The Embrace Change (EC) Network Team explores growth through adversity and investigates strategies for staff to learn how to build resiliency and lead during times of change
View the Embrace Change Team charge.
View the Member Profiles on this page to learn more.
The Embrace Change team is continuing its work on an app to help support mental health, a proposal for communication norms, and more.
To learn more about the EC team, see their 2024 project poster.
Alivia Lawrence is the senior Psychometrist in the Neuropsychology ACU. She holds a Master’s degree in clinical psychology and is proficient in the administration and scoring of a wide variety of psychological and neuropsychological assessments. She evaluates patients across the lifespan for referral reasons such as ADHD, autism, dementia, and more. In addition to direct patient care, she is also involved in clinic scheduling, referral triaging, supervision and training of new hires, and other administrative duties as required. In her free time, she is a mother of two who enjoys quilting, reading, and running half marathons.
Supervisor for a busy clinic specializing in orthopedic spinal care, pelvic floor, and extremities. Andrew has been a clinician for over 25 years specializing in orthopedic spinal care. He has developed programming to advance education, pt care access, and enjoys facilitating leadership within the UM and Real Colors trainings outside of the UM. His favorite part of his work is developing staff into better versions of themselves.
Ann Chow is a project manager/consultant in the Compliance Division of Michigan Medicine Revenue Cycle. Her current responsibilities focus on business operations and processes, data integrity, and data analysis. During her 9 years with Revenue Cycle, Ann has served as a LEAN coach, designed and delivered professional development training, and implemented several performance improvement projects for Revenue Cycle workgroups. Besides her regular work and duties, Ann has been serving on the Revenue Cycle DEI Committee since its inception. Moreover, Ann is serving on the Interview, Selection & Onboarding workgroup for the RVC DEI Employment Life Cycle project.
Austin Ruffin, PA-C, MBA is credentialed within the Department of Surgery with a clinical appointment in the Pre-Operative Clinic. This appointment follows his role working in Emergency Medicine for William Beaumont Hospital. He graduated from University of Detroit Mercy with a B.S. in Biology in 2015 and a M.S. in Physician Assistant Studies in 2017. He then earned his MBA from Walsh College in 2019. He is board certified by the National Commission of Certification of Physician Assistants and is a member of The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) and The Michigan Academy of Physician Assistants (MAPA). He has previously served on the Legislative Committee and Leadership Committee within MAPA. He now serves on the Employee Engagement committee within the Pre-Operative Clinic, on Embrace Change team for Voices of the Staff, and has been lecturing at the University of Michigan Medical School since 2021. Outside of work, he enjoys running, hiking, and spending quality time with his family.
Beth Jakubowski works as a Research Proposal Manager in the Associate Dean of Research Research Development office in the College of Engineering. She works with faculty on managing and providing resources for federal and foundation grant proposals. Beth has worked in government, energy, pharmaceutical, transportation, women’s research, and academic fields. She specialized in complex trauma in her general clinical psychology masters program and this is still an interest of hers. Beth enjoys reading, hiking, winter, and spending time with family and friends.
Debbra Snyder Sclater is a Project Manager for the PRISM team, within Michigan Medicine Psychiatry Department. In addition to traditional project management roles, she also works as a Training and Implementation Specialist on the team, assessing, training, and supporting primary care and specialty care practices in the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM) of integrated health. Debbra is a behavioral psychologist, specializing in working with adults and adolescents with substance use disorder and the incarcerated population. She has worked with the PRISM team for the past 4 years. Prior, she worked at Michigan Medicine in the adolescent weight management program. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, playing pickleball, and spending time in Florida.
Erin Himrod is a rodent health associate with the Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine (ULAM). She coordinates the importation of animals from other institutions to the University and is involved in various aspects of ULAM’s animal health surveillance program. Outside of work, Erin serves as the principal cellist and President of the Board of Directors for the Ypsilanti Symphony Orchestra. She also enjoys hanging out with her dogs, attending Detroit City Football Club games, reading, and playing games with friends.
Gary Ashley earned a B.S. in Communications with a concentration in Human Relations from the University of Michigan-Flint in December 2005. Since then he has been employed at the University of Michigan-Flint and has held a number of positions. He started working in Alumni Relations, moved to Institutional Advancement, to University Outreach, and is currently working in the Office of Engaged Learning. He has a great deal of experience in partnering with departments within the university and community partners outside the University to help revitalize Genesee County. It is his personal mission to help Genesee County be a better place to live, work, play, etc.!