Health Leads Alumni
You helped build Health Leads—stay connected with us.
Founded in 1996, Health Leads pioneered a model that brought trained student Advocates into health care settings to work alongside patients and families. At Health Leads desks in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, New York, Providence, Washington, D.C., and California, Advocates helped people navigate complex systems and connect to essential resources like food, housing, transportation, and more.
Over more than two decades, Health Leads trained more than 10,000 Advocates. Together, they helped demonstrate the importance of looking beyond the walls of a clinic to understand what shapes health—and of making it easier for people to access the resources they need to be healthy.
That work helped lay the foundation for the Health Leads of today. And whether you spent a semester or several years at a Health Leads desk, you are part of that legacy.
Join our Alumni Network
Alumni, you helped build Health Leads. Be part of what comes next.
Thousands of Health Leads volunteers sat alongside patients and families, helping them navigate complex systems and connect to resources that could support their health and well-being.
If you once staffed a Health Leads desk, that experience connects you to a much larger community—people who learned firsthand how housing, food, transportation, and other essential needs shape health.
The work I did with Health Leads and the mission that they stand for have been guiding inspirations for me in my passion and commitment to molding a career rooted in addressing health inequities.
Stay connected
Wherever your path has taken you since, we’d love to stay connected, hear where you are now, and create more opportunities for Health Leads alumni to reconnect with one another and with the work they helped shape.
Sign up for the quarterly Health Leads Alumni Newsletter to receive news from across the alumni community, updates on Health Leads’ work today, and opportunities to reconnect and get involved.
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Connect with fellow alumni
The Health Leads community extends far beyond our organization. Join the Health Leads Alumni LinkedIn Group to reconnect with former colleagues and friends, meet alumni from across Health Leads desks and generations, exchange ideas and opportunities, and see where the experience has taken others.
Our work continues
Health Leads alumni are an important part of Health Leads’ history—and of the community carrying this work forward. A gift of any size helps support the next chapter and ensures that a core lesson from our earliest days remains central to our work: those closest to health challenges must have the power and resources to shape the solutions.
Health Leads was a huge turning point in my career to focus in public health, healthcare policy, and the role of social determinants of health in accessing healthcare. I credit it as both inspiration for my career goals and front-line exposure to the structural challenges.
Tell us where Health Leads took you
From the relationships you built to the lessons that stayed with you, your Health Leads experience may have shaped what came next in ways big and small.
We want to hear where the journey took you. Tell us about the work you’re doing now, a lesson from your Advocate experience that has stayed with you, or the people and moments that influenced your path.
Maria Mullaney, MPH
Senior Evaluator, Public Health – Seattle & King County
What have you been up to?
As the Senior Evaluator at Public Health – Seattle & King County, my work centers equity, community voice, and strengths-based prevention and I feel my time with Health Leads really built the foundation for my career. I still vividly remember many of the stories of the families I worked with and their experiences.
Favorite Health Leads Memory?
Volunteering with Health Leads taught me so much about how fragmented our health and social service systems are and how impactful it can be for a family to get support from an advocate, or even just connect with someone who is willing to listen. The memories that stand out the most are the moments where I was able to help families get help in times of need. One family I worked with spent many hours and days working to find affordable housing. This was the middle of winter in Boston, not a time when anyone should worry about having a roof over their heads! I still remember their joy when they received the call that a place was available. Moments like that really made me feel like I made a difference during my time with Health Leads.
How has Health Leads helped you in your career path?
Because of my time volunteering with Health Leads I decided to pursue public health as a career. I graduated from Boston University in 2012 and worked with NICHQ for a few years supporting the implementation of a quality improvement initiative across health systems to support maternal & child health. In 2015 I started an MPH program at the University of Washington and relocated to the West Coast. Ever since then I’ve been working in public health in Seattle, most recently at a county public health department supporting program evaluation and data storytelling for a large tax levy funded initiative called Best Starts for Kids that invests in children, youth, and families to support equity-driven and community-centered approaches to health and well-being.
Daniel Chau
Program Manager, Health Leads
What have you been up to?
I actually transitioned to a full time programmatic role at Health Leads and have been here for nine years! These days my work still revolves around addressing systemic barriers, and I’ve worked across a range of projects in maternal health, housing, and community data and technology. Being involved in projects that impact communities across the nation has shown me that despite location, we often face similar systemic challenges. There is still much work to be done, but I am excited to continue supporting these crucial projects and share the solutions and learnings broadly to advance health equity efforts nationwide.
Favorite Health Leads Memory?
I have to say that one of my favorite memories of Health Leads is from the very beginning – being a part of the first cohort of advocates in the Bay Area. During my time as an advocate, I had the opportunity to work with families who reminded me of my own growing up and even families who spoke Vietnamese. The gratitude from the families we supported is something that continues to inspire me to do the work I do today.
How has Health Leads helped you in your career path?
Health Leads has allowed me to be in spaces where my voice is heard and valued. I am able to show up fully with my teammates, partners, and community members, creating safe spaces to always be myself! And my teammates at Health Leads continue to push me to grow through new projects and opportunities. Health Leads has shown me that there are so many different components of health and I am fortunate to have been involved in projects that aim to address them.
Wherever your path has taken you, we hope you’ll stay connected—to fellow alumni, to the work happening today, and to the future we’re continuing to build together.
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