Oral Health Coalition Manager, Florida Voices for Health & Project Manager, Funders Oral Health Policy Group

Erica Craven is originally from Venezuela, where she obtained her Dental Degree in 2009. She has always been passionate about healthcare, education, and community service. In 2011, she moved to the US and decided to pursue her Dental Hygiene career. Since her graduation and for approximately 9 years, Erica was able to follow her passion for public health at Terry Reilly Health Services in Idaho, where, besides serving her community, she was able to provide care to children, patients with diabetes, and pregnant patients as an embedded dental hygienist in primary care, demonstrating the value of Medical-Dental Integration. At Terry Reilly she also found one of her biggest mentors and a new way to see herself, not only as a clinician and educator, but as an advocate for her patients and the community.

While in Idaho, Erica served as president of the Idaho Dental Hygienist Association and functioned as a liaison between the Dental Hygiene Association, the Idaho Dental Association, and the Board of Dentistry to improve dental services at long term care facilities.

Since the beginning of her career in Community Health Centers, Erica has been proud to belong to the National Network for Oral Health Access (NNOHA), and to attend most of their annual conferences. She was also part of one of the first NNOHA Teledentistry Collaboratives and has had the opportunity to present and coach other teams along the way. Erica currently serves on the NNOHA Board of Directors.

In 2022, Erica and her family decided to move to Florida, and although she was very disappointed to leave her dream job behind, new doors in the public health arena opened for her. For two years she worked as a Project Manager for AFL Enterprises, supporting oral health tasks related to Teledentistry, integration, and quality improvement.

Since January of 2024 Erica has been working with Florida Voices for Health as the Oral Health Coalition Manager, where she integrates her knowledge and experience in dentistry, primary care, and community health, with her new skills in public health and advocacy. She is also currently managing a small group of foundations called Funders Oral Health Policy Group, where she coordinates networking activities, newsletters, and collaborative work for philanthropic organizations funding oral health.

Erica is excited to start a new adventure this fall by pursuing her MPH with a concentration in Maternal and Child Health from the University of South Florida.

In her free time, she enjoys running, baking, traveling, and catching up with friends. More than anything she loves spending time with family playing board games, watching movies, and enjoying the outdoors together.