Meet the Team
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Lynea Diaz-Hagan is a strategic communications advisor with expertise in social impact and technology. Her commitment to health equity was catalyzed by two decades as a caregiver navigating the complexities of the healthcare system.
Her prior roles include serving as a communications strategist for One Degree, a tech nonprofit connecting low-income communities to essential services, where she supported the launch of Stay Housed Bay Area and LA County's Mandated Supporter Initiative and developed case studies on resource access in California and New Mexico. She has also advised Kaliber Labs, a surgical intelligence company focused on patient outcomes, and several other AI/ML startups in Silicon Valley, developing fundraising narratives that secured major VC funding.
Lynea holds degrees from Yale University (BA, English), UCLA (MFA, Screenwriting), and San Jose State University (MA, Music). She is a consulting instructor at the National University of Singapore's U.S.-based entrepreneurship program and a recipient of a Literary Artist Commission from the San Francisco Arts Commission for her play about Puerto Rican and Black communities struggling with disenfranchisement and the AIDS crisis during the Reagan era.
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Dr. Elaine Abelaye-Mateo is an innovative social change executive with a passion for building meaningful relationships to create social good. The founder of Everyday Impact Consulting (EIC), she is recognized for her forward-thinking and collective approaches towards solving social issues.
Her portfolio includes California’s largest philanthropic institutions and complex, multi-sector statewide initiatives. Elaine has founded several organizations in addition to EIC, including Sacramento Building Healthy Communities and the APIs RISE Fund, a grantmaking organization that has contributed nearly $200,000 to local organizations. She has received awards from OCA Sacramento (Women of Influence Award), Sacramento Cultural Hub (Exceptional Woman of Color) and Sacramento Housing Alliance (inaugural Equity Award). Elaine earned a Ph.D. in Organizational Systems and holds an MA in Management and a BA in Communications.
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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.
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Ignatius Bau is an independent health care policy consultant, working on issues of health care reform, health equity, language access, cultural competency, health workforce diversity, health information technology, immigrant and refugee health, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender health. His organizational clients include consumer organizations, health departments, health plans, hospitals and health systems, physician organizations, community health centers, health care interpreter associations, community-based organizations, and private health foundations in California, Oregon, Connecticut, and nationally. Mr. Bau has served on expert advisory panels on health equity issues for the Institute of Medicine, National Quality Forum, Joint Commission, Office of Minority Health, Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, California Department of Health Care Services, and California Health Interview Survey. He previously worked at The California Endowment, Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum, and Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. Mr. Bau graduated from UC Berkeley with an undergraduate and law degree.
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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.