Effective Vaccine Conversations

Dr. Florencia Greer Polite is an Associate Professor of Clinical Obstetrics & Gynecology and Chief of the Division of General OBGYN at University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.  Dr. Polite is a native of Philadelphia and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She completed her residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at NYU & Bellevue hospitals, where she served as the Administrative Chief Resident and received the Lyman Barton Memorial Chief Resident award.  Upon graduation, Dr. Polite joined the faculty at NYU and served as the Associate Residency Program Director for the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.   In August 2010, Dr. Polite joined the LSU faculty as an attending in the Generalist Division of OBGYN, becoming Director of the Residency Program in 2012, Director of the Generalist Division in 2014, and the Director of Faculty and Resident Development in 2017.  In September of 2018, Dr. Polite returned to the University of Pennsylvania as the Chief of the Division of General Obstetrics and Gynecology.  In this capacity, Dr. Polite is responsible for the largest division in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology including four clinical practice sites. Dr. Polite is board certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), a member of the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO), and a member of the Society for Academic Specialists in General Obstetrics and Gynecology (SASCOG).  She serves on the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) Executive Board, Audit and Finance, and Budget Committees and the USMLE Test Development Committee.  Dr. Polite has been the recipient of numerous mentorship and teaching awards including the coveted CREOG National Faculty Award, the APGO Excellence in Teaching Award, and the ACOG Mentorship Award.  Dr. Polite has served as a medical expert for both plaintiffs and defense since 2011.  She has reviewed medical cases and served as an expert in both depositions and trial work.  She lives in Philadelphia with her husband (a partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP)  and their 2 daughters. Rafiq R. Kalam Id-Din II, Esq., a current resident of Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, is Founder & Managing Partner of Ember Charter Schools for Mindful Education, Innovation and Transformation (Ember). A social entrepreneur, activist, teacher, lawyer and nonprofit leader with over 25-years experience, Rafiq grew up in severe poverty in inner city Philadelphia during the height of the crack epidemic and violence of the 1980s and early 1990s. A two-time graduate of the University of Virginia (Bachelors in English and African-American Studies, and a Master of Teaching—English Education), Rafiq received his JD from NYU School of Law as a Thurgood Marshall Scholar, becoming an Editor of the Law Review and President of the Student Bar Association. Rafiq practiced law with Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP in New York and Hong Kong, before serving as Executive Director of the AnBryce Foundation in the Washington, DC area, a pioneering pipeline program focused on impactful education opportunities for socio-economically disadvantaged youth. In 2007 Rafiq received the prestigious Echoing Green Fellowship for Social Entrepreneurs for his innovative “Teaching Firm”, an innovative model for fully teacher-led schools managed like law firms, the first of which launched in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn in 2011. A co-founder and former Executive Board member of the NYC Coalition of Community Charter Schools, founder of the #BlackLedSchoolsMatter initiative and co-founder of the New York Black-Latinx-Asian Charter Collaborative, Rafiq also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Echoing Green, The Brooklyn Crescents, and President of the NYU Law Alumni of Color Association (LACA). Rafiq was recently honored as a recipient of the Black Voices for Social Justice Fund Award from the Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation. Melissa Diaz - Bronx native Melissa Diaz (New York Comedy Festival, Laugh Your Asheville Off) is a unique and rising talent in the New York City comedy scene. Her sharp and quirky wit paired with an edgy attitude takes audiences through a funhouse of fatalism and hilarity that no amount of therapy will make you forget. Melissa is featured regularly at Caroline’s on Broadway, has placed in Devil Cup and Laugh Your Asheville Off competitions, appeared in the New York Comedy Festival and has been named one of NYC’s comics to watch.  Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf