Jitoria brings over seven years of experience working in sexual reproductive healthcare in Mississippi. She joined the Converge team in 2021 as the Director of Community and Clinical Partnerships and recently served as the Director of the External Affairs Department. While at Converge, Jitoria has led communications and media outreach, launched all Converge branded social media platforms, oversaw the Converge Connect training arm, managed multiple grant projects, created a community council that includes people from all areas of Mississippi, and so much more.
Throughout her career, she has focused on sexual and reproductive healthcare for all people, with a special interest in adolescents and young adults, minority women, and underserved communities. Jitoria has utilized her skills in strategy, networking, engagement, planning, and servant leadership as she has worked throughout Mississippi advocating for quality sexual reproductive healthcare for all people.
Jitoria is originally from the Mississippi Delta but currently resides in Houston, Texas, with her husband, Trenton. We are thrilled to have Jitoria take on this new level of leadership at Converge, and we look forward to everything she will accomplish in this new role.
Reflecting on 2022 and Looking Forward to 2023!Check out the full video below to hear from our co-founders Danielle Lampton and Jamie Bardwell about all things Converge.
Our Director of Measurement, Learning and Evaluation, Dr. Ellie Smith, recently presented work at the American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting & Expo. Dr. Smith’s work, completed while at Fact Forward, focused on “research to develop a culture-
centered health communication campaign to increase access and use of sexual health services and dual-method
approaches among youth of color in South Carolina.”
Now that she is working with Converge in Mississippi, Dr. Smith shares some of the takeaways and how they relate to work in Mississippi.
Converge is unique in the fact that aside from clinical care and advocacy, we also engage in cutting edge public health research. For example, we hope at the next APHA meeting to present on our work around Title X clinic evaluation and our patient-centered contraceptive counseling training. From my time at APHA this year, there was an evident need for research specifically in the Title X space, but also regarding reproductive and sexual health in MS, by folks who work and serve Mississippians.
Throughout my time at APHA it is clear that Converge is leading the way in training and education for not only Title X clinics, but learner populations such as nursing students as well. I was able to make many connections with folks interested in our trainings as well as partnering to offer and further develop their trainings, for example, a community health worker certification program. Converge is also unique and innovative with its approach to rigorous evaluation of clinical services and operations to better meet the needs of the patients we serve.
The results provide insight to how we as a Title X grantee can engage with youth to uplift our services. For example, this project found that youth of color want to be engaged via social media and want sexual and reproductive health information that is sex-positive and empowering. These findings can be translated to how we promote Title X services to youth in MS.
All people deserve access to quality family planning care. Your support helps us expand access, training, and advocacy to improve the patient experience for everyone.