John A Guidry, PhD

Pronouns: he/him/his

PRESIDENT and CEO

John A. Guidry, PhD, is the founder, President, and CEO of TRX Development Solutions. He has been active as a researcher, behavioral scientist, and program evaluator for over 25 years. With TRX, he specializes in strategic development, evaluation design, client relationship management, and Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocols for TRX projects. Specific field specialties include: HIV, sexually transmitted infections, and sexual and reproductive health; behavioral interventions; evaluation of behavioral health programs (mental health and substance use treatment); stigma and stigma-reduction interventions; youth advocacy and programming; elder justice; LGBTQ+ advocacy and policy; and IRB management and research with vulnerable populations.

Prior to founding TRX in 2016, John worked as an independent grant writer, program evaluator, and community researcher in public health and advocacy in New York City and nationally. At Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) from 2011 through 2013, he was Director of the Community Health and Research Department, for which he responsible for directing GMHC’s youth program (Club 1319) for Black and Brown gay, bisexual, and transgender youth; developing and implementing GMHC’s grassroots social marketing campaigns; and contributing to community-based participatory research partnerships with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the City College of New York, and the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies of the New York State Psychiatric Institute.

From 2004-2008, John managed “Pathways to Collaboration,” a multi-sited learning community that documented practices of community engagement with local partnerships around the United States. The project was funded by the Kellogg Foundation through the New York Academy of Medicine. The findings were published as Engaging the Community in Participation, by Roz Lasker and John A. Guidry (McFarland, 2009).

From 1996-2004 he was a professor of political science with Augustana College in Rock Island and Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. As a scholar and researcher, John’s work concentrated on social movements, urban politics, the rights of children, and democratization in Brazil and the developing world and resulted in several peer-reviewed publications in the field.

John received the doctorate in political science from the University of Michigan in 1996, MA in Latin American Studies from Tulane University (1988), and BA in political science from Loyola University of New Orleans (1986).

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaguidry

Erin P Hou, MPH

Pronouns: she/her/hers

DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL PROJECTS

Erin Hou, MPH, is experienced in program and grant management, monitoring and evaluation, research, grant writing, and international health and development.

Erin provides oversight of TRX administrative management, including finance and billing functions, human resources and strategic management. She also manages several evaluation projects at TRX, working with clients specializing in mental and behavioral health, youth services, LGBTQ+ services, domestic violence prevention, HIV/AIDS services, and other supportive social services. Most recently, Erin has collaborated with New York State Department of Health and the New York City LGBT Community Center to implement the 2021 LGBTQ+ Health and Human Services Community Survey for New York State, which will inform LGBTQ+ policy, funding and advocacy across the state for the next 5 years.

Prior to joining TRX, Erin worked in corporate philanthropy and legal services for the Esteé Lauder Companies. She also worked as a project consultant and grant writer with United Nations Volunteers to develop a project to connect HIV-positive mothers and their children with sustainable economic opportunities and healthcare in Pallisa, Uganda. Previously, Erin worked at the FHI360 and USAID-funded MPlus Project in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where she played a lead role in coordinating a research study examining the effectiveness of mobile phone communications in relaying HIV prevention messages among men who have sex with men (MSM), sex workers and refugees. While in the Philippines, she developed the monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for a mobile health clinic providing sexual and reproductive health services to women living in remote areas of Manila. Erin has also previously worked as a Research Assistant at the National Institutes of Health and Columbia University Medical Center.

She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Advertising from Syracuse University (NY, USA) and a Master of Public Health degree from the University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia).

Alexa M Kreisberg, MPH

Pronouns: she/her/hers

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Alexa Kreisberg, MPH, has more than seven years of experience in monitoring & evaluation, research, implementation & management of electronic health records, and international health & development.

She brings extensive subject matter expertise in the implementation and management of electronic health records for large community-based organizations to TRX. She has previously managed electronic health records for a large CBO, which included the management of about 100,000 current and previous patient records.

Before joining TRX, Alexa was the Senior Director of Analytics & Evaluation at GMHC, a large community-based organization in New York City, where she managed the agency's monitoring & evaluation and quality improvement for nearly 70 different programs, departments, and foundation, city, state, and federal contracts totaling over $32 million. While with GMHC, she spearheaded data management and electronic health record implementation to ensure compliant and accurate reporting of program data to funders such as the CDC, NYC-DOHMH, NYS-DOH, HUD, SAMHSA, DHHS, and DOJ.

Previously, Alexa worked for the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia and the United Nations Population Fund. While in Zambia, she developed a health education curriculum for pediatric HIV patients, which is used throughout the country, and led a program evaluation within Lusaka District to increase program effectiveness. While working with the United Nations Population Fund, Alexa provided technical assistance to regional and country offices to improve sexual and reproductive health and rights programming and advocacy. During her time with UNFPA, Alexa developed guidance on remote monitoring in hard-to-reach areas, specifically conflict settings. The white paper was used as the basis for a funded remote monitoring program in Syria and Iraq. The guidance Alexa created is still in use by UNFPA.

Alexa earned her Master of Public Health from New York University in Community and International Health and her bachelor's degree from the University of Denver.

Chermaine Paiso, BS

Pronouns: she/her/hers

MANAGER OF HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Chermaine Paiso, BS, has approximately 15 years of experience in Electronic Health Records, project management, implementations, analysis, and training experience.

Prior to joining TRX, Chermaine worked in a variety of healthcare systems in Operations Management, IT Analysis, Project Management and as a Trainer. This has afforded Chermaine the opportunity to play key roles in the implementation of diverse Electronic Health Record Systems. She led a large-scale initiative to transition from paper records to electronic health records, and she reduced turnaround time for scanning paper records from 6 months to only 48 hours. Chermaine assisted in the rolling-out of various electronic health record projects, including process improvements and quality assurance initiatives.

Chermaine was a selected leader to train other teams on organizing projects and streamlining processes. From then on, Chermaine has been responsible for building, developing, and motivating peak-performance teams to achieve organizational objectives.

Chermaine earned her Bachelor of Science in Health Information Management from the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN.

Gina Cramer, MS

Pronouns: she/her/hers

MANAGER OF ANALYTICS AND EVALUATION

Gina Cramer, MS, has a background in grant management and evaluation, data analysis, grant writing, and training. As the Manager of Analytics & Evaluation, Gina brings extensive experience in SAMHSA evaluation.

Prior to joining TRX, Gina served as a Grant Consultant for the Texas Harm Reduction Alliance (THRA), a comprehensive peer-run harm reduction program in Austin, Texas. At THRA, Gina assisted in the research, writing, and submission of grant applications. Through these efforts, Gina secured vital funding to ensure the continuation of harm reduction services in Austin. 

Gina also previously worked as the Evaluation Coordinator for META Consultants, a Consulting Company in San Antonio, Texas. At META, Gina oversaw a team to monitor over 27 grant funded projects. She provided monitoring, evaluation, and training to community-based organizations, ensuring their compliancy and accurate reporting to funders such as the CDC and SAMHSA. 

Gina received a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science in Sociology from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Joie A Otting, BA

Pronouns: she/her/hers

PROJECT COORDINATOR

Joie Otting has a background in the nonprofit sector with experience in case management, development, fundraising, and education.

Before TRX, Joie spent a year doing street outreach at Iowa Homeless Youth Center, a nonprofit in her hometown of Des Moines, Iowa that provides resources for unhoused and at-risk youth. She provided direct services to unhoused community members living in camps and other unstable housing conditions. Her direct service work included case management, providing food, clothing, tents, and other necessities, connecting clients to employers and other community resources, and advocating for clients at doctor’s appointments and in other settings that are often hostile or inaccessible to unhoused youth. She operated from a trauma-focused, harm reduction, housing-first model and practiced skills related to cultural humility and de-escalation.

She also worked with community partners on a number of projects to improve living conditions for unhoused and high-risk youth, including partnering with planned parenthood to provide sex education, birth control, and STD testing to youth and working with local law students on researching and drafting legislation to expand the rights of minors to access mental healthcare.

Joie graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BA in philosophy, with special focus on feminist philosophy, from Agnes Scott College in Atlanta, Georgia. While in college, she volunteered with Planned Parenthood to provide sex education to first year college students.

Michelle A. Castel, MA

Pronouns: they/she

PROJECT COORDINATOR

Michelle Castel has a background in the private and nonprofit sectors with experience in Caribbean/American policy relations, human resources, education, and mental health. At TRX, Michelle assists with several program evaluations and reviews draft materials for reports and other evaluation communications.

Before joining TRX, Michelle served as a policy fellow for the Haitian Women’s Collective, a Haitian women-led nonprofit organization that performs humanitarian and community development work in Haiti. At the Collective, Michelle evaluated existing policies and procedures to help implement sustainable projects. During her tenure as a graduate student researcher, Michelle’s work focused on racism, intergenerational trauma, and the use of herbal medicine in Afro-Latine communities.

They earned their MA in Africology and African American Studies from Temple University and their BA in Psychology with a French minor from CUNY Lehman College."

In addition to our full time staff, TRX can call upon several consultants and partnerships with other companies and agencies to ensure the highest quality service to our clients.