Sarah de Guia, JD
As chief executive officer of ChangeLab Solutions, Sarah de Guia oversees development and implementation of the organization’s goals, priorities, strategies, and budget. She is committed to applying her legal expertise and leadership experience to advancing equitable laws and policies that ensure healthy communities for all.
Under Sarah’s leadership, ChangeLab Solutions has established new partnerships and funding sources to uplift health-promoting policies in rural areas; assist community efforts to increase affordable housing; strengthen resilience and opportunities for children and families; support public health agencies and equitable enforcement; and expand innovations in equitable and sustainable food systems. During Sarah’s tenure, ChangeLab Solutions also coordinated a successful lawsuit challenging the penalty provision in a California law that preempts local sugary drink taxes until 2031.
Sarah is a member of the editorial committee of Public Health Watch, and she regularly contributes to ChangeLab Solutions’ blog and newsletters. She has been a guest on the CDC Foundation’s Contagious Conversations podcast and APHA TV. Sarah is co-editor of the COVID-19 Policy Playbook: Legal Recommendations for a Safer, More Equitable Future — a nationwide collaboration involving more than 50 legal experts — and co-author, with Prevention Institute and the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, of How California’s Community-Based Organizations Filled the Gaps for Underserved Communities: Meeting the Needs of Racially & Ethnically Diverse Communities During the Pandemic.
Sarah regularly presents at meetings of national organizations such as the American Public Health Association and its state affiliates; the National Association of County and City Health Officials; the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; and the American Health Law Association.
Prior to joining ChangeLab Solutions, Sarah was director of government affairs and then executive director at the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network (CPEHN). Sarah’s accomplishments at CPEHN include passage of more than a dozen legislative bills to further health equity; critical administrative policy wins to incorporate health equity into land use and planning regulations; and improvements in the quality of health care for immigrants, patients with limited English proficiency, and communities of color. She authored many publications on the health of communities of color in California; oral health disparities; mental health; and Latino health. Sarah’s previous positions also include health program director at the Latino Issues Forum and legislative analyst at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
Sarah earned her law degree from Santa Clara University School of Law and her bachelor’s degree in ethnic studies from the University of California, Berkeley.
Sarah is board chair for Human Impact Partners and a member of the board of directors of the CARESTAR Foundation. She is an advisory member of the National Academy of Medicine’s Commission on Investment Imperatives for a Healthy Nation. She is a past chair of the advisory committee of the Office of Health Equity at the California Department of Public Health and has served as an advisor to the Healthiest Cities and Counties Challenge and as a member of the stewardship council of Raising the Bar: Healthcare’s Transforming Role.
To schedule a meeting with Sarah, invite her to speak, or request her speaker packet, please reach out to her executive assistant, Karina Bielecki, at kbielecki@changelabsolutions.org.
For media requests, please contact ChangeLab Solutions’ chief communications officer, Kim Arroyo Williamson.