Our Team

Kiara is the Masonic Cancer Center’s Community Outreach and Engagement Director. Her passions lie in serving as a change agent for the community and impacting systemic change that will further cancer health equity in the state. She is the creator of the Cancer Center Community Impact Forum.

Dr. Poynter serves as the Associate Director of Community Outreach and Engagement. Her role in the Masonic Cancer Center is to understand the cancer burden in Minnesota and ensure that the Center is responding to the needs of the population of Minnesota through research and clinical care.

Dr. Pratt serves as the Associate Co-Director of Community Outreach and Engagement. Dr. Pratt's role with the Masonic Cancer Center is supporting the ongoing efforts to build relationships with communities, enhance community engagement, and bring community voices into her work.

Patty Beckmann, RN, is a graduate of the University of Minnesota and has worked for over 25 years on a variety of cancer clinical research trials. Her professional experience and passion for helping patients navigate clinical research make her a great fit to educate and provide resources to our patients and community members through our Cancer Information Line.

Lissa has a background in event planning and logistics in health charities. She became a Certified Meeting Professional in 2021 and leads the Event Circle, a group of event professionals across the University. Her role is to establish and maintain event logistics and protocols on public engagement events, large scale meetings, and local and national conferences. She is passionate about reducing the burden of cancer through events.

Amna completed her Master’s degree in Biological Sciences with a focus on public health, immunology, and cancer biology. Through various opportunities, Amna's professional experiences have centered around tackling inequities in education and healthcare. She is passionate about addressing the social determinants of health to reduce cancer health disparities in communities across the state. 

Ashley comes to the Masonic Cancer Center with a background in reducing cancer burden in Indigenous communities. Her professional experience includes program evaluation, health systems change, and program design and implementation.

Elsie comes to the Masonic Cancer Center from a background in event planning and catering. She has planned and executed over 800 events, and strives to organize meaningful and impactful gatherings for the community & the Masonic Cancer Center network as a whole.

Susannah has built new projects and programs from the ground up in higher education, social services, and community organizing. Her professional experience includes community-centered program development, education, and facilitating system change through coalitions.

Liz joins the Masonic Cancer Center with a diverse background in event planning. She has worked on a variety of events from large-scale parties and private soirées to running races and charity events. In her new role, she is excited to bring her knowledge and creativity to the Survivorship program. She is driven by empathy and is grateful for the opportunity to contribute to events that celebrate life and give hope to survivors and their loved ones.

With a background in public health, Katie’s passion for this work is driven by the belief that health is a fundamental human right. Through roles in community and healthcare, she has focused on advancing health equity through fostering relationships and mitigating barriers to health. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Health and is a certified Community Health Worker. Katie comes to the Masonic Cancer Center eager to participate in community outreach efforts focused on addressing unnatural and mutable cancer inequities. 

Mumtaz is a senior studying Health and Wellbeing Sciences and minoring in Leadership. She is interested in health disparities and has done cancer disparities research within the Somali community. Mumtaz plans to pursue a Master's in Public Health Data Science in hopes of using data to drive impactful change in healthcare and improve health outcomes. In her free time, she enjoys reading and trying out new hobbies.

Ariam is currently an undergraduate student majoring in Public Health on a pre-medical track. She plans to further her education by attending professional school to become an MD/MPH. Ariam is interested in Global and International Health as well as discovering how concepts in the humanities intersect with medicine and patient care in order to create a more equitable health care system. Outside of work and school, she enjoys music, especially playing the piano, saxophone, and guitar, trying different foods, and learning about different cultures and languages. 

I’m an undergraduate student at the University Of Minnesota and my major is Global Studies
My role is an Event and Volunteer Support Student and my team is the Office of Community
Outreach and Engagement
 

I am interested in pursuing a future career working with immigrant and refugee populations,
with the purpose of helping and serving these individuals to improve their quality of life. I am
passionate about culture and how our differences make us stronger, as they provide
opportunities for growth, understanding, and connection.

I’m an undergraduate student at the University of Minnesota majoring in Chemical Engineering. My role is Event and Volunteer Support Student, and I work with the Office of Community Outreach and Engagement. Outside of work, I am an avid runner and like to run long distances! I am also hoping to attend medical school after I graduate with my engineering degree or work in engineering field research!