CACHI Selects Rea Pañares to Lead Statewide Movement to Transform Health System
“Rea Pañares has dedicated her career to improving policies and systems that enable communities to thrive and be healthy—making her the ideal candidate to take the helm at CACHI at this pivotal moment.” —Barbara Masters, CACHI’s founding director
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. | JANUARY 30, 2024… Nonprofit leader and health equity champion, Rea Pañares, will serve as the new executive director of California Accountable Communities for Health Initiative (CACHI), a statewide movement that is creating a new vision for our health system. Across California, 37 multi-sector community collaboratives—known as Accountable Communities for Health (ACH)—are working to align local health and social services while centering community voice and equity.
As CACHI’s new leader, Pañares will be responsible for nurturing and building a robust network of ACHs, translating their local experiences into systems and policy reforms at multiple levels. She will also position CACHI and California’s local ACHs as catalysts for the transformation of communities and health systems throughout the state.
“Rea has dedicated her career to improving policies and systems that enable communities to thrive and be healthy—making her the ideal candidate to take the helm at CACHI at this pivotal moment,” explained Barbara Masters, CACHI’s current director. “She brings over two decades of experience in policy advocacy, philanthropy, civic tech and public health, as well as strong operations and strategic planning skills that will serve CACHI well as we enter a phase of rapid growth and expansion statewide.”
Most recently, Pañares served as Chief Operating Officer at One Degree (formerly Alluma), a nonprofit technology organization that connects people to public benefits and social services. In that role, she led strategy and performance management, internal communications and culture, and operations. Previously, she served as the senior advisor at Prevention Institute, where she advocated for and piloted the Community-Centered Health Homes model, a framework that helps health care organizations assess, design and implement strategies that advance community health and well-being. That background, as well as her decade of experience working for nonprofits and philanthropic organizations in Washington, D.C., will serve Pañares well as head of CACHI.
“I am honored to join the CACHI team and enthusiastic about collaborating with our dedicated staff to enhance our ACH network,” says Pañares. “Inspired by the organization’s innovative work in prioritizing community health statewide, I share a commitment to the ACH core principles of community voice, multi-sector collaboration and aligning systems. Together, we can address long-standing health inequities and disparities in low-income and communities of color using the powerful framework of ACHs.”
As CACHI’s new executive director, Pañares takes over on the heels of a major multi-year government and foundation investment. Founded in 2016, CACHI has since demonstrated the significant impact ACHs have changing systems during its pilot of 13 ACHs. Convinced by the progress demonstrated by 2022, the state of California allocated $15 million to CACHI, enabling it to add 24 new collaboratives to the existing 13 operating in the state.
“ACHs are doing the heavy lifting in their neighborhoods, cities and regions by engaging diverse communities to build sustainable systems of health,” explains Masters. “CACHI is here to help refine their work, provide resources and training, and promote this transformational model to other communities anxious to improve health outcomes, especially for lower-income communities and communities of color.”
Pañares holds a master’s degree in health policy and management from Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a bachelor’s in molecular and cell biology from the University of California, Berkeley. She is a founding member of the Hella Heart Oakland Giving Circle and has served on the board of directors of several national and local nonprofit organizations. Rea is a proud daughter of immigrants from the Philippines and is raising her young daughter in Oakland, CA.
“I see the ACH model as a catalyst for profound change in our approach to health. My vision for CACHI is a robust and connected network of ACH sites, sustainable growth for ACHs statewide and beyond, thought leadership to redefine health systems, and community power building that amplifies the voices of community residents,” says Pañares, who begins in her new position on January 29, 2024. Masters will continue serving in an advisory role until March 31, 2024.
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Editor’s Note: Click to view the full list of selected communities and their chosen initiatives.
California Accountable Communities for Health Initiative is a public-private collaboration with support from the California Department of Public Health, The California Endowment, Blue Shield of California Foundation and The California Wellness Foundation. Past support has been provided by Kaiser Permanente, Sierra Health Foundation, Social Impact Exchange, and Well Being Trust. CACHI receives administrative support from Community Partners, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit intermediary organization. To learn more about Accountable Communities for Health and CACHI, visit www.cachi.org.