Dr. Jamila Michener is an Associate Professor in the Department of Government and Public Policy at Cornell University. Her research focuses on poverty, racial inequality and public policy in the United States. Her recent book, Fragmented Democracy: Medicaid, Federalism and Unequal Politics (Cambridge University Press) examines how Medicaid--the nation’s public health insurance program for people with low income--affects democratic citizenship. Unpacking how federalism transforms Medicaid beneficiaries’ interpretations of government and structures their participation in politics, Fragmented Democracy assesses American political life from the vantage point(s) of those who are living in or near poverty, (disproportionately) Black or Latino, and reliant on a federated government for vital resources.  

Dr. Michener’s research has been supported by the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Ford Foundation. She received her MA and PhD from the University of Chicago and her undergraduate degree from Princeton University. Prior to working at Cornell, she was a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Scholar at the University of Michigan.

Mr. Richard Figueroa is a Deputy Cabinet Secretary in the Office of the Governor Gavin Newsom where he works on health, human services and veterans affairs issues. Mr. Figueroa was previously Director of Prevention for The California Endowment, a health care philanthropy. He has served in several previous administrations, including Deputy Cabinet Secretary for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Deputy Legislative Secretary for Governor Gray Davis. Mr. Figueroa was also Legislative Director for Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, served as a Legislative Consultant for the California State Senate Insurance and Budget and Fiscal Review Committees and worked in the Legislative Analyst Office. He earned his bachelor's in Sociology from the University of California Davis and an MBA from the University of California Los Angeles.

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Dr. Claradina Soto (Navajo/Jemez Pueblo) is an Assistant Professor at the University of
Southern California Keck School of Medicine in the Institute for Health Promotion and Disease
Prevention Research. She has over 20 years working with American Indian and Alaska Native
populations in public health, collaborating with urban and Tribal communities in CA to reduce
and prevent mental health disparities, cancer prevalence, commercial tobacco use, and substance use and opioid use disorders. She collaborates on several research projects funded by NIH/FDA, Tobacco Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP), Department of Health Care Services, California Tobacco Control Programs and the Office of Health Equity. She teaches courses in the Master of Public Health and Health Promotion programs at USC and mentors undergraduate and graduate students. Dr. Soto is a longtime advocate for the AI/AN communities and other priority populations to advance health equity and reduce health disparities. She received a bachelors in community studies from the University of California Santa Cruz and her Master of Public Health (MPH) and PhD from the University of Southern California. 

Dr. Ricky N. Bluthenthal, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Populations and Public Health Sciences (DPPHS), Vice Chair for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in DPPHS, and Associate Dean for Social Justice in the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. Since 1991, Dr. Bluthenthal has conducted community-partnered research on risk behaviors and health promotion among people who inject drugs (PWID), men who have sex with men, and other disadvantaged populations.  His current studies include an observational cohort study on the substitution of cannabis for opioids among PWID, an evaluation of the Hollywood LEAD program, and qualitative, life histories of opioid use among substance using men who have sex with men.  His studies have been funded by NIDA, NIAAA, NIMHD, and the CDC among others. Dr. Bluthenthal has published over 170 manuscripts in peer-reviewed scientific journals and is on the editorial board of the International Journal of Drug Policy and Drug and Alcohol Dependence and an Associate Editor of the Addiction Section for Annals of Medicine. Dr. Bluthenthal has received the Senior Scholar Award from the Drugs and Society Section of the American Sociological Association (2020) and the Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Public Interest Award from the Society of Addiction Psychology (Division 50) of the American Psychological Association (2018).  Dr. Bluthenthal received his BA in History and Sociology from the University of California Santa Cruz, and his MA and PhD in Sociology from the University of California Berkeley.