Culture is key! Prevention of Farmworker Pesticide-Related Illness Using Cultural Contextual Education | How to Prevent Pesticide Poisoning in Farmworkers

Amy K. Liebman, MPA, MA has devoted her career to improving the safety and health of disenfranchised populations. She joined Migrant Clinicians Network (MCN) in 1999 and currently serves as the Chief Program Officer. With MCN she has established nationally recognized initiatives to improve the health and safety of immigrant workers and their families. She oversees programs ranging from integrating occupational and environmental medicine into primary care to designing worker safety interventions. She is a national leader in addressing worker safety and environmental justice through the community health worker (CHW) model. She has been a strong advocate for worker health and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading programs to improve access to care and culturally contextual education for migrants and immigrants. Prior to her current position, she directed numerous environmental health and justice projects along the US-Mexico Border including an award-winning, community-based hygiene education program that reached thousands of families living without water and sewerage services. She has spearheaded policy efforts within the American Public Health Association to support the protection of agricultural workers and served on the federal advisory committee to the EPA Office of Pesticide Programs. Her programs have won several awards including the 2008 EPA Children’s Environmental Health Champion Award and the 2015 National Safety Council Research Collaboration Award. In 2011, Liebman received the Lorin Kerr Award, an APHA/Occupational Health and Safety Section honor recognizing public health professionals for their dedication and sustained efforts to improve the lives of workers. And in 2024 she was honored with the Shelley Davis Humanitarian Award for her commitment to improving farmworker health and safety. She is a past Chair of APHA’s Occupational Health and Safety. Liebman has been the principal investigator and project manager of numerous government and privately sponsored projects. She has authored articles, bilingual training manuals and other educational materials dealing with environmental and occupational health and migrants. Liebman has a master’s degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, and a Master of Arts from the Institute of Latin American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Liebman has traveled throughout Mexico, Guatemala, Argentina, Chile, and Europe. She is an avid soccer fan and loves to spend time with her husband and two sons. Together they spend a lot of time outdoors.

lma Galvan: Alma Galván, MHC, is the Director of Community Engagement and Worker Training with MCN. Galván has over three decades of experience in public health work in the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Latin America. Throughout her career, she has addressed a wide range of topics, including community development, environmental and occupational health, disaster response, occupational health and safety, substance use and abuse prevention, and access to safe water and sanitation. Alma has a strong track record in creating educational materials and curricula tailored for people with limited English proficiency or low literacy levels. Galván has also provided technical assistance and training to promotores de salud, community health workers, health professionals, health educators, and clinicians.  Galván has collaborated extensively with MCN partners, community-based organizations, health agencies, and state and local health departments always with a commitment to placing communities at the center of health promotion efforts.