Advisory Committee

“FORESIGHT unleashes the power of individuals, corporations, and community organizations to make a positive impact on the nation’s future health outcomes through partnership and collaboration. As the health care industry changes, a need is emerging to try different approaches to driving community health initiatives. FORESIGHT is one of the collaborations addressing those changing needs.”

Amelia Hardy is a senior director in the newly formed Best Buy Health Office. She joined the company in 2014 and has since held various roles of increasing responsibility. She has over 18 years of leadership experience at Fortune 100 companies. Her career positions have included strategy, brand management, business development, product commercialization, and global P&L management. In addition, Amelia is significantly involved in diversity and inclusion initiatives at Best Buy and within her community. Currently, she serves as the champion for the Black Employee Resource Group and is also actively involved with the Women’s Employee Resource Group at Best Buy. She also sits on the Board of Directors for the Twin Cities Boys and Girls Club and Minnesota Community Health Care Services.

Amelia is an innovative and transformational business leader who consistently delivers results. She leads with a unique combination of outside-the-box thinking and robust operational acumen. Known as having a servant leadership style, she has been acknowledged for creating collaborative, engaged, progressive, diverse, and high-performing teams.

“Missouri Foundation for Health’s involvement in the FORESIGHT initiative is an opportunity to be part of national work that is likely to influence philanthropic and multisectoral health care efforts for years to come. The cross-cutting nature of FORESIGHT is an excellent way for MFH to leverage the resources and partnerships this collaborative brings to the forefront, as a means to advance regional efforts to improve health and well-being in Missouri. We’re excited to embark upon such a transformative change effort as we move toward innovative pathways and approaches to health.”

Before joining the Missouri Foundation for Health (MFH) as CEO in 2012, Bob Hughes was a visiting research professor in the Center for State Health Policy at Rutgers University, and served in various leadership positions for more than 20 years at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in New Jersey. Since joining MFH, he has enhanced the strategic direction of the organization and positioned it to be a catalyst for change throughout the region. Under his leadership, MFH focuses on fostering a culture of learning, exploration, and collaboration that promotes improvements in the health of underserved Missourians. A native of Illinois, Hughes received his PhD in behavioral sciences from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. Bob serves on the board of the St. Louis Regional Chamber of Commerce.

“As executive director of United We Dream, the largest immigrant youth-led network in the country, I’ve seen first-hand the consequences of a health care system that fails to provide reliable, equitable, and quality care to marginalized communities, including immigrants. Unfortunately, lack of access to health care is an issue that impacts not just undocumented immigrants, but other communities, like working class people, women, people of color, and LGBTQ people. I believe access to healthcare—regardless of immigration status—is a human right, which is why I’m excited to bring my experience organizing diverse communities to the FORESIGHT Advisory Committee. My undocumented experiences and those of others across the country give me insight on the inequities facing health care access, and solutions that work for everyone.”

Cristina Jiménez is executive director & co-founder of United We Dream (UWD), the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the country. Originally from Ecuador, Cristina came to the US with her family at 13 and attended high school and college as an undocumented student. She has been organizing in immigrant communities for over a decade and was part of UWD’s campaign team that led to the historic victory of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2012 that protects close to a million young immigrants from deportation. Under Cristina’s leadership UWD has grown to a powerful network of 57 affiliates in 25 states with over 400,000 members.

In October 2017, Cristina was a named a MacArthur Fellow by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for her work as a social justice organizer. Cristina is also one of Forbes’ 2014 “30 under 30 in Law and Policy;” and was named one of “40 under 40 Young Leaders Who are Solving Problems of Today and Tomorrow” by the Chronicle of Philanthropy; one of “50 Fearless Women” by Cosmopolitan; and one of 25 disruptive leaders who are working to close the racial opportunity gap by Living Cities. She was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in letters & humanities by Wesleyan University. She was also awarded the Creative Change Award.

She has appeared in hundreds of media outlets including CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, the LA Times, ABC, NPR, The Huffington Post, Univision, Telemundo, and La Opinion. She proudly serves on the Board of Directors of the National Committee for Responsible Philanthropy (NCRP), Hazen Foundation, and Make the Road Action Fund. Cristina co-founded the New York State Youth Leadership Council, the Dream Mentorship Program at Queens College, was an immigration policy analyst for the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy, and an immigrant rights organizer at Make the Road New York. Cristina holds a master’s degree in public administration and public policy from the School of Public Affairs at Baruch College, CUNY, and graduated cum laude with a BA in political science and business from Queens College, CUNY.

“At a time when so much is in flux and unclear in health and health care, it can be hard to envision future possibilities. FORESIGHT is creating an exciting and necessary space to think deeply and imagine new futures for health and health care in America. I’m personally excited to work alongside others not only to imagine a new future, but also to identify ways to make that future a reality.”

Dr. Rishi Manchanda is president & CEO of HealthBegins, a mission-driven consulting and technology firm that helps health care and local partners improve care—and the social factors that make people sick in the first place. Client-partners include the American Hospital Association, the CMS Accountable Health Communities model, and health plans and health systems across the country. Dr. Manchanda serves on the board of the Beyond Flexner Alliance, on the California Future Health Workforce Commission, and the HHS Health Care Payment Learning & Action Network’s Primary Care Payment Model Work Group.

Rishi’s career is marked by a commitment to improving care and social determinants of health for vulnerable populations. He served as director of social medicine for a network of community health centers in south central Los Angeles, was the lead physician for homeless veterans at the Greater Los Angeles VA, and was the first chief medical officer for a self-insured employer with a large rural immigrant workforce. In his 2013 TEDbook, The Upstream Doctors, he introduced a new model of health care workers—the Upstreamists—who improve care and equity by addressing patients’ social needs, like food, finances, and housing insecurity. The book has become recommended reading in medical schools and universities across the world.

“I’m excited to be part of the FORESIGHT Advisory Committee because of the initiative’s mission and approach. It aligns with my own passion and interest in improving the health care system in America, and to bring better, more innovative health care to all populations in our country.”

Before creating ConsejoSano, Abner Mason was founder and CEO for the Workplace Wellness Council of Mexico, now the leading corporate wellness company in Mexico. From 2003 to 2008, he was founder and executive director of AIDS Responsibility Project, driving the creation of CONAES and JaBCHA, the first business councils on HIV/AIDS in Mexico and Jamaica. Abner previously served as chairman of the International Committee and member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA), appointed by President Bush in 2002. He spent ten years in the Massachusetts State government, including roles as chief policy advisor to Massachusetts Governors Paul Cellucci and Jane Swift, Governor Cellucci’s undersecretary of transportation, and deputy general manager of the Massachusetts Transit Authority.

Before joining state government, Abner worked as an associate consultant for Bain & Company. In 2018, he founded Health Tech 4 Medicaid (HT4M), a nonprofit coalition of healthtech leaders collaborating to create technology for Medicaid programs. Additionally, he is a founding council member of US of Care, a nonprofit centered on improving health care access developed by former Medicare and Medicaid administrator Andy Slavitt. Abner is a graduate of Harvard.

“I am thrilled to be part of FORESIGHT’s National Advisory Committee. I consider it an honor and a privilege to work with a broad group of forward-thinking leaders around the country. I am eager to learn about their views regarding the current state of our national health care and the need for shifting foci. I look forward to collaborating with others to create and influence a culture of health and well-being.”

Dr. Arti Prasad is chief of medicine at Hennepin HealthCare (formerly HCMC) and holds the Scott F. Davies Endowed Chair of Medicine position there. The Medicine Department at HHC provides outstanding clinical care in 16 specialties, recognized teaching programs, and a broad research portfolio through the MMRF. She is also a professor and vice chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of Minnesota, as well as holding a teaching faculty appointment at the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona.

Arti was a professor of internal medicine and the chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine, Geriatrics and Integrative Medicine at the University of New Mexico. There, her interest in integrative and inter-cultural health, inter-professional education, community engagement, and physician well-being led her to develop the Center for Life, a center for patient care, learning, and community education. Starting with only a $5,000 budget, she developed a center that today receives broad financial support from UNM, the state legislature, and private donors. Center for Life has received national recognition for its patient-centered clinical care and outcomes, innovative teaching programs, and wellness initiatives throughout New Mexico.

Arti studied medicine at the Gandhi Medical College in Bhopal, India where she also completed her internship in Internal Medicine. Her career path was influenced by the world’s worst industrial disaster at the time involving Union Carbide in Bhopal in 1984 during her final year of medical school. She moved to the United States in 1988 and began her US-based residency training in Internal Medicine at SUNY Health Science Center, Syracuse, before moving to the University of New Mexico to complete her training. Arti additionally completed a fellowship in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona Medical Center and a leadership training, Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM), at Drexel University.

Arti is board certified both in Internal Medicine and Integrative Medicine. At the national level, she is the UNM delegate of United States Pharmacopeia (USP), a Fellow of the American College of Physicians (ACP), a steering committee member of the Consortium of Academic Health Centers of Integrative Medicine, and a founding board member of the American Board of Integrative Medicine (ABOIM).

As chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine, Geriatrics and Integrative Medicine, the second largest division of the department, Arti oversaw patient services and medical education that were delivered at ten different clinical sites and three hospitals, including the major safety net hospital in New Mexico and the Center for Life.