Linda Elam, Ph.D., supervises Graduate Archer Fellows in the Independent Study and Research course. She has deep expertise in the financing and delivery of health care to vulnerable populations and health equity with broad experience across academic, philanthropic, federal and state government, and private sectors. She is the president of Elam Strategies Group, a health advisory firm. Previously, Dr. Elam was a managing director at Manatt Health, and prior to that, she was CEO and plan president of Amerigroup, District of Columbia, Inc., a managed care organization serving the Medicaid population in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Elam served as the deputy assistant secretary for planning and evaluation, directing the office of Disability, Aging and Long-Term Care Policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she provided leadership on policies supporting the independence, health, and productivity of elderly individuals and people with physical and mental disabilities. At the state level, Dr. Elam was senior deputy director and state Medicaid director at the District of Columbia’s Department of Health Care Finance (DHCF).
Prior to her government service, Dr. Elam was a principal policy analyst with the Kaiser Family Foundation. She is a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and Delta Omega, and she serves on several boards and commissions. She holds a B.S. in zoology with honors from Howard University, an M.P.H. in health policy and administration from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in health policy and management from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.