NHHF Team

Elena Rios, MD, MSPH, MACP | President: Dr. Rios, a distinguished Medical Doctor with a Master’s of Science in Public Health, Master of the American College of Physicians, has received multiple national and international awards for her outstanding contributions to health equity. Dr. Rios started her career in 1992 as a policy advisor for the State of California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development; in 1993 for the White House Health Care Reform Team, where she met physicians to establish the NHMA and NHHF; and in 1994 for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health. After 30 years of dedicated service part-time at NHMA and NHHF, shaping their mission and impact, Dr. Rios is now focusing all her efforts on leading NHHF's initiatives. Rios earned her BA from Stanford University, MSPH and MD from UCLA School of Public Health and School of Medicine, Internal Medicine Residency from Santa Clara and White Memorial Hospitals, and her NIH NRSA Primary Care Research Fellowship from UCLA Department of Medicine.

Guadalupe Pacheco, MSW | Director of Programs: Guadalupe served as Senior Advisor for over a decade in the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health and led the development of the National Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) standards for healthcare. Guadalupe also served in the Washington, DC, government before moving to the federal government and had a dedicated career to providing leadership in public service and support to community-based organizations through health equity programs. 

Guillermo Mendoza, JD, LLM | Associate Director of NHHF Programs: Guillermo is a dedicated advocate for health equity, leveraging his academic background to champion access to healthcare for underserved communities. With a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Global Health Law from Georgetown University Law Center, a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Hamline University School of Law, and a Bachelor's degree in Genetics and Cell Biology from the University of Minnesota, he combines legal expertise with a deep understanding of healthcare systems. Guillermo remains dedicated to advancing the health and well-being of underserved populations, embodying a steadfast commitment to social justice and equitable access to healthcare services.

Senior Programs Coordinator

Rochell Andrade | Programs Coordinator

Programs Coordinator

Executive Assistant

Jeanne Ponsa | Director of Events and Sponsorships: Jeanne's career journey started in retail fashion advertising with celebrities and models and evolved to advertising with national cause campaigns. She has focused her efforts to support health events to build the sustainable partners supporting the NHHF events as well as to coordinate the events, entertainment, and high level presentation for the NHHF network of attendees from health care industry, academia and government. 

To contact NHHF Headquarters for all inquiries (e.g., requests for meetings, speaking engagements, partnerships, etc.), please get in touch with us at [email protected].