Judges

Katney Bair is the principal consultant at Pretty Plain, a communications company specializing in public information. Pretty Plain's communication services combine copywriting, graphic design and project management. Clients include government agencies, medical centers, health insurance companies, corporations, small businesses, public schools, universities, and non-profit organizations. Katney’s deep experience in all areas of marketing and communications, along with her Plain Writing expertise, help her craft clear messaging that effectively reaches different groups across different platforms. www.prettyplain.org.

Geri Lynn Baumblatt, M.A., is the Executive Director of Patient Engagement at Emmi where she’s worked with a team of writers, medical animators, decision scientists, behavior change experts, patients, and clinicians to create multimedia patient engagement, shared decision making, and behavior change programs that engage patients, reduce anxiety and create real outcomes. Geri is on the board of the Journal of Patient Experience, contributes to the Association for Patient Experience, and hosts an annual Health Literacy Month blog series. She speaks at health literacy, shared decision making, patient experience and patient engagement conferences and panels, such as the PEMAT (Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool) with AHRQ.

Cynthia Baur, Ph.D., is the Senior Advisor for Health Literacy and the senior official for the Plain Writing Act, Office of the Associate Director for Communication, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). She chairs the CDC Health Literacy Council and manages the CDC health literacy web site and blog. She is one of the co-developers of CDC’s Clear Communication Index and online health literacy training for health professionals. She is a co-chair of the HHS Health Literacy Workgroup and co-chair of the Healthy People 2020 Health Communication and Health Information Technology Workgroup. Dr. Baur has received several health literacy awards, including the Institute for Healthcare Advancement 2015 Health Literacy Hero; the 2013 Cecilia and Leonard Doak Health Literacy Champion Award from Health Literacy Missouri; and the American Medical Writers Association 2013 McGovern Award for leadership in health communication, health literacy, and risk communication. Dr. Baur holds a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of California, San Diego.

Ben Beach is a writer and editor who has worked for Time Magazine, USA Today, a Michigan congressman, The Wilderness Society, the Alliance to Save Energy, and, most recently, the State Department. His responsibilities have included media outreach and serving as editor-in-chief of magazines, newsletters, and annual reports. His work has appeared in Reader’s Digest, The Washington Post, The New Republic, STATE Magazine, and elsewhere. A graduate of Harvard (BA, economics) and Catholic University (JD), Beach has edited reports by the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce and the Natural Resources Defense Council, among others.

Amy Behrens, M.S., is a health communication professional and an ardent plain language advocate. With over 12 years of experience, she is well versed in public health messaging, writing for behavior change, and program and message evaluation. Amy specializes in communication with underserved populations. As Senior Editor at CommunicateHealth, she incorporates best practices in health education, user-centered design, health literacy, and plain language into every aspect of her work with federal, state, local, and non-profit agencies. She holds a B.S. in Health Studies from Georgetown University and an M.S. in Health Communication from Tufts University.

Helena Caycedo has and undergraduate degree in Speech Pathology and a master’s degree in Clinical Audiology from San Jose State University. She was born in Colombia and has lived in several Spanish speaking countries, a background that helps her understanding the diversity of Hispanics in the U.S. She is currently a Senior Project Manager at ACSI Translations and in her role is in charge of managing the projects full life cycle, from initial requirements through final delivery. She coordinates the activities of linguists, editors, contractors, and other professionals engaged in the process. Helena also works closely with her clients as a subject matter expert, to resolve linguistic issues and to adapt translations to its final audience.

Nancy Cecilia has been in the healthcare field for over 10 years and is currently a relationship manager supporting national brokers and consultants. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Intercultural Studies from Trinity College in Hartford, CT and a Juris Doctor from Vermont Law School. In addition, she studied Chinese at the Mandarin Training Center in Taiwan. She has worked in a number of fields including interpreting, college-level teaching, and writing giving her a breadth of experiences that make it easy for her to relate to people from all walks of life. A naturally curious adventurer, she has traveled in Asia, Latin America and Europe and is looking to round out her continental travels by visiting Africa and Australia.

-Ph.D in Education, Master’s Degree in Comparative Literature and a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature.
-Since 1998, head of the Academic Department of Languages and full-time professor at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM).
-Was president and co-founder of the Plain Language Network Group in Mexico.
-Frequent participant in plain language congresses, promoting the theme of plain language in Mexico.
-Organizer, together with Clarity and the Ministry of Public Service, of the 2008 International Conference Legal Language: transparent and efficient in Mexico.
-Promoter and administrator of plain language courses at ITAM’s Law School.
-Coordinator and co-author of Herramientas para escribir (bien): nociones básicas, written in plain language (México: ITAM, 2014).
-Pioneer in the design, implementation and administration of multimedia classrooms to teach writing in Mexico.
-Participant in several technical committees for the design and evaluation of exams for different institutions, including the College Board.

Elsa V. Gomez has a bachelors in International Business and Relations and is currently working for the IMF while pursuing her Masters in Applied Economics. She edits and proofreads all the Board documents her office publishes. She is knowledgeable on how to write succinct and clear papers. And she enjoys reading classic literature, popular modern and economics working papers.

Ms. Laura Granada Valencia was born and raised in Colombia. She arrived in the U.S. in late 2001, and was awarded U.S. citizenship in March, 2011. Ms. Granada Valencia had a fondness for the study of jurisprudence even in her formative years and academically pursued this passion to her completion of post graduate studies. She graduated from Rosario University in Bogota, Colombia in 2000 with a degree in Law, and subsequently attained a specialization in Administrative Law from the same institution. Ms. Granada Valencia is a professional and credentialed interpreter of the Spanish language with over seven years of industry experience. In 2011, she attained her state certification with the State of Maryland. In the three years since being certified, she has amassed a rich portfolio of clients in the public and private sector, as well as international governments.