Rea Pañares, MHS, a Filipina American, is director of Minority Health Initiatives at Families USA, a national nonprofit organization that is dedicated to the achievement of high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans. In this role, she analyzes the impact of health policies and proposals on racial and ethnic minorities' access to quality, affordable health care; develops tools and resources to build institutional capacity within communities of color; and raises awareness about minority health policy issues among key stakeholders, including members of the media and elected officials.
Prior to this position, she was a program associate at Grantmakers In Health (GIH), a nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to helping foundations and corporate giving programs improve the nation's health. Ms. Pañares was responsible for leading GIH's work in the areas of racial and ethnic health disparities, including language access, immigrant health, and the social determinants of health. She was also involved with projects related to foundation support for public policy and advocacy, public health, and environmental health.
Prior to joining GIH, Ms. Pañares served as manager at the Washington Business Group on Health (now the National Business Group on Health), where she led the organization's Health Disparities Initiative, a project designed to provide information and tools to employers on how to purchase and plan health care for a culturally diverse workforce.
Ms. Pañares has also held positions with the Health Care Financing Administration (now the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) and the Women and Children's Health Policy Center at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
Ms. Pañares received a master's degree in health policy and management from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley in molecular and cellular biology.
Links:
[1] http://www.apiahf.org/sites/default/files/DSC_0078.JPG
