Viveka Prakash-Zawisza, MD, MS, MBA, Senior Associate Medical Director and Care Delivery Innovation, MassHealth, was recently selected as one of only 15 national leaders to be part of the inaugural Class of Equity Changemakers Institute, led by the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS).
The Equity Changemakers Institute is a 10-month leadership development program to strengthen the knowledge of public sector leaders who have significant oversight over agency efforts to advance health equity. It will also create a national network of health equity and change leaders. The institute will support these leaders in developing skills to “drive transformational changes and positively impact the health of those who live in their states/territories,” states the CHCS.
Prakash-Zawisza is the clinical lead on perinatal health initiatives and helps to lead health equity initiatives, such as trans health and member and community engagement by creating strategic approaches to include the first-hand perspectives of the most marginalized members of the community. Her MassHealth senior associate medical director role is part of the Office of Clinical Affairs, a unit within ForHealth Consulting™ at UMass Chan Medical School, which supports the MassHealth program.
Prakash-Zawisza is an experienced physician leader and innovator with a passion for exploring how policy and systems impact healthcare delivery and social justice.
“I am inspired in my work every day by the privilege of creating policy that impacts the health and well-being of vulnerable and marginalized people in my state,” she said.