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Social Work Summit:

Josh Brewster, MSW, MHA, is a social work leader with 20+ years of experience in variety settings. He has been a licensed independent clinical social worker in Minnesota, Michigan, and Iowa. He is a C-ASWCM through NASW, he is also certified in case management (CCMC) and a fellow in healthcare administration (ACHE). He has master’s degrees from the University of Minnesota in social work and healthcare administration and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maine. As the system director for social work and vulnerable populations at CommonSpirit Health, he directed the practice of 650+ social workers in 140+ hospitals across 22 states. Previously, he taught at the University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota, led large social work teams in academic medical centers, and urban level 1 trauma hospitals, and held several clinical roles in the VA. He is on the executive committee of the National Association of Social Workers as the treasurer and compliance officer, he serves on the board of the Iowa chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Attorney Cynthia Letsch practices primarily in the areas of elder law, estate planning, special needs planning, guardianship and conservatorship, and post death.  She is admitted to practice in the states of Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri, and the Federal Districts of Nebraska and Southern Iowa.  She is a member of the elder law and probate sections of numerous bar associations and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Special Needs Alliance, a Certified Medicaid Planner, and is a frequent speaker on topics related to Medicaid planning and substitute decision-making. 

Buffy Peters is the Director of Hamilton’s Academy of Grief & Loss, a division of Hamilton’s Funeral Home in Des Moines, Iowa. The Academy provides grief-related information, education, resources and support to the community.

In her work, Buffy provides grief support to children, teens and adults and has been doing so for over a decade. Some of this work includes: connecting those that are looking for grief support with available resources; supporting area schools through grief education, facilitation of grief support groups, and assisting with grief responses after a death; and facilitating Hamilton’s two children’s grief programs serving children ages 4 to 12. She isn’t typically alone in these endeavors. She is the very proud handler of Family Support Dog and certified Therapy Dog, Bear who assists in providing smiles and comfort to those he interacts with.

Buffy is active providing grief and loss presentations in our community as well as nationally. Most recently at the National Alliance for Children’s Grief conference and the National Funeral Directors Association Conference. She is a co-founder of Hamilton’s Pet Loss Support Group, and facilitates monthly Death Café’s as well as virtual grief support groups with HealGrief. She is a co-chair for the Polk County Suicide Prevention Coalition, and is a member of the Association for Death Education and Counseling, the Coalition to Support Grieving Students, and a very active member of the National Alliance for Children’s Grief (NACG). Buffy has contributed to many nationally distributed grief resources on a variety of topics including when a child dies, children and funerals, and assisting schools to support students who are grieving.

Anne Bacon began her work as chief executive officer of Red Rock Area Community Action Agency in May of 2015. Soon after, the agency merged with the Des Moines Community Action Agency to form IMPACT Community Action Partnership. IMPACT serves over 40,000 low-income central Iowans each year. Anne is a passionate social justice advocate with a keen focus on the systemic issues surrounding poverty.

She received her Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Iowa and a Masters of Public Administration from Drake University. She has also completed over 30 credit hours in Community and Economic Development at Pennsylvania State University. Her professional experience includes work within the Community Action network, the Iowa Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church and Bidwell Riverside Center.

Anne and her family make their home in Ankeny, Iowa.

Shannon Draayer serves as Executive Director of Community Nutrition for WesleyLife. Shannon has expertise in community health transformations, having worked for a policy consulting firm and for Blue Zones Project, a community health initiative prior to joining WesleyLife. In her role with WesleyLife, Shannon leads the Non Profit’s focus on nutrition and combatting food insecurity, including the meal program serving nearly 2,000 individuals each day. She earned a bachelor's degree from Iowa State University in Journalism and Political Science and a Master of Communications Leadership degree from Drake University. In 2024 Shannon was recognized as one of the Des Moines Business Record’s 40 Under 40 Business Leaders. She lives in Des Moines, Iowa, with her husband, Adam, and two boys.

Matt Unger has dedicated his career to the service of others with experience in the private, public, and non-profit sectors. He has been CEO of the Des Moines Area Religious Council (DMARC) since July, 2019, marking almost a dozen years working to combat food insecurity. He came to DMARC after a 6+ year tenure at the Food Bank of Iowa, finishing his time there as Chief Operating Officer.

Prior to joining the non-profit sector, Matt spent more than a dozen years working in the world of political campaigns and management of state government. His political career spanned multiple Iowa Caucus campaigns, Iowa Gubernatorial campaigns, and a four year stint as Chief of Staff to Lt. Governor Patty Judge. Judge and Unger then partnered in a consulting firm, PJJ Solutions, where they would focus not just on political campaigns, but business and organizational strategy as well as public policy.

Outside of his “day jobs,” Unger has been active in community organizations, serving on the boards of directors for the Korean Cultural (Center) Connection, The Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute and as a founding board member of both the Iowa Hunger Coalition and Iowa Nonprofit Alliance. He has also served on a number of community task forces including, ADAPT DSM, Capital Crossroads Advisory Committee, the Iowa Farm to Food Task Force and the United Way of Central Iowa Director’s Council.

A Drake University graduate, Matt is originally from Wisconsin, but has called Des Moines home for over twenty five years and lives in Beaverdale with his wife Anita.

Join Marlú to learn more about how the SHIIP-SMP program assists Medicare beneficiaries, their families, and caregivers in learning how to navigate Medicare and prevent, detect, and report health care fraud. You will learn about the parts of Medicare, common Medicare scams, and the free, objective, and confidential resources available to Medicare beneficiaries. SHIIP-SMP is housed at the Iowa Insurance Division and have more than 350 SHIIP-SMP volunteers across the state. These programs not only protect older persons and people with disabilities, but they also help preserve the integrity of the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

My name is Rebecca Wedemeier, I do shorten this to Becki with an ‘I’. I am a Registered Nurse with a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing. I work at Iowa Medicaid in the Quality, Innovation, Medical, and Policy Bureau. (We shorten this to QIMP). Having lifelong interests in the medical field, Iowa Medicaid considers me as a ‘Subject Matter Expert’ (SME) in the topical areas of Hospice, Home Care (including Electronic Visit Verification), Clinics, Hospitals, Acute Care, Medical Services, Physician Administered Drugs, Vaccines, Social Determinates of Health, Maternal Health, and State Family Planning. This SME title is due to over 40 years in nursing practice and providing services in all of these areas (and more) during those years. I also started in the medical field as a Certified Nursing Assistant at such a young age that my parents had to provide written consent to work in the nursing facility as well as to become certified. In my time at Iowa Medicaid, I have updated the Provider Manuals in several of these area’s soon to be published in the Medicaid Website. I participated in legislation that affected Iowa Medicaid members. Through collaboration with others, I’ve responded to questions in the topical areas assigned to me and so much more. My passion of ‘justice for all’ leads me to serve others through daily updated research to ensure policies are accurate to meet the needs of the Iowa Medicaid members.

Mobile Integrated Healthcare began in January 2024 to address the high-volume of medical responses.

The Mobile Integrated Healthcare program aims to provide a proactive approach for the residents of Des Moines and help them take care of their medical needs, prescriptions and transportation needs and connect them with appropriate levels of medical care.

John Jensen, has served as a firefighter and medic with the Des Moines Fire Department for 28 years while Hali VanVelzen is a fire medic who has served in DMFD for 7 years.  

Michael Mortensen is a retired United States Army Non-Commissioned Officer. His military service took him to 23 different countries. He served two combat tours in Iraq and oversaw military detainee and combatant operations in both Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Mr. Mortensen has been a County Veteran Service Officer since 2014 and served as the President of the Iowa Association of County Commissioners and Veteran Service Officers from 2018 to 2023. He currently serves as the Deputy Director of Veteran Affairs for Polk County.

Amanda Wanke (wahn-key) is the Chief Executive Officer of the Des Moines Area
Regional Transit Authority (DART).

As CEO of the largest public transit system in Iowa, Wanke leads a team of nearly 300
employees who utilize a fleet of 200 vehicles to provide more than 3 million rides a year,
connecting central Iowans in the Greater Des Moines region.

Wanke came to DART in 2015 as the Chief External Affairs Officer with a valuable cross
section of experience in government relations, stakeholder engagement, public
relations, and team leadership. In May 2020, Amanda was named Deputy CEO and
Chief Operations Officer, leading DART’s transportation, maintenance, and customer
service departments.

During her 7-year tenure at DART, Amanda ensured essential transportation services
continued throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, launched several new and innovative services, successfully negotiated union contracts, improved customer satisfaction, increased advertising revenue and added new partnerships.

Julia is the Executive Director at HIRTA. She also serves on the National RTAP Review Board, and is the current President of the Iowa Public Transit Association

In 2019, Executive Director Julia Castillo, was named the Community Transportation Manager of the Year by the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) at its annual EXPO in Palm Springs, California. 

She was recognized in part because she transformed a system that previously was operated by seven individual contractors to one fully operated in-house. This is across a seven-county region stretching over 4,100 square miles, with more than 90 employees providing more than 300,000 annual trips with a fleet of more than 80 vehicles.

Ashlan Lippert is the Community Resource Specialist and first ever on-site Social Worker for Des Moines Public Libraries. She is a Des Moines native and returned to Iowa several years ago after a decade in New York City working in supportive housing. Her background and work history are mainly working with individuals with histories of chronic homelessness and persistent mental illness. Ending homelessness in our community is Ashlan’s passion and the crux of her daily work. She was recently recognized as a “Person to Watch in 2024” by the Des Moines Register for her work in the public library system. She serves a variety of psychosocial issues within the community and prioritizes organizational collaboration to meet the needs of our community’s most vulnerable. She is a graduate of Iowa State University in Child, Adult and Family Services, and received her Masters in Social Work through Hunter College in New York City. She is licensed to practice in both Iowa and New York.

I have been a Disability representative in the Des Moines area for 15 years. I represent claimants with both physical and mental disabilities. I handle claims from initial to Appeals Council level. I have successfully represented 1000's of claimants in my career.