JENNIFER HOPSON

As the regional health equity director at the American Heart Association (AHA), Jennifer Hopson identifies the barriers and factors that prevent the African American community in Southern Los Angeles from having ideal heart health and creates and implements prevention programs to help narrow this health disparity. Ms. Hopson is also responsible for securing funding to produce events and manages a group of dedicated volunteers.

Prior to AHA, Ms. Hopson was a senior associate for Hershey|Cause and worked on a variety of initiatives for both corporate and nonprofit clients. She managed a grassroots community outreach campaign that utilized community, faith-based and government organizations to provide health care messaging to communities in need for First 5 LA, the largest children’s network in Los Angeles County. She also managed the production of a quarterly, small informational magazine for parents with children under the age of five.

Prior to moving to Los Angeles, Jennifer was a member of a public relations team at Campbell & Company, a multicultural public relations healthcare firm in Northern Virginia. Jennifer was depended on to provide PR and media assistance to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). Her core mission was to reach African American parents through media outreach and coalition building. This included organizing a series of media and community roundtables in various US cities to recruit editorial staff representing various community-based organizations. Jennifer also served as a project manager for the Coalition on Donation, a national campaign that encourages organ and tissue donation. In addition to providing media outreach, she also formed coalitions with key African-American and health groups across the nation. Ms. Hopson was also the lead staff member responsible for recruiting representatives from key African American organizations in four pilot sites for the National Kidney Disease Education Program.

Jennifer earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism with a concentration in public relations from Howard University. While attending Howard University, Jennifer was a White House intern and worked at the Office of Cabinet Affairs.