2023 Planning Team
Tanya Bass, PhD, MS, MEd, CHES®, CSE
(She/Her/Hers)
About the Founder
Dr. Tanya Bass is the founder of the North Carolina Sexual Health Conference (NCSEXCON). NCSEXCON LLC. is North Carolina’s only conference that provides opportunities for agencies and individuals to share information, strategies, and best practices around sexual health across the lifespan. Her vision for NCSEXCON is to connect professionals and students within the various disciplines of the sexual health profession including but not limited to clinical care, maternal and child health, intimate partner violence, counseling, education, reproductive health and justice, HIV/STDs, LGBTQ healthcare, advocacy, policy development, and overall sexuality from birth to death. With over 20 years of experience, she is a subject matter expert in the field of health education, minority health, pregnancy preventions, HIV/STDs, reproductive health and sexual health. Tanya is a member of the Women of Color Sexual Health Network (WoCSHN), the Association of Black Sexologist and Clinicians (ABSC), the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT) serving as VP of Membership. She is a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) and an AASECT Certified Sexuality Educator (CSE). She is a current member of the editorial board for the American Journal of Sexuality Education. Tanya is an alumna of North Carolina Central University’s (NCCU) Department of Public Health Education, where she has served as an adjunct instructor for the past 15 years. Currently, Tanya is the lead instructor for Human Sexuality. She enjoys planning as well as attending professional development events. Tanya is committed to sexual health equity and professional development.
Alicia Andrews, MEd
(She/Her/Hers)
Alicia Andrews, an Eastern NC native, has coined herself as the Public Health Sexologist. She’s the visionary of BeFree Wellness Education & Consulting, LLC. She creates and implements community education and professional development for all communities, especially rural and other vulnerable communities. Her educational training at NC Central University and Widener University helped shape her into the Public Health-Sexuality Professional she is today. Her 15+ year career includes designing, coordinating, and implementing public and sexual health education theory and evidence-based lessons for communities across the lifespan; creating and facilitating professional development workshops and trainings, and organizing community health programs/events and assisting with planning and coordinating sexuality education and other public health conferences. Alicia believes freedom lies in the power of communication and knowledge, and it is her mission to normalize healthy sexual communication to help eliminate public health and sexual health disparities.
Carla Mena
(she/her/hers)
Carla A. Mena is the Director of Capacity Building Assistance Operations for the Hands United
Program at the Latino Commission on AIDS. Prior to joining Hands United, Carla worked at Duke
University Hospital, as a bilingual research coordinator working with studies that were both local and
global. Carla has extensive research experience in several fields including hepatitis C, HIV, immigration,
LGBTQ+, childhood obesity prevention, neonatal vaccinations, and sexual and reproductive health.
Carla is a certified Culture Facilitator, Diversity to Belonging Facilitator and Culture Assessor. In
addition, Carla is the founder of Culture X-Factor, LLC, which provides workplace culture assessments to
improve organizational health through in-depth exploration, understanding, and resolution of culture,
leadership, and diversity and inclusion challenges. Culture X-Factor uses coaching and facilitation
techniques in all aspects of their work—never ignoring human factors of performance and improvement.
Cassandra Corrado
(she/her/hers)
Cassandra is a sex educator who works exclusively with college students and other adults to unlearn sexual shame and improve their pleasure. Her work centers LGBTQ+ folks, is gender-expansive, and strives to be inclusive of a wide variety of life experiences. She is particularly focused on helping survivors of interpersonal violence rebuild healthy relationships with sex and sexuality. When she's not teaching or writing, you can find her in her garden tending to her plants and raising Monarch butterflies.
Jamika Lynch
(She/Her/Hers)
Jamika M. Lynch is a Health Educator Supervisor for the Columbus County Department of Public Health. She is skilled at resourcefully adapting and meeting the needs of youth in Columbus County. She specializes in teenage pregnancy prevention. Ms. Lynch is experienced in facilitating sexual/reproductive health education to adolescents. She has held experience in adolescent health education for schools and non-profits in Columbus County for more than eight years. She has worked with thousands of adolescents in Columbus County during her tenure. She has received the 2019 Barbara Huberman Bravery Award from SHIFT NC (Sexual Health Initiatives for Teens) for her success in teenage pregnancy prevention. She has also received the 2019 Rising Star Award from the NC Sexual Health Conference in recognition of her passion leadership, and commitment to sexual health. She just recently has been awarded a Proclamation of Appreciation and Recognition from the Columbus County Board of Commissioners.
Ja'Nell Henry
(she/her/hers)
Ja’Nell Henry is a graduate of Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina where she studied Business Management and Spanish. She has years of experience as a project manager and sexual and reproductive health educator for teens and adults. Ja’Nell currently serves as the Director of Events for a DC based non profit where she uses what she learned from years of facilitating to create inclusive spaces across the country.
Jenny Shealy, LCSW, CST
(She/Her/Hers)
Jenny is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and AASECT Certified Sex Therapist with a psychotherapy and supervision practice in Asheville NC. Jenny has a passion for working with people exploring their sexuality or asexuality, gender identity and relationship structure options. She supports clients in processing trauma through EMDR. Jenny believes our optimal well-being is reflected in our minds and bodies, the relationships with ourselves and others and our interconnectedness with nature. She also believes in laughter as a super-charged healing tool!
Kevin Harrell, MPH, CHES
(He/Him/His)
Kevin J. Harrell is an award-winning public health professional who earned both a Bachelor of Science in Public Health and a Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health. Kevin has worked in public health and sexual health in higher education and human services settings for nearly 20 years. Currently, he serves as Preventive Health Director at Wake County Health and Human Services providing leadership for the Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention, HIV/STD Community Outreach, and Maternal and Child Health Programs. Kevin served as Adjunct Professor at North Carolina Central and Saint Augustine’s Universities, Director of Health Promotion at Wake Forest University, and Public Health Educator at North Carolina Central and Duke Universities. Kevin created a prevention program that earned the 2004 U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Innovation in Prevention Award.
Leslie Massicotte, M.Ed
(She/They)
Leslie Massicotte is a public health educator and sexuality education consultant. She has worked with youth for over 15 years and currently works with Wake County Health and Human Services as a maternal and child health educator. She is a trained facilitator of the Our Whole Lives curriculum and has taught sexuality education in classroom, clinic, and community settings both domestically and abroad. She is passionate about increasing access to comprehensive sexuality information, creating educational spaces that focus on equity and inclusion, and utilizing teaching methods that center her students.
Lolita Smith-Moore, MA
(She/Her/Hers)
A graduate of East Carolina University and public health professional with 16 years of experience, Lolita has worked in state government, state and national nonprofits, community-based organizations, and HBCU’s in the areas of chronic disease, maternal and child health, infant mortality, reproductive health, breast cancer, tobacco cessation, and preconception health. Passionate about equipping young people with the tools to safeguard their sexual health, Lolita served as adjunct lecturer teaching Personal Health and Wellness, and co-authored lesson plans, featured in two Center for Sex Ed Publications. Lolita is a member of the NC Society for Public Health Education, Women of Color Sexual Health Network, and Sister Song Reproductive Justice Collective. Lolita currently serves as program manager on a special initiative focused on reducing racial disparities in the rare disease community. Lolita is pursuing a master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, with future plans to become a Sex Therapist.
Sarah Hoffert, M.Ed
(She/Her/Hers)
Sarah has over 15 years of sexuality education & training experience in VT & NC and currently serves as the Case Manager Interpersonal Violence Specialist at Appalachian State University. She has an MEd, U. of Vermont in Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration and an MEd, Widener University in Human Sexuality Studies. Sarah is in the dissertation phase of her PhD in Human Sexuality Studies also at Widener University. Her research interests include twins and sexuality, support for pregnant and parenting teens, and the experiences of student sex workers in higher education. This past spring Sarah joined an international cohort of early career sexuality researchers at the Hunt-Simes Institute at the University of Sydney for a master class on queering the classroom. Please reach out if you’re curious about any of these degree programs or opportunities. Sarah feels pretty dang lucky to be on the NCSEXCON planning team. Cheers friends!
Shemeka Thorpe, PhD
(She/Her/Hers)
Dr. Shemeka Thorpe is an award-winning sexuality educator, researcher, and international speaker. Her research focuses on the sexual well-being of Black women using sex-positive and pleasure-centered frameworks.
Tom Murray, PhD, LMFT, LPCS, CST
(He/Him/His)
Dr. Tom Murray, author, international trainer, educator, and couples and sex therapist-supervisor, is a widely sought-after expert in sexuality and intimate relationships. For more than two decades, Murray has worked with everyday folks to embrace their weirdness, shed labels and shame, lean into anxiety, and build better and stronger relationships. Murray has appeared in numerous venues, including the Huffington Post and The Daily Mail, as well as radio, television, and podcasts, including the Practice of Being Seen and Shrink Rap Radio. Murray directs A Path to Wellness in Greensboro, NC, where he lives with his two teenage sons. He authored Making Nice with Naughty: An intimacy guide for the rule-following, organized, perfectionist, practical, and color-within-the-line types.
