Minority Health Program Staff
Rea Pañares, M.H.S.
Director of Minority Health Initiatives
Rea Pañares is Director of Minority Health Initiatives at Families USA, a national nonprofit organization that is dedicated to the achievement of high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans. In this role, she analyzes the impact of health policies and proposals on racial and ethnic minorities' access to quality, affordable health care; develops tools and resources to build institutional capacity within communities of color; and raises awareness about minority health policy issues among key stakeholders, including members of the media and elected officials.
Prior to this position, Ms. Pañares was a program associate at Grantmakers In Health (GIH), a nonprofit educational organization that is dedicated to helping foundations and corporate giving programs improve the nation's health. She was responsible for leading GIH's work in racial and ethnic health disparities, including language access, immigrant health, and the social determinants of health. She was also involved with projects related to foundation support for public policy and advocacy, public health, and environmental health. Prior to joining GIH, Ms. Pañares served as manager at the Washington Business Group on Health (now the National Business Group on Health), where she led the organization's Health Disparities Initiative, a project designed to provide employers with information and tools to help them purchase and plan health care for a culturally diverse workforce. Ms. Pañares has also held positions with the Health Care Financing Administration (now the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services—CMS) and the Women and Children's Health Policy Center at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
Ms. Pañares holds a master's degree in health policy and management from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley in molecular and cellular biology.
Sherice M. Perry, M.P.P.
Program Manager of Minority Health Initiatives
Sherice M. Perry is Program Manager of Minority Health Initiatives at Families USA. In this capacity, she works to integrate minority health policy into the organization's larger body of work, as well as manage projects to raise awareness about racial and ethnic health disparities. She also assists in outreach to minority health stakeholders, ranging from grassroots activists to minority journalists to elected officials.
Prior to joining Families USA, Ms. Perry was a Communications Specialist with the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Information Service (CIS). At the CIS, she focused on reaching minority and medically underserved communities with cancer information. She provided communications and research support for CIS offices in the northeast United States; conducted tailored trainings on NCI resources used for cancer control program planning, implementation, and evaluation; and served as an advisor on cancer control and tobacco coalition steering committees in the New York City area. Prior to the CIS, Ms. Perry worked at Burness Communications, a public relations firm that supports nonprofit organizations. As a Consultant for Health Policy, she focused primarily on health care financing and access issues. Ms. Perry has also worked as an advocate for a maternal and child health organization, a researcher for a government-funded patient satisfaction study through the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, and as a case manager for two prescription drug assistance programs.
Ms. Perry's undergraduate and graduate studies focused on health policy; she has a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a master's degree in public policy from Georgetown University.
Jonay Foster, B.A.
Wellstone Fellow
Jonay Foster is the Wellstone Fellow in the Minority Health Initiatives department at Families USA. In this role, Ms. Foster develops content for the department's monthly e-newsletter, "Minority Health Connection," analyzes legislation, researches health disparities, and assists with other department activities.
Ms. Foster recently received her Bachelor of Arts in Public Health Studies from Johns Hopkins University. While at Johns Hopkins, she worked with abused and neglected children whose parents were required by the court to take parenting classes. She prepared lesson plans for the children and taught them about health issues, such as nutrition, hygiene, and exercise. Ms. Foster also informed parents about children’s health issues through a monthly newsletter. She also worked as a research assistant in the Urban Institute’s health policy department, where she conducted research on Medicaid expansions, racial disparities, and child mortality rates. Prior to working at the Urban Institute, she was selected as an Urban Institute Summer Academy Fellow, where she published a policy brief titled “An Exploration of Medicaid/SCHIP Expansion Implementation and Child Mortality: A Case Study of Four States.” She presented her findings at the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management Fall 2008 Conference in Los Angeles. Ms. Foster has also worked for Congressman Danny K. Davis, where she conducted research and wrote speeches, issue memos, and remarks on health, education, and poverty issues that were important to Rep. Davis.
After the completion of her fellowship at Families USA, Ms. Foster plans to pursue a law degree with a focus on health law.
