Standing Up for Black Mothers & Babies Annual Awards Gala
Gems of Generations

Friday, October 9, 2026
5:30 PM – 10:00 PM

Ameristar Casino Resort & Spa, Discovery Ballroom
St. Charles, Missouri

Brittany Raji Alberty
Alderman Gregory Carter Community Champion Award

About the award
Alderman Gregory Carter Community Champion is named in memory of Alderman Gregory Carter (1958 – 2012). Alderman Carter is recognized for making a significant impact on the health of women, children, and families in his community. Alderman Carter rallied the community to address high rates of infant mortality and was a champion of the TRIUMPH initiative.

Brittany Raji Alberty

This category is for a volunteer, consumer, or frontline employee who exemplifies a commitment to the health of mothers and babies.

Brittany Raji Alberty
Brittany Raji Alberty is an award-winning community leader, marketing strategist, and Alderwoman for the City of Bellefontaine Neighbors, Missouri. She is the founder of R.I.C.H. Mamas Club, where she creates programs and experiences that help mothers build community, access opportunities, and thrive. For more than 15 years, Brittany has worked at the intersection of community engagement, economic mobility, and storytelling, empowering women, entrepreneurs, and families. She is an Amazon bestselling author, TEDx speaker, and cultural storyteller whose mission is to build healthier communities by investing in mothers, strengthening families, and creating opportunities for future generations.

Kathleen Holmes, BSN, MPH
Judy Wilson-Griffin Maternal Health Equity Award

About the award
Judy Wilson Griffin Maternal Health Equity Champion is named in memory of Judy Wilson Griffin (1957-2020). Judy is recognized as a passionate advocate for maternal health, leading the way in developing and implementing best practices in hospital settings. She also believed in collaboration between health care and community. This award will recognize an individual who makes a remarkable contribution to maternal health equity and embodies Judy’s commitment to bridging community and health care.

Kathleen Holmes, BSN, MPH

This award category is for an individual making a remarkable contribution to advancing racial equity in maternal health and demonstrates a commitment to bridging community and health care.

Kathleen Holmes, BSN, MPH
Vice President of Transformation & Integration, Missouri Foundation for Health

Kathleen Holmes has spent much of her career at Missouri Foundation for Health working to protect the health of mothers and babies in Missouri’s historically under-resourced communities.

After joining the Foundation in 2007 as a Program Officer, Holmes was named director of the Infant Mortality Reduction Initiative (IMRI) in 2012 — a ten-year commitment to reduce infant deaths and close the racial gap in outcomes between Black and white babies in St. Louis and Missouri’s Bootheel. Rather than imposing a single solution, she built a Collective Impact strategy tailored to each region’s distinct assets and needs, introducing learning and adaptation methods to ensure community partners’ emerging insights continuously reshaped the work.

This work continued after her promotion to Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, a role that allowed her to lead work across nine strategic initiatives at MFH. When the killing of Michael Brown intensified conversations around structural racism, Holmes altered IMRI’s strategy and resources accordingly, launching one of the Foundation’s first uses of participatory grantmaking — shifting $400,000 a year in funding decisions directly to community members.

Holmes also led a $1.5 million research study examining how personal narratives shape mammography beliefs among urban Black women. In 2025, Holmes shifted her focus to leading Foundation staff and their board members in a multi-year process to envision the philanthropy’s next chapter.
Holmes holds a BSN from McKendree University and an MPH from Saint Louis University.

Dr. Jessica Norton
Dr. Corinne Walentik Provider/Practitioner Champion Award

About the award
Dr. Corinne Walentik Provider/Practitioner Champion is named in memory of Corinne Walentik, MD, MPH (1949 – 2012), who was widely recognized as a passionate advocate for babies and families, particularly for those with little voice, few resources, and unequal access.

Dr. Jessica Norton

This category is for an individual or institution that provides direct health or community services and uses their knowledge/practice to advocate for improvements in child health.

Dr. Jessica Norton
Dr. Jessica Norton is a board certified obstetrician and gynecologist at Affinia Healthcare in St. Louis. She earned her Bachelor of Science from Yale University and her Medical Doctorate from Boston University School of Medicine. She completed her OB/GYN residency with Washington University at Barnes-Jewish Hospital where she fell in love with community-based medicine. She joined Affinia Healthcare after graduation and now serves as their Assistant Medical Director of Reproductive Health. She cares for women across the city and sees patients at the N. Florissant clinic site in North St. Louis. She aims to empower and partner with patients in their preventative, prenatal, and gynecologic care. She has led initiatives to provide evidence based, trauma informed, and health equity focused care in her community, such as pre-eclampsia prevention through remote blood pressure monitoring and expansion of cervical cancer screening options. She collaborates with healthcare and community organizations to advocate for advances in maternal health and reproductive rights for her patients, both at the city and state levels. Originally from Chicago, IL, she and her husband, Zach McKenty, have called St. Louis home for over a decade now and watched their family grow with three sons that keep them busy and full of gratitude!

Heartland Center for Population Health and Community Systems Development at Saint Louis University
Dr. Terry Leet Researcher Award

About the award
Dr. Terry Leet Researcher Award is named in memory of Terry Leet, PhD, MPH (1952-2009), who was widely recognized locally and nationally as a scientist, teacher, and humanitarian. Terry was a Generate Health board member, collaborator, and friend. Through this award, we hope that others may continue to be inspired by Terry’s drive to improve our community.

This category is for an individual, collaborative, or institution making significant research contributions to maternal and child health.

Aver Yakubu, PhD, MHA, MPH

Aver Yakabu, PhD, MHA, MPH
Dr. Aver Yakubu is Director of Research and Partnerships for the Heartland Center for Population Health and Community Systems Development at Saint Louis University. She has more than ten years of experience in maternal and child health across academic, nonprofit, healthcare, government, and community settings. Her background includes maternal and child health work in St. Louis and executive leadership at Nurturely, a national perinatal education and advocacy organization. Dr. Yakubu has designed and implemented evidence-based programs in multiple states, led community-engaged research and evaluation, and published in peer-reviewed journals. She serves as a Governing Councilor within the American Public Health Association.

Kimberly R. Enard, PhD, MBA, MSHA, FACHE®

Kimberly R. Enard, PhD, MBA, MSHA, FACHE®
Kimberly R. Enard, PhD, MBA, MSHA, FACHE®, is Professor of Health Management and Policy, Executive Director of the Heartland Center for Population Health and Community Systems Development, and James R. Kimmey Endowed Chair in Public Health at Saint Louis University. Leveraging more than 20 years of management and consulting experience, Dr. Enard partners with communities and health systems to evaluate policies and practices that aim to advance health and social equity.

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