Berkeley Public Health Impact Fellows are ambitious health leaders who work closely with our community to create new projects and initiatives, shape the school’s impact strategy, share knowledge and expertise, and mentor students. The fellowship is a unique opportunity to reflect, connect, and build something new within a vibrant community of changemakers.
2024–2025 Impact Fellows
The first cohort of Impact Fellows, with backgrounds spanning philanthropy, entrepreneurship, policymaking, and nonprofit leadership, have a long track record of inspiring, creating and leading lasting change to improve population health.
Nate Favini, MD, MS
Nate Favini, MD, MS is the Chief Medical Officer for Pair Team, an innovative Medicaid provider that connects underserved communities to high-quality care by partnering with local clinics, shelters, food pantries and other community-based organizations. As a fellow, he wants to mobilize the next generation of public health and Medicaid entrepreneurs.
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Read what Nate is saying about the program
“The fellowship has been an incredible experience for me. The co-fellows are an extraordinary group of people, and I’ve learned so much from them and the team at the Berkeley School of Public Health. One of my co-fellows is now a top advisor to our company on government affairs in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., and we’re collaborating deeply on efforts related to Medicaid policy and AI. I’ve also had a lot of fun working with students, including mentoring them for a Medicaid innovation competition. It’s been so rewarding to encourage entrepreneurial thinking around Medicaid at Berkeley.”
Thomas Goetz, MA, MPH
Thomas Goetz, MA, MPH is a journalist and entrepreneur who helps people understand complicated things through stories, data and design. He is the Co-Founder of Building H – a project to build health into everyday life by catalyzing innovation in food, transportation, real estate, entertainment, etc. – and a former executive editor of WIRED. He is focused on making businesses a new force of change for health.
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Read what Thomas is saying about the program
“I can’t recommend this enough – the Berkeley School of Public Health is a dynamic hub of innovation and inspiration, and it’s a great place to advance the future of public health.”
Tony Iton, MD, JD, MPH
Tony Iton, MD, JD, MPH served for fifteen years as the Senior Vice President for Healthy Communities at The California Endowment, a private, statewide health foundation whose mission is to expand access to affordable, quality health care for underserved individuals and communities. He is committed to reinvigorating democracy to build the health of all communities.
Kasley Killam, MPH
Kasley Killam, MPH is the author of The Art and Science of Connection and the founder of Social Health Labs, a national nonprofit that empowers community builders. She is a Harvard-trained social scientist, award-winning innovator, who is committed to strengthening social health and connection.
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Read what Kasley is saying about the program
“I’m proud to be part of this community of innovative, dedicated health leaders. Every conversation with the Fellows, social impact team, and Berkeley students and faculty leaves me inspired.”
Shruti Kothari, MPH
Shruti Kothari, MPH is a health care transformation advocate who leads Industry Initiatives for Blue Shield of California and is the Founder of Women of Community, an organization committed to increasing representation of Women of Color in health care leadership. She wants to help students leverage their own stories as impactful tools for professional development, advocacy, and driving health care transformation.
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Read what Shruti is saying about the program
“I loved my experience as a UC Berkeley Social Impact fellow! During the year long program I met and got to mentor so many incredible students… As a public health professional, and as a human being who cares about other human beings, these students have given me so much hope for how public health and social impact will continue to evolve, and what they will bring to the table as the next generation of leaders. Thank you UC Berkeley SPH for selecting me for this tremendous opportunity and jumpstarting my hope for the future of social impact.”
Marko Mijic
Marko Mijic served as Undersecretary at the California Health & Human Services Agency (CalHHS), where he managed 12 departments and five offices, overseeing over 34,000 employees and an annual budget exceeding $260 billion. He envisions a future where health, public health, and social services are seamlessly integrated through data and technology to address social drivers of health and uplift marginalized communities.
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Read what Marko is saying about the program
“My experience as a BPH Impact Fellow gave me the invaluable opportunity to step back, reflect, and strategically consider how I could leverage my skills to create meaningful impact. It encouraged me to think beyond immediate challenges, envisioning how my contributions could drive change both within the campus community and in the broader world.”
Rainbow Rubin, MPH, PhD
Rainbow Rubin, MPH, PhD is the Director of Science at Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, a national organization working to eliminate toxic chemicals and other environmental exposures that lead to breast cancer. Dr. Rubin is committed to building better science and policy translation for environmental health threats.
Lisa Simpson, MB, BCh, MPH
Lisa Simpson, MB, BCh, MPH is the Former CEO of Academy Health, which works to improve health and health care for all by advancing evidence to inform policy and practice. She is currently an adjunct professor at the University of South Florida School of Public Health and the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University. She wants to build and scale evidence-based initiatives focused on equity and reproductive health.
Ruth Thomas-Squance, MPH, PhD
Ruth Thomas-Squance, MPH, PhD is the Co-Executive Director at the Build Healthy Places Network, a national center positioning multi-sector partnerships from community development, public health and healthcare sectors. She is focused on building multi-sectoral collaborations to address the root causes of health inequities in historically disinvested and marginalized communities.
If you are interested in learning more or connecting with one of these fellows, please send a message to BPHsocialimpact@berkeley.edu and we will help to connect you.
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The Berkeley Public Health Social Impact Team sends out a newsletter bi-monthly (every other month) with the latest in Social Impact at UC Berkeley Public Health.