Staff

Elizabeth Freeman Lambar, MSW, MPH is the director of the North Carolina Farmworker Health Program, within the Office of Rural Health, NC DHHS, where she has worked since 2001. Elizabeth was previously employed working with farmworkers as a health outreach worker in North Carolina, New Jersey and Florida. Prior to working with farmworkers, she worked with Central American refugees in Tucson and with the homeless in Philadelphia and San Antonio. She received her undergraduate degree in Human Development and Social Relations at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana and received her MSW and MPH from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Dr. Modjulie Moore is a family medicine physician with the University of North Carolina’s Family Medicine program in Chapel Hill. She completed her medical training at Greater Lawrence Family Medicine Residency in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Her training was focused on building cultural awareness and language skills to better care for the Latinx community. Following her residency training, she worked as a family physician to provide comprehensive care to all patients within a federally qualified health center in rural eastern North Carolina. She was able to work collaboratively with community outreach workers in helping to provide needed care to the farmworker community. Following her experience in rural medicine, Dr. Moore transitioned to her current role at UNC Family Medicine Residency Program. She currently serves on faculty and mentors the many residents and medical students training in the program. She brings to her patients and learners a perspective that highlights the importance of understanding community needs and providing a culturally engaging response. Within her role on faculty at UNC, she provides care at the Orange County Health Department and the UNC Family Medicine Center. She now serves as the medical director for the NC Farmworker Health Program. Her career continues to build upon her passion for caring for our most vulnerable populations. Her role as medical director of NC FHP allows her to incorporate valuable lessons learned from work in rural health, community engagement and the Latinx community.

Natalie D. Rivera currently serves as the Project Manager for the Agricultural Worker Digital Equity Initiative, a community-led, health equity structural intervention focused on transforming internet access and enhancing digital health resources. Natalie previously led the Internet Connectivity Project to ensure farmworkers had access to essential health services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to working with NCFHP, she founded the Manos Unidas Farmworker Health Program serving farmworkers and their families through health outreach and mobile clinic services. She is a Student Action with Farmworkers and AmeriCorps ACCESS Alumni. Natalie completed her MPH at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and recently completed a short course on Global Perspectives in Digital Health from the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam.

Kate Furgurson manages NCFHP’s data, compiles reports, coordinates the continuous quality improvement process, and supports the team in technical assistance and other projects. Kate has worked with farmworkers in Georgia and North Carolina in health outreach and public health research settings. She completed a Student Action with Farmworkers fellowship and worked as an outreach coordinator at one of NCFHP’s contract sites. Most recently, Kate worked at the Wake Forest School of Medicine where she contributed to research on farmworker health. She also served on NCFHP’s governing board. She completed her undergraduate degree at the College of William and Mary and received her MPH from Emory University.

Jocelyn Romina Santillán-Deras coordinates sustainable initiatives focused on closing the digital divide and promoting digital equity and inclusion for the agricultural community in North Carolina. In addition, Jocelyn supports emergency preparedness and communication efforts, highlighting the unique needs and circumstances of farmworker populations across the state. Having grown up in Oregon’s fruit fields, Jocelyn comes from a farmworker family and brings insight into the barriers farmworkers face on a day-to-day basis. Prior to working with NCFHP, she served farmworkers for more than five years at two of NCFHP's grant-funded sites in eastern North Carolina. Jocelyn completed her undergraduate degree in public health at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She enjoys traveling, spending time with her large family and her two cats.

Dulce Arroyo currently serves as the Agricultural Partner Engagement Coordinator. Prior to this role, Dulce was the Local Support and Training Coordinator on the COVID-19 Response Team, where she organized NCFHP's monthly Ask The Doctor Webinar and provided technical support to the local county vaccination teams and led and facilitated county team meetings. Prior to working at NCFHP, Dulce worked in the non-profit sector where she focused on case management, program development and training while working with underserved and underrepresented populations.

Zoë L. Cummings, MSW, MPH provides contract monitoring and technical assistance for farmworker health program grantees as well as grantees that participate in the 340B program. She assists with coordinating outreach trainings and with a variety of special initiatives. Prior to working at NCFHP she worked as an outreach coordinator at one of our farmworker health contract sites in Western NC. In addition to her experience with farmworker health, Zoë has worked at an inpatient residential treatment facility in South Carolina, a group home for people with developmental disabilities in Iowa, and with an adult literacy program in Belize, Central America where she served two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Zoë completed her undergraduate degree at The University of Iowa and received her MSW and MPH at the University of South Carolina.

Patrick Lahiff joined the Office of Rural Health, NC Farmworker Health Program as a Finance and Operations Specialist in March 2023. Patrick began his career in state government in 2004 as a Purchasing Agent and later, Administrative Officer, in the business office of the Governor Morehead School for the Blind. Patrick spent almost 16 years with the North Carolina Department of Revenue, serving in various roles in the Taxpayer Assistance Division, Local Government Unit, and most recently specializing in the administration of the sales and use tax schedule in the Tax Administration Division. Patrick was born and raised in Athens, Georgia, but has called Raleigh home since 1996. He is a graduate of Elon University.

Tania Connaughton-Espino, MPH leads evaluation efforts and coordinates data collection, analysis, and reporting for a variety of projects at NCFHP. She also provides contract monitoring and technical assistance to contractors and other agencies funded by NCFHP. Tania also serves as Project Director for the NIH funded Agricultural Workers Digital Equity Initiative, a community-led, health equity structural intervention focused on transforming internet access and enhancing digital health resources. Prior to working at NCFHP, Tania managed statewide reproductive health programs, provided training and technical assistance on implementing evidence-based curricula and worked extensively with the Latinx community on reproductive health and justice issues. Tania has experience conducting research and evaluation on a variety of public health topics. She completed her BA in Geography and Latin American Studies at Colgate University and her MPH at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Suzy Ziaii provides contract monitoring and technical assistance to farmworker health program grantees. In addition, she serves as the lead for coordination of NCFHP's outreach trainings and assists with the team's communications activities. Prior to her role at NCFHP, she worked in community mental health for refugees and legal services for survivors of intimate partner violence. She completed her undergraduate degree at the College of William & Mary and her MSW at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Rosa Miranda, MS provides contract monitoring and technical assistance to contractors and NCFHP funded sites. She supports the goals of NCFHP through behavioral health program development, integration and management. Prior to this role, she was Community Health Coordinator for a State Designated Rural Health Center (SDRHC) in NC where she developed and managed programs to address Social Determinants of Health (SDOH). Rosa has served farmworkers in different professional capacities for over ten years in the states of Georgia and North Carolina. She completed her bachelors in Rural Studies: Social and Community Development from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and her Masters of Sociology at Valdosta State University.

Lilibeth Andres is the Engagement Coordinator for the Agricultural Worker Digital Equity Initiative in the NC Farmworker Health Program. With a personal connection to the fields, her grandparents and father were farmworkers who worked in tobacco and strawberry fields for over 10 years. In her current role, she promotes digital equity and access for agriculture workers through various initiatives, including listening sessions, community-led activities, and initiating the first Agriculture Worker Advisory Board. Prior to her current role, she served as a farmworker outreach worker for Piedmont Health Services in Moncure, North Carolina. During this time, she conducted outreach with farmworkers across central North Carolina where she was able to provide essential support services. She previously completed her undergraduate degree in Public Health with a concentration in Community Health Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Mirian Scarlett Chavez-Larios (Scarlett) serves as the Broadband Access Project Coordinator at NCFHP. In this role Scarlett works alongside state and community members on planning and implementing projects geared towards digital equity and inclusion for farmworkers and their families. In 2018 she completed a fellowship with Student Action with Farmworkers as a research fellow at Wake Forest School of Medicine. During this time, she participated in the Computers and Connectivity Project, a pilot project that focused on studying the relationship between mental health and connectivity in farmworkers living in rural or isolated locations. Since joining SAF in 2018 she has worked as a Community Health Worker, a Farmworker Health Coordinator and a Medical Data Specialist. She supported internet access projects led by NCFHP while working at a NCFHP grant-funded site. Scarlett received her undergraduate degree in International and Comparative Political Science from Appalachian State University and she minored in Sociology. She is passionate about public health care accessibility and inclusion, especially for underserved and underrepresented communities. During her free time, she enjoys playing video/board games, spending time in nature and with her pets.

Celina Uribe, CHW, CPSS is the Vass Hub Coordinator for the H-2A arrivals with the NC Farmworker Health Program. With a personal connection to the culture and fields, her grandparents and father were growers who worked H-2A farmworkers in tobacco for over 30 years. She has spent the past 30 years also living in both North Carolina and Mexico with her stepfather and husband’s family. In her current role, she promotes clinical and vaccine education to the arriving farmworkers of North Carolina. Prior to her current role, she served as a bilingual community health worker training coordinator, bilingual community health worker, and bilingual certified peer support specialist at Southeastern Healthcare of North Carolina. She previously completed her associate degree in business and is inspired to seek her master’s in public health. She has a long list of certifications including community health worker, peer support specialist, and behavioral health certifications.