Rea Pañares brings over 20 years of diverse experience in various sectors including policy advocacy, philanthropy, public health, civic tech and government. Her career is marked by a strong commitment to community health and equity. As the Chief Operating Officer at One Degree (formerly Alluma), she led operations, internal communications and culture, strategy and performance management. Previously, as the senior advisor at Prevention Institute, Rea led initiatives to advance the Community-Centered Health Homes model—a framework for supporting health care systems in partnering with communities to improve health.

Pañares held several roles during her time in Washington D.C., including Director of Minority Health Initiatives at Families USA, and positions with Grantmakers In Health, National Business Group on Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She is a founding board member of the Hella Heart Oakland Giving Circle, a network of individuals that pool their giving and fundraise to support projects and community-based organizations in the city of Oakland, CA. She holds a master's degree in health policy and management from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a bachelor's degree in molecular and cellular biology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Barbara Masters brings more than 30 years of experience in health policy, philanthropy and local government to her work with CACHI. She served as Initiative Director from 2017 to 2024 and guided CACHI from concept to statewide expansion. She now serves as an advisor, providing guidance to the CACHI leadership team and consultants. During her most recent tenure at The California Endowment, she led efforts to develop policy change strategies as well as effective methods to evaluate policy change activities. She previously served as vice president of the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (CAPH) and directed intergovernmental relations for the Los Angeles County Department of Health. She began her career in health policy as a legislative assistant for Senator Alan Cranston (D-CA). She holds a bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of California, Berkeley and graduate degrees from the University of Colorado, Boulder and the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Laura Hogan works with nonprofit and philanthropy organizations to improve the health and well-being of communities. Her skills and experience include strategy, planning and oversight of philanthropy initiatives, evaluation planning and policy development. Previous to consulting, Ms. Hogan held the position of vice president of program for The California Endowment. Her tenure with The Endowment (1999-2009) included oversight of grantmaking as well as developing philanthropy initiatives such as the Community Clinic Initiative, a ten year $120 million partnership between The California Endowment and Tides. Prior to 1999, Laura worked as Executive Director for CommuniCare Health Centers, a community health center providing 60,000 health, dental, vision and behavioral health visits and 35,000 health education and outreach visits through six locations. The staff included physicians, dentists, midwives, nurse practitioners, mental health therapists and 200 volunteers.

Arpiné provides program management, technical assistance, facilitation and logistical oversight for Community Partners’ strategic health initiatives. Her background includes policy and program development, coalition building, and public sector, nonprofit and community collaboration. During her tenure with Community Partners, Arpiné managed the Kaiser Permanent Healthy Eating Active Living and Southern California Thriving Schools initiatives. Prior to joining Community Partners, she was the City of El Monte Health and Wellness Coordinator for the Policies for Livable, Active Communities and Environments initiative supporting the development of healthy, safe and active environments for all community residents. Arpiné holds a Master’s in Public Health and a Bachelor’s in Biology from the University of Southern California.

Hanaa A. Hamdi, Ph.D., holds a joint PhD in Public Health and Environmental Design from Rutgers University and New Jersey Institute of Technology. With more than two decades of public health research, practice and policy making, Dr. Hamdi has dedicated her career to advancing health equity among BIPOC and low-income communities, particularly women and children. Her research and practice examine the impact of social and structural inequities on health. More specifically, her work focuses on the interaction between community planning and social investment in population health. With this disciplinary background, she develops and implements strategic policies and cross-systems partnerships to build healthy and thriving communities.

Dr. Hamdi formerly served as health and human services director for City of Newark, where she oversaw multiple departments and served as the CEO of the Mary Eliza Mahoney Health Centers, the City’s co-affiliate Federally Qualified Community-based medical centers. Prior to her work with the City of Newark, Dr. Hamdi was assistant professor of Family Medicine at Rutgers, New Jersey Medical School and Senior Research Fellow at the Rutgers School of Nursing.

Lateesha is an Administrative Assistant at Community Partners with the California Accountable Communities for Health initiative (CACHI). She brings nearly ten years of experience as an administrative professional. Prior to joining Community Partners, LaTeesha wore multiple hats including executive administration, program and grants administration, and nonprofit capacity building. She worked with private foundations and public charities on equitable and collaborative initiatives in South LA, including the inception of the South LA Transit Empowerment Zone (SLATE-Z). Lateesha is an alumni of California State University, Los Angeles and holds a bachelor’s degree in social work.

Patricia E. Powers played a formative role in the development of CACHI and ACHs. Tragically, she passed away in the spring of 2023. But, as a founding partner of CACHI and a senior member of the program management team, she leaves a lasting legacy on CACHI and its health policy work, having led efforts to secure $15 million in state funding to expand ACHs throughout the state. In addition, as the former director of Let’s Get Healthy California from 2012 to 2013, she helped incubate the idea of CACHI. Pat’s impact is felt far beyond CACHI as well. In her many prior roles, she shaped a wide range of health policies and programs that continue today. Previously, Pat managed the start-up of the California Health Benefit Exchange, now known as Covered California, and led several nonprofit organizations, including a nonprofit focused on civic engagement on complex health policy issues, a business health coalition and organizations focused on the social determinants of health and telehealth policy. Pat will be greatly missed.