Dr. J. Nadine Gracia, MD, MS

Dr. J. Nadine Gracia  is the President and CEO of Trust for America’s Health (TFAH), a nonprofit, nonpartisan public health policy, research and advocacy organization that promotes optimal health for every person and community. Dr. Gracia is a national health equity leader with extensive leadership and management experience in federal government, the nonprofit sector, academia, and professional associations. As President and CEO, she leads TFAH’s work to advance sound public health policy, address the social determinants of health, advance health equity, and make health promotion and disease prevention a national priority. Before being appointed President and CEO, Dr. Gracia served as TFAH’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. In that role, she developed and implemented strategic policy priorities and managed TFAH’s business operations. She also strengthened and broadened partnership relations focused on health equity and served as a national spokesperson for the organization. Prior to joining TFAH, Dr. Gracia served in the Obama Administration as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health and Director of the Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In that capacity, she directed departmental policies and programs to end health disparities and advance health equity, and provided executive leadership on administration priorities including the Affordable Care Act and My Brother’s Keeper. She oversaw a budget of nearly $60 million and pioneered innovative, multi-sectoral partnerships in the public and private sectors. Previously, she served as Chief Medical Officer in the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, where her portfolio included adolescent health, emergency preparedness, environmental health and climate change, global health, and the White House Council on Women and Girls. Prior to that role, she was appointed as a White House Fellow at HHS and worked in the Office of the First Lady on the development of the Let’s Move! initiative to solve childhood obesity. Dr. Gracia received a Bachelor of Arts in French from Stanford University, a medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and a Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania. She completed pediatrics residency at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and later was a clinical instructor and research fellow at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she conducted research on community risk factors for violence. Passionate about service and leadership development, she is active in many professional and civic organizations, including the Aspen Global Leadership Network, the Dean’s Council at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, Women of Impact, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.