C. Anneta Arno, PH.D., M.P.H.

Dr. C. Anneta Arno is an experienced public health professional with a track record in the field of health equity, including national recognition for work promoting racial equity through a public health lens, community collaboration to transform views and perspectives related to the root causes of health disparities, and integration of health equity concepts into healthcare delivery systems. She oversaw the publication of Louisville’s 2011 inaugural Health Equity Report and development and delivery of the updated version in 2014. Dr. Arno’s accomplishments include serving as Project Director for Louisville’s CDC-funded Community Transformation Grant, which demonstrated multi-sector collaboration in promotion of patient centered medical homes (PCMH) across Federally Qualified Health Centers; smoke free multi-unit housing across public and private rental housing; as well as strategies to promote expansion of the coordinated school health model across all Jefferson County Public Schools. With funding from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, she convened 100 Louisvillians in the 2014 “Healing Possible Quorum” initiative, culminating in “Towards Racial Equity Through Policy & Assessment” in January 2015.

Prior to joining the Executive Leadership Team at DC Health, Dr. Arno served as the Division Manager for Communicable Disease Prevention & Public Health Preparedness at the Kansas City, Missouri, Department of Health. Immediately prior, she served as the Director, Center for Health Equity, Louisville Metro, Department of Public Health and Wellness (Louisville, Kentucky); and as Adjunct Faculty at the University of Louisville, School of Public Health & Information Sciences. Dr. Arno holds a Ph.D. in Urban Planning from the University of Reading, Berkshire, England and a Master of Public Health (MPH), Healthcare Management, Columbia University (New York, New York). Cross-trained in Public Health and Urban Planning, Dr. Arno is a Certified Planning Professional in the USA (AICP) as well as in Europe, where she is a Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute (MRTPI).

Appointed as the inaugural Director, Office of Health Equity (OHE), DC Health, in September 2015, Dr. Arno has played a critical role in leveraging a “Health in All Policies” approach to improving population health and achieving health equity. Committed to operationalizing Health Equity Practice, through proactive multi-sector collaborative solutions, and equity informed practice change, she engages with neighborhoods, local, regional, and national partners across government, as well as with the private and non-profit sectors. The Health Equity Report: District of Columbia 2018 established the District’s Nine Key Drivers Framework for addressing persistent inequities. In May 2020, Mayor Muriel Bowser appointed Dr. Arno to the ReOpen DC Advisory Committee, part of the District’s whole-of-government COVID-19 pandemic response. The Health Equity Report’s framework was used as a critical lens for connecting the dots, and understanding the historic, contemporary, and structural root causes perpetuating differential impacts of the pandemic, by income, place, and race. The DC Health Equity Summit 2021 Building a Roadmap to A Just Post Pandemic Future, engaged 21 public, private, non-profit, academic and philanthropic partners, and over 500 attendees, in exploring opportunities for sustainable equity-informed multi-sector solutions focused on improving opportunities for health and achieving equity for all District residents, regardless of where they live, learn, work, play, play or age. Dr. Arno’s strategic leadership roles currently include membership of the District’s Interagency Committee on Racial Equity; DC Health’s Principle Investigator (PI) to two blended initiatives supported by CDC & OMH funding to Advance Health Literacy & Address COVID-19 Health Disparities; and PI to Pew Charitable Trusts, DC Calling All Sectors Initiative. She recently served consecutive terms on NACCHO’s Health Equity & Social Justice Committees.