For Immediate Release
June 1, 2000

Juanna Kennedy
(818) 702-1900

Roni Cleland, TCWF
(818) 702-1900

Tawnya N. Lewis Named Program Officer in Violence Prevention Priority Area

Woodland Hills, CA - Tawnya N. Lewis, a program assistant for the Violence Prevention priority area for four years, has been named program officer. Lewis, who joined The California Wellness Foundation in 1996, will work with Program Officer Michael Balaoing to manage the 10-year, $60-million grantmaking program.

Lewis has also worked with safety-net health providers as an intern at the Community Clinics Association of Los Angeles County. There she developed legislative profiles and conducted surveys on government funding, health plan subcontracting methods and prenatal services. Lewis has also worked as a volunteer with the Holton Juvenile Detention Center for Boys and the Venice Community Clinic.

A graduate of California State University, Dominguez Hills, she holds a degree from the School of Management with a concentration in health. A native of Los Angeles, Lewis’ interest in public health was sparked when she attended a program at the Charles R. Drew Medical Magnet High School. The program gave her the opportunity to work with physicians and medical administrators at Martin Luther King Hospital.

"My position at the Foundation allows me to continue to contribute to the improvement of people’s lives around health and wellness issues," Lewis said.

"It’s rewarding to be a part of an organization where public health is not only viewed in the traditional way, but also includes a focus on important elements of society’s infrastructure such as work conditions, education, community empowerment and socioeconomic issues," she said.

The Foundation makes grants in five priority areas: Community Health, Population Health Improvement, Teenage Pregnancy Prevention, Violence Prevention and Work and Health.

TCWF is an independent, private foundation, created in 1992, whose mission is to improve the health of the people of California by making grants for health promotion, wellness education and disease prevention. TCWF has awarded 1,836 grants totaling nearly $277 million.

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