 30 years of public health practice, public engagement, and collaborative planning. She worked with leaders at the national, state and local level, to design programs and policies which recognize the interconnection between public health, environmental protection and economically vibrant communities. She is past-president of VtPHA and has served in multiple capacities for the American Public Health