07/09/2026
📣 Big news! We are excited to announce that Lauren Wright will join Health & Medicine as our next Executive Director beginning August 10, 2026.
Lauren is a nonprofit and public policy leader with more than 14 years of experience building coalitions, advancing health equity, and driving systems-level change. She joins us after seven years at Illinois Partners for Human Service, where she has served as Executive Director since 2019, bringing deep expertise in advocacy, organizational strategy, research, and cross-sector partnerships. During her tenure, she strengthened statewide collaboration across the health and human service sectors—establishing the Health and Human Service Coalition of Illinois to build collective power and advance shared policy priorities, contributing to important policy victories including the passage of the Community Partner Fair Contracting Act, and co-creating the statewide Living Wages, Thriving Communities campaign.
Throughout her career, Lauren has focused on bringing people and organizations together to transform systems that too often operate around scarcity and inequity into systems designed around the needs, voices, and strengths of communities. Prior to joining Illinois Partners, Lauren worked alongside community-based organizations internationally to support locally led efforts expanding access to health care, education, economic opportunity, and the resources communities need to thrive.
Lauren’s collaborative approach and commitment to justice-centered policy change align deeply with Health & Medicine’s more than 45-year history of advancing health equity through research, advocacy, and community partnerships.
Please join us in welcoming Lauren to Health & Medicine! 🎉 We look forward to the leadership, vision, and collaboration she will bring as we continue working toward health justice for all.
