Rita Carreón is the Deputy Vice President for Health at UnidosUS. As a national civil rights and advocacy organization, UnidosUS envisions an America where economic, political and social advancement is a reality for all Latinos, where all Hispanics thrive, and where our community’s contributions are recognized. Ms. Carreón oversees the organization’s strategic direction in health, including community engagement and programming, addressing social determinants of health, and advancing health equity. She works in close partnership with UnidosUS Affiliates, government partners, private funders, and other stakeholder to advance access to quality and equitable health care. Previously, she was Vice President of Clinical Strategies and Health Care Equity at America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and led health programming at the National Association of Community Health Centers, Inc.
She has a long record of achievements in the areas of multicultural health care, healthy literacy promotion, health equity, and quality of care. She sits on several advisory panels dedicated to improving the health of all communities and to advance the culture of health with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in addition to the American Cancer Society and American Health Associations’ Health Equity Councils and Pfizer’s Multicultural Advisory Council. Ms. Carreón is also Carol Emmott Foundation Fellow, Class of 2020, and a member of the Women of Impact for Health Care – a group of female executives representing all sectors of the health care industry with a shared goal to realign the health care system to meet the needs of all Americans, recognizing that people who need care come from all walks of life. She is a certified health insurance executive, holds a post graduate certificate, health care administration and Bachelor of Science degrees in Community and School Health from California State University, Long Beach.
As a native of Southern California and the fourth daughter of Mexican immigrants, she is part of a first generation to graduate from higher education in her family. She currently lives in Silver Spring, Maryland with her husband, eight-year old son, and rescued puggle, Sadie.