The Consumer Health Foundation Names Jamaican Born, Yanique Redwood New President and CEO
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Jamaican born, Dr. Yanique Redwood, a passionate and effective advocate for social justice and equity in health, was named today to lead the Consumer Health Foundation as its President and CEO.
Dr. Redwood, who is currently the senior associate for health and mental health at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, will become the Consumer Health Foundation’s second President, assuming the position November 1. She succeeds Margaret O’Bryon, who served as its leader for its first 14 years.
Dr. Yanique Redwood
Dr. Redwood, who holds a doctorate in Health Behavior and Health Education from the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health, was selected by the Foundation’s Board of Trustees following a six-month national search involving more than 100 candidates. Christopher King, the Foundation’s Board Chair, praised her as “a visionary who brings an extraordinary breadth of skills – a broad public health background, a deep commitment to social determinants of health and health care, and experience in philanthropy. She brings passion, outstanding communication skills and innovative thinking that will advance the CHF mission.”
Added King, “She was the ideal candidate, because, beyond her obvious credentials, she is clearly willing to take risks to move a community-defined, owned and led agenda. The profound understanding that change must necessarily be based in the community is very much a part of Yanique’s DNA, and we are totally in synch with her vision for how the Foundation can help drive a healthier Washington region.”
At the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Dr. Redwood partnered with universities and nonprofit organizations to strengthen the evaluation of innovative programs that reduce depression and anxiety among children and youth, increase access to health and mental health services in school and clinic settings, and improve gestation and birth outcomes.
She also led the evaluation of Evidence2Success, a new way for elected officials, public systems, schools and communities to invest in proven programs that promote healthy child development. Redwood provided primary leadership for the evidence-based practice team’s Subcommittee on Race, Class and Culture. “I feel humbled by this vote of confidence,” she said, “because the Consumer Health Foundation is the North Star for many foundations across the country that are committed to advancing health equity in the United States. I deeply admire the Foundation’s single-minded and relentless passion to help improve health outcomes for the most vulnerable residents in the D.C. area and to reduce disparities that are largely about race, ethnicity and class. We must, as a community and larger society, move further and further upstream to eliminate these disparities where we work, learn, live and play – not just where it’s often too late, at the doctor’s office or in the emergency room of the hospital. The Foundation’s grantees have made spectacular progress, and it will be such a privilege to partner with them.”
Prior to joining the Casey Foundation in 2010, Dr. Redwood, working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, led the development of a food monitoring system in Eastern Kenya to prevent aflotoxin poisonings in rural villages. In this capacity, she collaborated with government officials at both the national and local levels, as well as subsistence farmers.
Previously, she directed a community-based participatory research initiative in Atlanta that was funded by the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities at the National Institutes of Health.
The mission of the Consumer Health Foundation is to achieve health justice in the Washington, D.C. region through activities that advance the health and well being of historically underserved communities. We support initiatives that empower consumers to make decisions and take actions that improve personal, family and community health.
