Board & Executive Leadership

Katherine A. Flores, MD, a national leader in primary health care and the development of a diverse health workforce, is the Vice Chair for The Endowment Board of Directors. She joined the Board in May 2020.

Dr. Flores spent her early years as a farm worker until the age of 16 and currently serves as a family physician in private practice in an all‐woman, bilingual medical group in Fresno, CA. Dr. Flores is also an Associate Clinical Professor in Family Medicine at the UCSF School of Medicine and the Director of the UCSF Fresno Latino Center for Medical Education and Research (LaCMER), an organization that works with disadvantaged students to help prepare them to become healthcare professionals who will ultimately return to the Central Valley to provide culturally competent healthcare to the medically underserved.

Dr. Flores has been active over the past 30 years in developing and overseeing programs that recruit and retain Latino and other underrepresented youth into the health professions. She has worked collaboratively with multiple partners to establish a comprehensive health careers pipeline program in the Central Valley of California, targeting disadvantaged youth, particularly from migrant farmworker backgrounds. The goal of the Junior and High School Doctors Academies and the Health Careers Opportunity Program at California State University, Fresno, is to academically enrich, nurture and support disadvantaged youth from 7th‐12th grade through college to assure their academic success and ultimate acceptance into health professional schools. Incorporated within the developed curriculum is a research focus that requires these students to explore health disparity issues in their local communities and provides them with the scientific research skills necessary to address them.

Through her work in developing health professions pathway programs for disadvantaged students, Dr. Flores and others jointly formed the California Health Professions Consortium in 2006 to explore the development of a statewide strategy to address increasing the diversity of the healthcare workforce. The Consortium has grown to include members from academic institutions (faculty and administrators from universities and health professions schools), K‐12 educators, direct service providers (hospitals, clinics, health plans, nurses, and physicians), health policy advocates, and others who have similar interests.

Dr. Flores, a resident of Fresno, is the Past Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Hispanic Medical Association and serves on many national and statewide committees and boards.

Britta Guerrero, Chief Executive Officer of the Sacramento Native American Health Center, Inc., a AAAHC accredited Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) and non-profit urban health center, joined The California Endowment’s Board of Directors in May 2019.

SNAHC has emerged as a leader in the provision of quality health care delivered through a culturally competent, family-centered and wrap-around delivery system. To further demonstrate their commitment health leadership and to the patient centered philosophy, SNAHC was the first organization in the state of California to receive recognition as a AAAHC-Patient Centered Health Home.

Guerrero attended Humboldt State University and began her health care career in non-profit clinics. Her passion for health care for the underserved brought her back to service within her own community. Guerrero takes the responsibility of representing an Indian organization very seriously and made it her personal/professional mission to ensure Native Americans have access to health care in urban areas such as Sacramento, a population that is often overlooked, tremendously underserved and still suffers the disproportionate burden of health disparities.

Guerrero is a founding member of the California Consortium of Urban Indian Health (CCUIH); she also serves on the Central Valley Health Network (CVHN) and California Primary Care Associations (CPCA) Board of Directors, Board-Chair Elect. She is committed to social just and health equity.

A self-proclaimed change maker, Brenda Solórzano is known as a leader focused on continual learning while making time to play and enjoy life. Solórzano is the President and CEO of The California Endowment. She was appointed to the position in 2024. This is a return for Brenda, after working at the Endowment early in her philanthropic career.

Brenda began her career in advocacy circles and has continued to ensure community voice remains at the center of her philanthropic work. She is a nationally recognized leader in trust-based philanthropy, a values-driven approach that advances equity, shifts power, and builds mutually accountable relationships between funders and nonprofits. As a founding member of the movement, Brenda understands that democratizing philanthropy, putting the community at the center, and building trusted partnerships and relationships are critical to ensuring positive and healthy change.

After immigrating to the United States from Guatemala as a baby, Brenda was raised in San Francisco. She calls San Francisco home and lived in California for nearly 50 years before moving to Montana to be the founding CEO of Headwaters Foundation.

Brenda comes to the Endowment from Headwaters. During her tenure at Headwaters, Brenda built an institution for the community, by the community, from the ground up. Leading with a lens of health equity and trust-based philanthropy, she reimagined and reinvented philanthropic practices, changed systems and policies to advance better health outcomes, and built a network of trusted partnerships across the state.

In her career, Brenda has also held positions at the Blue Shield of California Foundation and the California Healthcare Foundation. Brenda has a bachelor’s degree in history with a minor in political science from the University of San Francisco and a Juris Doctorate from Whittier Law School in Southern California.

Brenda is married to Randall Caudle, an immigration attorney, and she has two college-aged children, Alina and Kian. Brenda is currently based in L.A. with her husband and their two pups.

Ashley Monterrosa (she/her), a San Francisco native, has emerged as an educator, organizer, advocate, strategist, and storyteller. A tireless advocate for youth, especially those whose ideas, opinions, and potential have historically been devalued and underrepresented.

Ashley’s passion and dedication have turned into action and impact as she applies a proven ability to problem-solve, actively listen, and thoughtfully lead collaboratively. There is no complex task that Ashley hasn’t been able to assess and move forward to support and advance the power of youth and their desire to advocate for what they believe and need.

In June of 2020, Ashley lost her brother, Sean Monterrosa, to state-sanctioned violence during the George Floyd uprisings- just a day before her twentieth birthday. Since the tragic loss of her brother, she has emerged as a social justice warrior championing causes such as public safety, social justice, and youth mental wellness.

Ashley has had the opportunity to work directly with youth, families, and communities to ensure their voices are heard and centered when it comes to social justice efforts. Through her network, she has built transformative relationships with partners, organizations, and key stakeholders in California and throughout the U.S. While she has found fulfillment in her journey thus far, one of her career goal is to bring about change in her community.

Ashley has had the chance to recruit and mobilize hundreds of people in the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Washington D.C, and New York City surrounding issues of gun violence, youth, mental wellness, and state-sanctioned violence. In her work, Ashley has built and established programs for youth leadership, coalition building, and power building. Additionally, Ashley has assisted with building local and statewide alliances with community organizations and movements throughout California.

Ashley is a Principal Program Coordinator at Horizons Unlimited of San Francisco and is teaching social justice issues, community organizing, leadership development, life skills, and policy advocacy to elementary, middle, and high school students.

Ashley firmly believes that those most harmed are always closest to the solution. Through lived experiences, she continues to advocate for safer communities and victims’ compensation for families affected by state-sanctioned violence.

Donnell Ewert is a consultant in the areas of health and government organization/ leadership and resides in Redding, California. He was previously the Director of the Shasta County Health and Human Services Agency from 2012 to 2022, and the Director of Public Health for the same county from 2006 to 2012. An epidemiologist by training and experience, Ewert has served three health jurisdictions in that capacity. He is passionate about promoting human potential, health equity, racial equity, population based mental well-being, affordable housing, and meaningful social connections.

Ewert is a native Californian and has enjoyed living in diverse parts of the state, including San Jose, Los Angeles, and Redding. He had the opportunity as a young adult to obtain a bachelors degree in Biology from Wheaton College (IL) and a masters degree in Public Health from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

Ewert has served on numerous boards and commissions, including the Partnership Healthplan of California Commission, the First 5 Shasta Commission, the governing board and executive committee of the County Health Executives Association (CHEAC), the governing board of the California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA), the elected governing board of the Grant Elementary School District, the Office of Health Equity Advisory Committee of the California Department of Public Health, the Child Nutrition Advisory Council of the California Board of Education, and the Shasta County Community Corrections Partnership Executive Committee.

Ewert has lived and worked abroad on several occasions, most significantly in Honduras in 1984 and 1987 and in Kazakhstan during 1996-98. He enjoys traveling abroad with his wife and children whenever he has the opportunity.

Edgar Ernesto Ibarra Gutierrez is an up-and-coming cultural communication strategist. He is the Communication and Leadership Coordinator at Motivating Individual Leadership for Public Advancement (MILPA). For the last five years, Edgar has worked directly with communities impacted by mass incarceration through local and state policy advocacy, mentoring youth and young adults returning from incarceration through cultural healing programs focusing on Palabra (One’s Word) and cultural teachings. Edgar has leveraged his lived experience and on-the-ground work to co-design narratives that lead with the stories of those most impacted by the criminal justice system to create meaningful systemic and cultural change as he works towards becoming an effective strategic communicator by honing in on his ability to bridge his lived experiences, community organizing, and cultural healing practices to create narratives and messaging and share stories of resilience that exist in the barrio.

Edgar has served as a Commissioner for the California 100 initiative (2021-2023), as an SB 823 Subcommittee Member for Santa Cruz County (2021 -2023), and now as a proud member of the Board of Directors for the California Endowment. He currently is a co-convener of California’s Youth Futures Movement, which aims to braid and blend futures and foresight practices with grassroots community organizing to create a California for all.

Edgar earned a B.A. in Communications from UC Davis and is pursuing an M.A. in Professional Communications at the University of San Francisco. Edgar has applied what he learned in the classroom by supporting MILPA with fundraising, partner collaboration, content design, event support, and marketing campaigns.

Kai Hong is a Managing Partner and the Chief Investment Strategist at Bivium Capital Partners, a San Francisco-based asset management firm specializing in portfolio advisory solutions and boutique and emerging investment manager research. For nearly two decades, Bivium has provided customized asset management solutions, guidance and support to a wide array of investors. Their work ranges from helping public pension plans navigate the increasingly complex global investment landscape, to partnering with private institutions to realize values-aligned portfolios that meet their philanthropic endeavors.

Prior to Bivium, Kai was a Managing Director and the Head of Investment Management Consulting at Thomas Weisel Partners, where he oversaw the investment platform for the firm’s institutional and high- net-worth clients. Kai was formerly a Vice President and Senior Investment Analyst at Northern Trust Global Advisors and started his investment career in Goldman Sachs’ external manager of managers group. Kai received a SB in Computer Science and Engineering and a Master of Engineering degree from MIT. He is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of San Francisco.

Kameiko Hostler, a citizen of the Hoopa Valley Tribe from the village of Ta’k’milding, embodies a commitment to community empowerment and cultural preservation deeply ingrained in her upbringing. With a background enriched by her great-grandmother, Lillian ‘Mush’ Hostler, the oldest living member of her Tribe, Kameiko draws upon a wealth of tribal wisdom and values in her endeavors.

Currently serving as an Organizer for the California Native Vote Project, Kameiko channels her passion for advocacy and community engagement in empowering the next generation. Her role involves organizing around causes such as curriculum reform, mental health awareness, civic engagement, and addressing the unique needs of Native communities.

Kameiko’s involvement in organizing initiatives began with her pivotal role in advocating for curriculum reform in the San Juan Unified School District in 2020. Beginning with a podcast addressing the gaps in education about Native American history and culture, Kameiko and her fellow organizers launched a campaign for change. They pushed for the discontinuation of ties with racist curriculum vendors, cultural humility training for staff, and local tribal consultation for curriculum reform. This experience reflects her commitment to empowering future generations and confronting systemic barriers, ensuring youth voices are heard in decision-making processes.

Having graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) with a Bachelor of Arts in Politics, Kameiko brings a blend of academic knowledge and lived experience to her work. During her academic journey, she served as the Lead Intern for the UCSC American Indian Resource Center, advocating for fair treatment of Native students and promoting visibility for
the Native American community on campus.

As she continues her journey, Kameiko remains steadfast in her belief in the power of community and the importance of honoring her ancestors’ legacy. With her unwavering dedication and commitment to social justice, she seeks to create a world worthy of passing down to future generations, guided by the principles of balance, resilience, and reverence for
the land.

Kiah Williams, co-founder of SIRUM, a 501(c)3 social venture solving America’s high drug cost problem, joined The California Endowment’s Board of Directors in May 2020.

SIRUM takes unused, surplus drugs and seamlessly delivers them to working poor families, using technology to democratize access. SIRUM has helped redistribute over 750,000 prescriptions worth over $66M of medicine to people across 5 states.

Kiah has been recognized for her work at SIRUM as both a Forbes 30-Under-30 Social Entrepreneur standout and Outstanding Alumni, Silicon Valley Business Journal 40-Under-40, Draper Richards Kaplan Entrepreneur, Grinnell College Young Innovator for Social Justice Prize, and inaugural Westly Foundation Social Innovator.

Kiah previously led negotiations for the Clinton Foundation to create the Alliance Healthcare Initiative, an industry collaboration to reduce childhood obesity. In addition, she developed partnerships with Fortune 100 companies to expand health benefits to 2 million children.

Williams earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Stanford University, where she was also the president of the NAACP. Kiah proudly hails from West Philadelphia and is passionate about health equity in underserved communities.

Kris Hayashi most recently served as the Executive Director at the Transgender Law Center. Transgender Law Center (TLC) is the largest national trans-led organization advocating self-determination for all people. Grounded in legal expertise and committed to racial justice, TLC employs a variety of community-driven strategies to keep transgender and gender nonconforming people alive, thriving, and fighting for rights and justice. Kris has been active in social, racial, and economic justice organizing for 25 years. Kris served as the Executive Director/Co-Director of the Audre Lorde Project, a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two Spirit, Trans, and Gender Non-Conforming People of Color organizing center based in New York City for ten years. Previously he served as Executive Director of Youth United for Community Action a youth organizing group in California, led by young people of color organizing for social and environmental justice.

Kurt Chilcott is the President and CEO Emeritus of CDC Small Business Finance, the nation’s leading nonprofit small business lender. He is also Co-Founder of Momentus Capital, an innovative, one-of-a-kind collaborative uniting a range of nonprofit organizations—including Capital Impact Partners, CDC Small Business Finance, and their affiliates—to provide capital and comprehensive community and economic development services across the country.

Before joining CDC, Kurt worked for the City of San Diego, where he helped reshape its economic development strategy by creating one of the first industry cluster-based regional plans in the country. His leadership played a pivotal role in revitalizing numerous underserved communities throughout the San Diego region.

A servant leader and passionate advocate for economic justice, Kurt has spent his career advancing innovative strategies to address systemic inequities. In 2023, he became the first San Diego-based Board Chair of The California Endowment, one of the nation’s largest foundations focused on health equity.

Kurt has held leadership roles in numerous national and state organizations, including the International Economic Development Council, California Association for Local Economic Development, National Council for Urban Economic Development, and the National Association of Development Companies. Locally, he has served on the boards of Casa Familiar, Southeast Economic Development Corporation, Museum of Us, and the Naval Training Center Foundation, among others.

He holds a degree in Social Anthropology from Harvard University and a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley. At heart, Kurt is a wanderer, a poet, and a lover of the land and its people.

Louie Nguyen, CFA is a mission-driven CEO, impact investor, and experienced board leader with a strong track record of aligning capital with community-centered outcomes. With deep corporate governance, social enterprise growth, and institutional asset management expertise, Louie brings a values-based, systems-thinking approach to board service—focused on equity, accountability, and sustainable impact.

A Vietnamese refugee who grew up in Tulsa, Louie earned his degree from Washington University in St. Louis, completed the Stanford GSB Corporate Directors Consortium, and was a research scholar at Waseda University in Tokyo, where he studied Japan’s pension system.

He is the Chief Executive Officer of SAY San Diego, a 54-year-old nonprofit social enterprise with 400+ staff providing mental health, after-school, and veteran services to over 30,000 individuals annually—primarily in under-resourced neighborhoods. Under his leadership, SAY is pursuing a bold expansion strategy rooted in earned revenue, cross-sector collaboration, and place-based solutions.

Previously, Louie was the founding Chief Investment Officer at Mission Driven Finance, a pioneering private credit firm focused on community impact. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he led the development of an innovative lending model that supported nonprofit resilience while returning 99.9% of capital to investors.

Louie was invited to join The California Endowment board in May 2025. He currently serves as a Trustee of the $10 billion San Diego City Employees’ Retirement System, where he helps guide investment strategy and risk oversight. He is also on the board of a private 150-employee Asian media company, advising on new market entry strategies and social initiatives. He formerly served on the board of an $800 million health care foundation, contributing his expertise on both the Audit and Investment Committees.

Passionate about representation and cultural storytelling, Louie is also an executive producer of Vietnamese films, a lifelong anime fan, and an active participant in a 25-year-old community soccer group.

María Blanco is the former Executive Director of the UC Immigrant Student Legal Services Center, which provides immigration-related legal services for undocumented students and their families at nine University of California campuses. The Center is a joint project of the University of California Office of the President and the UC Davis School of Law.

With a BA and JD from UC Berkeley of Law, Blanco is a long-time civil rights litigator and advocate. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEFA) and most recently served as Vice President of Civic Engagement at the California Community Foundation. Blanco has also served as Executive Director of the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute at UC Berkeley School of Law, as Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, and as National Senior Counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. She is a member of the Public Policy Institute of California Board of Directors, Centro Legal de la Raza, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the Bay Area, and formerly served on the California Citizens’ Redistricting Commission.

Michele Siqueiros, who joined The California Endowment’s Board of Directors in May 2020, was the first in her family to graduate from college thanks to many mentors, caring faculty, and critical federal, state and college financial aid. She is passionate about the power of college to change lives, and the ability of policy making to expand college opportunity for others.

As the President for The Campaign for College Opportunity, Michele is an advocate who works to expand college access and success for California students by raising public attention to the critical challenges facing students in our community colleges and universities, mobilizing a broad coalition of supporters, and influencing policymakers.

The Campaign’s mission to increase college going and completion rates is driven by a strong belief that California’s future economic success depends on our ability to produce the best educated workforce in the nation and that our diverse population of young adults deserve the same opportunity provided to previous generations – regardless of race or socio-economic status.

Under her leadership in 2010, the Campaign led the effort for historic transfer reform that makes it easier for students to transfer from any California Community College to the California State University system through the Associate Degree for Transfer. Over 217,000 California students have earned the degree and in 2018 the University of California announced a formal MOU with the California Community College system to provide a UC guarantee for Associate Degree for Transfer earners.

Michele has advocated for millions of additional state dollars to expand student enrollment and student success funding at our community colleges, CSU and UC’s. She also advanced legislative efforts to increase access to Pell Grants, protect Cal Grant funding, support undocumented and DACAmented students, promote college readiness, prioritize community college student success efforts and reform remedial education.

Across all these priorities she shines a bright light to the persistent inequities by race/ethnicity/income and calls on our college leaders and policy makers to address them.

In her 16 years at the Campaign for College Opportunity (12 as President), she has built a strong, independent, and influential organization by raising over $21 million dollars, assembling a team of experts and leaders in the field, championing major budget appropriations, securing historic higher education legislation and establishing a broad and influential network of over 12,000 coalition supporters.

Under her direction the Campaign has released powerful higher education research including prominent reports on college access and success rates, the lack of diversity amongst college leaders and faculty, the powerful return on investment for spending by the state in our colleges and universities, and the need for major improvements to close racial/ethnic gaps, fix transfer and reform remedial education at our colleges. Every day she is motivated by the many students who are working hard to reach their college dreams.

Michele, a resident of Los Angeles, has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Studies with Honors in Chicano/a Studies from Pitzer College and a Master of Arts in Urban Planning from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She serves on the Boards of the Alliance for a Better Community, the Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools, Pitzer College Board of Trustees, PPIC Strategic Leadership Council and in 2019 was appointed by Senate Pro Tem Leader Toni Atkins to the Student-Centered Funding Formula Oversight Committee. She previously served on the California Student Aid Commission.

Torie Weiston-Serdan, a scholar and practitioner with over 17 years of teaching and youth programming experience. A leader in the youth mentoring field, she wrote Critical Mentoring: A Practical Guide, which has become the handbook for culturally relevant mentoring and youth work. Outside of teaching and research, Weiston-Serdan runs the Youth Mentoring Action Network, a non-profit dedicated to leveraging mentoring in the fight for justice and equity. Through her community-based work, she is focused on resourcing youth as they do the work of re-making and re-imagining systems.

She established the Center for Critical Mentoring and Youth Work in 2019 and through the center works extensively with community-based organizations in support of their youth advocacy efforts, specializing in training mentors to work with diverse youth populations: i.e. Black, Latinx, LGBTQQ, first-generation college students, youth with disabilities and low-income youth.

Torie serves as the director of the Community Engaged Education and Social Change MA program in the School of Educational Studies at Claremont Graduate University.

Dr. Tyrone C. Howard is the Pritzker Family Endowed Chair and professor of education in the School of Education & Information Studies at UCLA. A leading expert on race, culture, and educational equity, Dr. Howard’s research focuses on issues of access and opportunity for minoritized student populations. He has published over 100 scholarly works, including peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and technical reports. Among his best-selling books are Why Race & Culture Matter in Schools, All Students Must Thrive, and his latest work, Equity Now: Justice, Repair & Belonging in Schools, which was recognized by Greater Good Magazine as one of the top 10 favorite books for educators in 2024.

Dr. Howard is the founder and director of the UCLA Black Male Institute and co-director of the UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children & Families. He also serves as faculty director of the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools. In 2024, Dr. Howard served as president of American Education Research Association, the world’s largest organization devoted to educational research and policy.

A native of Compton, California, Dr. Howard began his career as a classroom teacher in the Compton Unified School District. He is a member of both the National Academy of Education and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has been recognized by Education Week as one of the 200 most influential scholars shaping educational practice, policy, and reform.

Vernita Todd, a native of Tennessee, joined San Ysidro Health in February 2019 as Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer. In this role, she leads SYH in identifying, aligning and executing strategic opportunities for growth and development – including mergers and acquisitions, market development, organizational development, and external relations; along with formalizing the company’s strategic planning process and translating across departments, clinics and functions. Prior to joining SYHealth, Vernita was the Chief Experience Officer for Health Center Partners of Southern California, a consortium of 17 federally qualified health centers. Her priorities included ensuring members had a seat and a voice at the table for emerging policy discussions and issues impacting primary care, developing actionable relationships among both elected officials and their staffs at all levels of government and working in partnership with National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) and the California Primary Care Association (CPCA).

Todd is a lifetime member of the National Association of Community Health Centers, and has been honored twice by the national association: In 2014, she was presented with the Elizabeth K. Cooke Advocacy MVP Award; and in 2017 Vernita was inducted into NACHC’s Grassroots Hall of Fame for her advocacy work. Previously, Todd served 10 years as CEO of the Heart City Health Center in Elkhart, Indiana; and is the President/Founder of the Human Capital Group, which works with nonprofit organizations in strategic planning and change management. She is a frequently requested keynote and motivational speaker.

Over the course of her career, Todd has volunteered on numerous boards: Chair of the Indiana Primary Health Care Association, Governance Chair and Board Member for Oaklawn Psychiatric Center, and board member for Goshen Hospital. She is currently the Chair of Health Outreach Partners (located in Oakland, CA) and a member of the Health Policy & Legislative Committees for NACHC.

Todd holds a master’s degree of business administration from Davenport University, a master’s degree in organizational communication and behavior, and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Murray State University, KY. Vernita is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE), and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Wm. Jahmal Miller is Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of Mercy Medical Group, a service of Dignity Health Medical Foundation. Previously, Miller served as System Vice President with CommonSpirit Health, where he had responsibility for national health equity and inclusion initiatives. Dignity Health and Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) merged together as CommonSpirit Health in February 2019, creating a new nonprofit Catholic health system focused on advancing health for all people. Prior to joining CommonSpirit, Miller was Blue Shield of California’s inaugural Director of Corporate Reputation & Thought Leadership. Miller is recognized as a national thought leader and an expert on issues pertaining healthcare strategy, public health, health equity, mental health and public policy. He serves on the boards of directors for The Crocker Art Museum Association (CAMA), Valley Vision, the California Asian Chamber of Commerce, and is an active contributor to Landmark Ventures’ Social Innovation Summit. In addition to serving on the American Psychological Association’s Presidential Health Equity Task Force since January 2021, Miller has been elected to The California Endowment’s board of directors, a not-for-profit foundation with $3.4 billion assets under management.

Appointed by Governor Jerry Brown in 2013, Miller served as the Deputy Director of the California Department of Public Health’s Office of Health Equity (OHE) and the State’s lead advisor on issues related to reducing health and mental health disparities and achieving health equity for all Californians. With the unique distinction of being confirmed by the California State Senate, he was responsible for leading the state’s mission on health equity to promote equitable social, economic and environmental conditions.

Earlier in his career, he served in multiple leadership roles with Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health, respectively. Over the years, his experience and passion have also garnered international exposure, as Miller has traveled twice to Cuba as part of American delegations to study the Cuban health system, culture and history.

Miller is a graduate of Columbia University in New York City, with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Psychology. He also holds a Master of Health Administration ( MHA ) degree from the University of Southern California. In May 2016, Western University of Health Sciences conferred an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters (DHL) to Miller, recognizing his lifetime achievements in the field of health and human services. He has completed an Executive Fellowship with the Nehemiah Emerging Leaders Program in conjunction with the American Leadership Forum & CORO. Touro University recognized Miller in April 2017 with the Mosaic Achievement Award, recognizing his efforts to advance the cause of diversity and inclusion. He has also been recognized with other industry honors, including being named a “Top 40 under 40” awardee by the Sacramento Business Journal, “Top 100 under 50” awardee by Diversity MBA, and a Modern Healthcare Up & Comers awardee.

Miller is a native of Sacramento, California and is a proud husband and father. He is an active member of his local church, a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. as well as of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity. Jahmal is the youngest of four boys and his parents have been married for 52 years.