Verna DuBerry Ademu-John, MS, Health Initiatives Program Manager at Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration has extensive experience in public and community health, most recently focusing on environmental and system change and how it relates to improving lives and health outcomes in communities of color. She has led a Coalition of over 100 member organizations for the past four years, leading efforts to enhance and promote access to healthy food, physical activity in underserved communities. She most recently was a panel presenter at the ProWalkProBikeProPlace 2016 Conference, in Vancouver.

In the past, she worked in areas of sickle cell disease, maternal child health and HIV/AIDS, targeting at-risk, hard to reach, indigent, immigrant and ethnic populations. She has represented Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, and formerly Brookdale Hospital & Medical Center on a number of councils, coalitions, and committees; including the Health and Human Services Planning Council of New York City Office of the Mayor; the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies-AIDS Leadership Council; the Health Policy Committee of the Greater Southern Brooklyn Health Coalition and has served as Community Coordinator for the Adolescent Research Initiative in collaboration with Planned Parenthood of New York City. She has also served as a Train-the-Trainer for the New York State Department of Health’s Targeted Provider Education Demonstration Program, which Targets minority health and supports service providers with HIV/AIDS education and training in order to improve patient outcomes. She was honored a Brooklyn Woman of Distinction in 2014.