Health Equity Leadership Summit

PHC's Health Equity Leadership Summit coming to Pasadena, July 10-11!

With growing challenges to health equity, this Summit offers space to reflect, reconnect, and recommit. It’s a reminder that while the work is hard, we are not in it alone.

 

  • DATE:  July 10-11, 2025
  • TIME:  11:00 a.m. (July 10) - 2:00 p.m. (July 11)
  • LOCATION:  The Westin Pasadena

What to Expect at the Summit 

The Health Equity Leadership Summit is a two-day event that brings people together around a shared vision for equity. Through trainings, keynote talks and panel discussions, attendees will engage with a community working to advancing meaningful change in health care.

From the pre-conference Community Lung Health Equity Event to the Health Equity Leadership Awards Reception, the Summit is built to inspire connection.

Here's what you'll experience (Download the agenda here).

Featured Speakers

Xavier Becerra, J.D.

Xavier Becerra has long worked to expand access to health care and protect underserved communities. He served over two decades in Congress, led California’s Department of Justice and most recently served as the first Latino Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  

Throughout his career, he has fought to lower drug costs, protect patients with preexisting conditions and improve coverage for low-income, immigrant and marginalized communities. Raised in a working-class family in Sacramento, Becerra’s leadership has been shaped by lived experience and a commitment to public service.  

As the Summit’s closing keynote speaker, he will reflect on the national retreat from equity, what’s at stake for California and where we go from here.  

Uché Blackstock, M.D.

Best-selling author, speaker, physician and founder and Chief Advisor of Advancing Health Equity Dr. Uché Blackstock will speak at the 2025 Health Equity Leadership Summit. Join us for a fireside chat discussing her best-selling book, LEGACY: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine, a captivating story of a Black physician, her career in medicine, and the deep inequities that still exist in the U.S. health care system. 

Dr. Blackstock is a regular contributor on MSNBC and NBC News and previously served as an associate professor and diversity leader at NYU School of Medicine. She has been recognized as a national leader in health equity by Forbes (2019), Fortune (2023) and TIME (2024), which named her one of the “100 Most Influential People in Health.” 

Dr. Blackstock will also be participating in a book signing during the Summit. 

Manuel Pastor, Ph.D.

Manuel Pastor, PhD, is a leading expert on equity, economic justice, and social change. As the director of the USC Dornsife Equity Research Institute, his work focuses on advancing racial and economic equity in underserved communities. His most recent book, Charging Forward (2024), examines California's Lithium Valley and its role in climate justice. 

A frequent speaker and author, Dr. Pastor has received numerous accolades for his work, including the Champion for Equity Award (2017) from the Advancement Project and recognition as one of L.A. Influential in 2024. 

Kevin Prindiville, J.D.

Kevin Prindiville has spent his career standing up for older adults who are often overlooked. Many of the people he serves face poverty, racism, and barriers that come with aging. As Executive Director of Justice in Aging, he leads national work to change the systems that fail them.

He works closely with policymakers, contributes to key legislation, and builds coalitions to drive lasting change. Kevin will close the Summit with a keynote that ties it all together. He will speak about why equity work must include older adults and what it takes to turn good ideas into action. 

Speakers

Jerry Abraham, MD, MPH, CMQ
Director, Integrated Services and Public Health, Kedren Health
Lupe Alonzo-Diaz, MPA
President and CEO, Physicians for a Healthy California
Amira Barger, MBA, CVA, CFRE
Executive Vice President; Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Communications; and Advisory and Health Sector Specialist, Edelman
Devika Bhushan, MD
Adjunct Faculty, Stanford
Hector Flores, MD
Medical Director, Altais | Family Care Specialists Medical Group & IPA
Christina Harris, MD
Vice President and Chief Health Equity Officer, Cedars-Sinai
Donaldo Hernandez, MD, FACP
Physician, Palo Alto Medical Foundation; CMA Past-President
Jodi Hicks
President & CEO, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California
Christine James, MD, MSc
Asst. Professor of Medicine, Division of Allergy and Immunology, UC San Diego Health
Alissa Ko
Vice President of External Affairs, Health Net
Alex Li, MD
Chief Health Equity Officer, LA Care
Louise McCarthy, MPP
President and CEO, Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County
Pooja Mittal, DO
Chief Health Equity Officer, HealthNet
Amanda Mooneyham, MD, MPH,
Program Director, Shasta Community Health Center Family Medicine Residency Program
Sunita Mutha, MD
Director, Healthforce Center, UC San Francisco
Pamela Riley, MD, MPH
Chief Health Equity Officer
California Department of Health Care Services
Bamby Salcedo
President and CEO, TransLatin@ Coalition
Ilan Shapiro, MD, MBA, FAAP, FACHE
Chief Health Correspondent and Medical Affairs Officer, AltaMed
Deena Shin McRae, MD
Associate Vice President of Academic Services, University of California Health
Shannon Udovic-Constant, MD
President, California Medical Association; Pediatrician, The Permanente Medical Group; Founder, Physician Women Rising
Debra Williams
Founding CEO, Building Resilient Communities
Shanti Wilson, MBA, PMP, SA
Vice President, Freed Associates

Here's what last year's attendees had to say:


Medical Students: Register for only $99!


Health Equity Leadership Awards

PHC has closed nominations for its annual Health Equity Leadership Awards, which will be presented at the Health Equity Leadership Awards Reception on July 10, 2025, during the Health Equity Leadership Summit. Click here for more information on the awards and updates on when the winners will be announced. 

For More Information

To discuss sponsorship opportunities or to be added to our email distribution list, please contact healthequitysummit@phcdocs.org.

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