Ana Penman-Aguilar, PhD, MPH

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Ana Penman-Aguilar, PhD, MPH has spent more than two decades shaping health equity science and practice across levels of governmental public health.

As Founder and Principal of Hope Forward Strategies, LLC, she provides senior-level advisory services in health equity for health departments and public-sector partners across cities, counties, states, Tribal nations, and territories navigating complex change. Throughout her career she has brought health equity to bear in public health decision-making, advising senior leaders through organizational transformation, politically charged environments, and public health emergencies. Her work is grounded in decades of experience with frameworks, evidence, and public health systems, always centering communities and inspiring others to do the same. She is known for helping leaders move from health equity commitments to impactful practice.

During her tenure at CDC, Dr. Penman-Aguilar served as a key architect of the agency’s Principles of Health Equity Science for Public Health Action and its Health Equity Intervention and Action Principles, translating the former into rigorous standards routinely applied across CDC’s scientific work. She co-led development of what became the agency-wide Health Equity Guiding Principles for Inclusive Communication, designed and launched the scientific component of CDC’s health equity strategy for the COVID-19 response, designed the first agency-wide social determinants of health measurement plan, and oversaw the first comprehensive federal public health report focused on the health of Hispanic and Latino people.

Her influence extends well beyond any single institution. She has advised the HHS federal workgroup charged with implementing the most significant overhaul of race and ethnicity data standards since 1997, briefed public health leaders across more than 30 nations, served on national advisory efforts such as the National Advisory Board of the Health Opportunity and Equity (HOPE) Indicators Project, and has been quoted by outlets such as the BBC, USA Today, and US News & World Report.

Dr. Penman-Aguilar holds a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and an MPH in International Health and Development from Tulane University. She has completed advanced training in the use of AI in federal leadership, data science and big data analytics (MIT), and strategic foresight. She is the recipient of numerous honors, and her published work spans more than 50 publications. She has presented her research on Capitol Hill.