Debbie I. Chang, MPH

Debbie I. Chang (she/her) is president and chief executive officer at Blue Shield of California Foundation. In this role, Ms. Chang leads the Foundation’s work to make California the healthiest state and end domestic violence and oversees more than $20 million in annual grantmaking. Upon joining the Foundation, Ms. Chang led the organization through a process to refine its strategy to increase impact. She has focused particularly on policy opportunities to influence Medicare and Medicaid to engage in domestic violence prevention. Throughout her career she has championed equity and inclusion in health and health care, drawing on a deep personal commitment to building a more just and equitable world.

Ms. Chang is a nationally recognized public health, policy, and health care financing expert. She has a more than 30-year track record of establishing innovative programs and national and regional partnerships — including spearheading a national partnership with Michelle Obama's Let's Move initiative to combat childhood obesity in child care centers. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2020, she served as senior vice president and chief policy and prevention officer for Nemours Children’s Health System where she led transformative efforts to focus on value-based care and health outcomes, working with communities to address the social determinants of health. Ms. Chang also leveraged Nemours’ expertise and experience to spread and scale what works through national policy and practice changes to improve the health of children nationwide.

She has held key positions in government, including Deputy Secretary of Health Care Financing at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, with oversight for Maryland’s Medicaid program, and was the first federal director of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Ms. Chang is actively engaged in professional appointments with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on population health improvement and obesity solutions and is chair of their Early Care and Education Innovation Collaborative. Her numerous honors, awards, speeches, and publications — especially in the areas of social determinants of health, systems transformation, Medicaid, CHIP, and prevention — are a testament to her vast achievements and career-long commitment to support the well-being of all people.

Ms. Chang holds a Master of Public Health in policy and administration from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Email: debbie.chang [at] blueshieldcafoundation.org