Board of Directors

ITUP is led by a distinguished eight-member Board of Directors with combined decades of experience in business, health care and health policy, some who have been involved since the first ITUP conference along with recently added board members. ITUP board members bring their collective expertise and support to ensuring fulfillment of the ITUP mission, vision and values.

	Sunita Mutha, MD, FACP, Board Chair Director, Healthforce Center, University of California, San Francisco Sunita Mutha is Director of Healthforce Center at UCSF, and a professor of medicine and internist at the University of California, San Francisco. As Director of Healthforce Center, Dr. Mutha leads efforts in interprofessional leadership training and workforce research to ensure more effective health care delivery. Dr. Mutha is a nationally recognized expert in health workforce training and cultural competence curriculum development. She served on the Joint Commission’s Expert Advisory Panel guiding the development of hospital standards for culturally competent, patient-centered care; the National Quality Forum’s Cultural Competence Steering Committee; and the board of directors for Brown and Toland Medical Group, a comprehensive, multi-specialty independent practice association.
	Jonathan Freedman, MSPH, Board Treasurer Vice President, Health Management Associates (HMA) Jonathan Freedman is Vice President at Health Management Associates, a national independent consulting and research firm. Jonathan works with plans, providers, associations, and governmental and non-governmental entities in the areas of public health, safety net healthcare, and public policy. He has held key positions at L.A. Care Health Plan, and in the Los Angeles County Chief Executive Office and the Departments of Public Health and Health Services. Jonathan is a lecturer at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, and is on the board of the Worker Education & Resource Center, a non-profit focused on high-road partnerships that link impacted persons to good, stable and permanent jobs.
	Robert Phillips, MPA, MPH, Board Secretary Principal Managing Partner, Griffin McKenzie LLC Robert Phillips is a Principal Managing Partner at Griffin McKenzie LLC where he controls most of the firms day to day activities, acts as the main contact person between the firm and the clients, and oversee a team of 9 consultants. Prior to his current role, Robert served as the Chief Executive Officer of Alluma where he led the strategic direction, fiscal stewardship, daily operations, and overall management of the organization. Robert has been acting on his commitment to improve the health and wellbeing of communities in the U.S. and California for over 25 years. He played a crucial role in strategic philanthropic and advocacy efforts to improve the health of children and youth of color, expand health coverage to all children in California, modernize enrollment into public programs using technology solutions, and implement electronic health records in community clinics. His leadership at Alluma builds from experience at the California Endowment, Sierra Health Foundation, PolicyLink, AFL-CIO, SEIU, and Kaiser Permanente’s Community Benefit and Strategy.
	Elaine Batchlor, MD, MPH Chief Executive Officer, Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital Elaine Batchlor is the Chief Executive Officer of Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital, a state-of-the-art private safety net hospital providing compassionate, quality care to the South Los Angeles community. Her innovative work to increase access for underserved populations has been recognized nationally, earning her recognition as an Irvine Foundation California Leader, a Becker’s Review listing among the top 26 women physician executives in the country, and membership in the National Academy of Medicine. Before assuming leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital, Dr. Batchlor served as Chief Medical Officer of L.A. Care Health Plan, the nation’s largest public health plan providing care to the safety net population. She has also served as Vice President of Finance, Organization and Operations at the California HealthCare Foundation, where she developed and oversaw research, policy analysis and programs aimed at improving health care financing and delivery. Early in her career Dr. Batchlor served as Medical Director for the Los Angeles County Office of Managed Care and as a Chief Medical Officer for Prudential Health Care. Dr. Batchlor is an active community volunteer, serving on multiple community and health care boards. She chairs the Los Angeles Hospital Leadership Group, part of the Hospital Association of Southern California. She is a member of the Board of Directors for Integrated Healthcare Association, the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health Advisory Board and the Hospital Quality Institute, among others. As a Harvard University alumna, Dr. Batchlor serves the university as an interviewer for the Los Angeles area. Dr. Batchlor holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University, a Masters of Public Health from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Doctorate of Medicine from Case Western Reserve University. She is board-certified in both internal medicine and rheumatology. Dr. Elaine Batchlor is the proud mother of twin boys, and married to an attorney who works as a Los Angeles County public defender.
	Marian Mulkey Consultant Marian Mulkey is an independent consultant focused on strategic philanthropy and health policy. From 1999-2016 she held progressively responsible positions at the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) in roles that involved learning, evaluation, and impact assessment; support for California’s implementation of the federal Affordable Care Act; informing efforts to expand coverage and improve access to health care; and analysis of California’s uninsured population and health insurance markets. Early in her career Marian worked for Kaiser Permanente, in county and federal government agencies, and in academic settings.
	Patrick Johnston, MPS Former President and Chief Executive Officer, California Association of Health Plans Patrick Johnston served 10 years in the State Assembly and 10 years in the State Senate representing San Joaquin and Sacramento Counties. He chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee for 6 years. After terming out of the Senate, Johnston taught at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy for 9 years. He also served on several Delta-related state boards including 8 years as a member of the Delta Stewardship Council. Johnston has worked for Health Net and was the CEO of the California Association of Health Plans for 6 years. Johnston is a graduate of St. Patrick’s College with a Master’s degree from CSU Sacramento.
	Cecilia Oregon, MPP, MPH Executive Director, Kaiser Permanente's Institute for Health Policy As Executive Director of IHP, Cecilia identifies emerging health policy topics and guides the Institute’s portfolio of work. She also leads strategy and Consultantoperations for IHP. Cecilia joined KP in 2013 as the Director of Safety Net Partnerships for the National Community Benefit program. In her role, Cecilia helped accelerate safety net grant strategy and initiatives. She also fostered the development and spread of national and regional safety net partnerships. She has a background in philanthropy (Blue Shield of California Foundation, The California Endowment, and the California Healthcare Foundation) and public policy (Congressional Research Service). She earned her Master of Public Policy and Master of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley and is an alumnus of the Presidential Management Fellows program. She received a Latino Heritage Leadership Award in 2018 from California Senator Bob Wieckowski for her record of leadership and service.