Dr. Betsy Rodriguez RN, BSN, MSN, DCES, FADCES| Speaker & Committee Member

Ms. Rodríguez has more than 25 years of professional experience as a nurse, certified diabetes educator, author, and bicultural specialist in health communication strategies for diabetes educational resources for Hispanic/Latino, African American, American Indian people. She is a senior public health advisor at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the Division of Diabetes Translation (DDT). Ms. Rodríguez holds a master's degree in the science of nursing with a primary role as a clinical specialist and secondary roles in education and administration. Ms. Rodríguez has been working in diabetes education and with community health workers (CHWs) and diabetes care and education specialists for more than 25 years. Betsy was part of the working group that developed the CDC Community Guide's systematic reviews to identify scientific evidence for the role of community health workers/promotores de la salud in cardiovascular disease, diabetes management, type 2 diabetes prevention, and cancer. Betsy is the author of many health education and communications resources. The most recent ones are: 1) the CDC National Diabetes Prevention Program Spanish Prevent T2 curriculum, 2) In collaboration with AANP, ADA and ADCES, she led the national initiative to develop a marketing identity for Diabetes Self-management Education and Support services (DSMES) and as a result developed the bilingual CDC DSMES Playbook, 3) The Road to Health Toolkit- designed for Community Health Workers/Promotores de la salud serving African American and Hispanic Latino communities, the Road to Health Toolkit provides materials to start a community outreach program to help people prevent or delay type 2 diabetes. The Road to Health Toolkit includes facilitator and participant materials to host educational sessions in-person or remotely, 4) Co-leading the creation of a DSME national data infrastructure in collaboration with ADA and ADCES, 5) CDC DSMES Literacy Toolkit. At CDC, Ms. Rodríguez is a senior public health advisor providing technical assistance and training to state health departments, and national and international diabetes-related professional organizations. She is the director of the IDF SACA Region Task Forces in diabetes education and communication. She was the former chair of the ADA Health Disparities Committee, a current member of the ADA Community Health Worker and Peer Support work group, and ADA Clinical Update Conference 2024 Planning Committee past member. At ADCES was a member of the Diversity and Inclusion committee, Favorably Review and currently serving on ADCES’s Professional Practice Committee. She is a NACHW board member. Rodriguez is a member of the IDF Blue Circles Voices of Diabetes and pancreas mom. Betsy is a social media- raising digital creator.