Rachel Nuzum, M.P.H.
Title:
Senior Policy Director
Organization:
The Commonwealth Fund
Rachel Nuzum, M.P.H., is the senior policy director for The Commonwealth Fund and works closely with the Fund's Commission on a High Performance Health System. In this role, Ms. Nuzum is responsible for implementing the Fund's national policy strategy for improving health system performance, including building and fostering relationships with Congressional members and staff and members of the Executive branch to ensure that the work of the Fund and its Commission on a High Performance Health System informs their deliberations. Ms. Nuzum's work also includes fostering public-private collaboration on health system performance improvement, especially with national associations of key stakeholders. Prior to her role as senior policy director, Ms. Nuzum headed the Fund's program on State Innovations. Ms. Nuzum continues to provide input to this program and serves as editor of the bimonthly web-based newsletter "States in Action."
Ms. Nuzum has over ten years of experience working in health policy at the federal, state and local levels of government as well as in the private sector. Before joining the Fund in January 2007, Ms. Nuzum was a legislative assistant for Senator Maria Cantwell (WA), serving as a policy advisor on health, retirement and tax issues. Prior to joining Senator Cantwell's office, she served as a David Winston Health Policy Fellow in Senator Jeff Bingaman's (NM) office. In this role, Ms. Nuzum staffed the Senator on the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee and the Senate Finance Committee. Before arriving in Washington, DC she served former Governor Roy Romer of Colorado in the office of Boards and Commissions and worked as a health planner in west central Florida. She holds a B.A. in political science from the University of Colorado and an M.P.H. in Health Policy and Management from the University of South Florida.