Archives: Board Members

Abeni serves as the Director Physician Revenue Cycle at Grady Health System, Atlanta’s only Level 1 trauma center. With a career that extends over two decades in healthcare management and a deep-rooted focus on the Revenue Cycle. Abeni’s expertise shines through her dedication to compliance, physician engagement, technology, performance improvement, project management, and a nuanced understanding of healthcare policy.

Her leadership acumen is further exemplified by her successful stewardship of two large Atlanta healthcare revenue cycle integrations. These integrations ensured adherence to regulatory compliance with billing standards while aligning with operational, quality, and strategic imperatives of both institutions, ensuring a balanced alignment of processes and policies.

Abeni’s educational journey includes a Bachelor of Science in Community Health Education from Clark Atlanta University and a Master of Science in Health Service Administration from Central Michigan University.

She’s convinced that tackling healthcare disparities will eventually lead to the inclusion of comprehensive policies.

Kai Stewart, PhD, MPH, CHES has over 20 years of public health practice experience, holding several positions with non-profit organizations, academic institutions and federal agencies. Dr. Stewart previously served as the Director of Clinical and Social Services, with a nonprofit organization serving persons living with disabilities. She is currently an adjunct professor with the Mercer University Department of Public Health, College of Health Professions. And for the last 15 years Dr. Stewart has been employed with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as a Health Scientist. In all of these roles she has specifically focused on social determinants of health, health disparities and health inequities among populations disproportionately at risk for or impacted by chronic diseases.

Bob Trammell is the former Minority Leader of the Georgia State House. First elected in 2014,
Bob served three terms in the State House. He succeeded Stacey Abrams as Democratic Leader
in his second term and, he served in that capacity through the end of 2020.

Bob serves as Senior Advisor to Connect South Public Affairs, an Atlanta based public
affairs/government relations firm. In addition to his role with Connect South, Bob practices law
at Trammell Sams, LLC which he founded in 2003 in his hometown of Luthersville. Trammell
also served as County Attorney for Meriwether County for four years prior to serving in the State
House providing him with a detailed and practical understanding of how local government
works.

Bob is a 1996 summa cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia, majoring in English and
Political Science. He obtained his law degree from The University of Virginia School of Law in
Charlottesville, Virginia in 1999. Before returning home to practice, he started his legal career as a law clerk in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and
subsequently practiced law at King & Spalding before starting his own firm in 2003.

Bob and his wife Jenny reside in Luthersville with their three children, Mary, Virginia, and Bob.

Christine J. Wiggins is a public health practitioner with more than 16 years of experience in strategic planning, implementing, and facilitating community, statewide and national programs. Christine began her career working with a community-serving organization, moved to hospital administration, and eventually transitioned into public service, at both the federal and state levels. With a passion for strengthening and educating minority communities, Christine has done an extensive amount of work around partnership development and collaboration, as well as addressing health issues from an equity lens. Currently, she is the Vice President for Community Health Systems for The-Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority (FDHA). In this role, Christine is responsible for leading The FDHA’s efforts to strengthen the healthcare ecosystem in Fulton and DeKalb counties, close access and service gaps and, develop innovative strategies for improving overall health outcomes for county residents.

Prior to joining The FDHA, Christine served as a Deputy Director for the Georgia Department of Public Health, Chronic Disease Prevention Section for 6 years. During her time at DPH, she managed several program areas, as well as led and championed state efforts to develop a standardized community health worker (CHW) training and certification program. Christine also had the privilege of serving as the Health Disparities Initiatives Director for the Maryland Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities (MHHD) and a Community Outreach Advisor for the HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH). She was a contributing author/editor for the OMH National Stakeholder Strategy for Achieving Health Equity and was very instrumental in the establishment of 10 regional health equity councils across the country.

A native of Pottstown, PA, Christine received her B.A. in Health Sciences from Lincoln University (Lincoln University, PA) and a M.S. in Health Administration and in Health Education from Saint Joseph’s University (Philadelphia, PA). She is also a Master Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES). Christine relocated to Georgia in 2015 and lives in the Atlanta metro region with her husband and four children.