Meet the Trainer

Ivan J. Juzang, MEE Productions Inc.

Ivan J. Juzang is the Founder and President of MEE (Motivational Educational Entertainment) Productions Inc., a nationally-recognized health communications firm that specializes in culturally relevant public health campaigns and behavior health interventions addressing health, educational and social disparities that impact low-income, underserved communities. Juzang is a leading expert in the field of social marketing and behavior change communications, producing and implementing results-oriented and trauma-informed intervention campaigns that address health, educational and social disparities affecting underserved, traumatized, and devalued communities. MEE’s target audiences include low-income Black and Latino teens, young adults, LGBTQ+ individuals, boys and men of color (BMOC), parents/caregivers of adolescents, ex-offenders and multicultural community leaders.

Mr. Juzang has focused on identifying the barriers, arguments and counter-arguments related to helping communities of color improve their health and social outcomes. He expertly engages low-income urban audiences affected by high levels of chronic stress and trauma to contemplate making informed choices. He conducts qualitative audience research with suspicious audiences that provide an “insider’s view” of the challenging daily realities of urban living, including high levels of chronic trauma, and combines it with creative, “outside the box” media production and grassroots community mobilization strategies that counter lack of mainstream institutional trust. Mr. Juzang also conducts training and technical assistance for service providers and public health agencies around the development of culturally-relevant health messages, as well as, community outreach to improve health outcomes.

Juzang has been the primary researcher on MEE’s national research projects, including its first national report, The MEE Report: Reaching the Hip-Hop Generation (published in 1992). He has also written, This Is My Reality-The Price of Sex: An Inside Look at Black Urban Youth Sexuality and the Role of the Media (2004), Moving Beyond Survival Mode: Promoting Mental Wellness and Resiliency as a Way to Cope with Urban Trauma (2009), the Inner-City Truth 3 Survey (2013) and Heard, Not Judged: Insights into the Talents, Realities and Needs of Young Men of Color (2016). Ivan’s expertise as a media producer is exemplified in MEE’s award-winning media productions, including “Check Yourself” HIV prevention PSAs, and “In Search of Love: Dating Violence Among Urban Youth.”

He received his BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, and his MBA from The Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania.

Javier Sanchez, REACH Communications

Javier Sanchez is recognized both nationally and internationally as a leader in developing effective strategies for youth and community mobilization. His experience and expertise come from more than 20 years of work with the Youth to Youth International Program along with a 15-year working partnership with MEE Productions, Inc. Javier specializes in helping schools, communities, and service providers develop strategies for relevant, effective and sustainable audience reach and impact. In 2003, he was awarded The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Developing Leaders in Reducing Substance Abuse Fellowship and is a graduate of the Ray Miller Institute for Change and Leadership.

His company, R.E.A.C.H. Communications, Inc. (Reaching Excellence in Attitude, Character, and Health) is a boutique marketing firm that uses the “By-and-For” approach to create cutting-edge health and wellness messages and communication strategies that effectively reach and engage our most disenfranchised communities and vulnerable populations. R.E.A.C.H. specializes in working with clients to develop powerful, memorable, and actionable marketing and messaging strategies. They create personalized campaigns, initiatives, and programs that are designed to help youth serving organizations further brand themselves and expand their sphere of influence and impact.

Javier has collaborated with MEE Productions on several of their behavioral change intervention campaigns in Ohio, California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, as well as on its national research projects, including Moving Beyond Survival Mode: Promoting Mental Wellness and Resiliency as a Way to Cope with Urban Trauma (2009), the Inner-City Truth 3 Survey (2013), and Heard, Not Judged: Insights into the Talents, Realities and Needs of Young Men of Color (2016).

Javier received his BA in Behavioral Studies from Capital University.