Sammy Taylor
San Francisco
Summary
Dynamic strategic policy leader with over 10 years of experience shaping innovation across the health and social safety nets. Skilled in guiding stakeholders through complex policy design, implementation, and systems change. Grounded in a macro-social work lens and driven by a deep commitment to health equity, I bridge data, strategy, and community insight to align organizational goals with public impact.
Overview
10
10
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior Consultant, Policy Innovation
Intrepid Ascent
09.2025 - Current
- Directed $8+ million portfolio of Medi-Cal innovation projects (CalAIM, Whole Person Care) to improve service delivery, healthcare access, and health equity
- Oversaw implementation of new quality and performance improvement initiatives in 4 California counties, including designing metrics dashboards and performance indicators for state and county clients.
- Advised clients on program evaluation of large, complex health safety net and public health programs, including methodology, metrics, monitoring, and implementation.
- Led multi-stakeholder planning sessions aligning partners behind shared performance goals, metrics, and outcomes for health and social safety net programs.
- Managed large cross-functional, multi-stakeholder teams of consultants and client stakeholders to ensure timely completion of project milestones in a fast-paced environment.
- Led cross-functional strategic policy initiatives for internal and client teams, leveraging evidence from policy research to inform organizational growth and strategic plans.
- Authored high-visibility impact and strategy deliverables (briefs, memos, reports), designed measurement frameworks, and developed internal dashboards to guided firmwide policy strategy and program improvement.
- Led firmwide Medicaid and behavioral health policy strategy and business pipelines, directly responsible for over $3 million in new business between 2023-2024.
Senior Policy Associate
Center for Connected Health Policy (Public Health Institute)
08.2020 - 05.2021
- Led cross-sector policy advocacy initiatives to influence telehealth regulations, achieving a 30% increase in stakeholder engagement within 12 months.
- Conducted in-depth analysis of federal policy changes to inform Center for Connected Health Policy's strategic advocacy and telehealth research products.
- Coordinated cross-sector advocacy campaigns addressing telehealth policy barriers, growing coalition membership by over 60% during Q1 2021.
- Authored patient and consumer-friendly reports, briefs, fact sheets, memos and other advocacy tools related to digital health.
- Synthesized federal and state health policy research into over 15 consumer-friendly reports, briefs, and other policy tools.
Policy Analyst
Oregon Health & Science University, Center for Evidence-Based Policy
09.2019 - 08.2020
- Designed and executed senior-level policy research projects and program evaluations to inform policy design in 22 state Medicaid programs.
- Authored high-quality presentations and reports that led to state adoption of policy recommendations in 100% of client use cases.
- Presented evaluation findings and recommendations to 40+ high-influence policymakers, administrators, and state government personnel.
- Led Center Telehealth/eHealth Workgroup to monitor emerging digital health policies and build in-house expertise on digital health innovation.
Public Safety Analyst & Research Manager
Multnomah County Commissioner's Office, Local Public Safety Coordinating Council (LPSCC)
04.2018 - 09.2019
- Led quantitative and qualitative analyses of justice system reform programs using public safety data, assessing effects on recidivism and rehabilitation to inform policymaking.
- Oversaw County’s Justice Reinvestment program evaluation in compliance with Oregon HB 3194, demonstrating $42.3 million in savings for Multnomah County under the program in 2019.
- Supported the County’s grant or funding strategy through development of grant proposals.
- Managed a team of 12 multi-disciplinary research staff from county public safety agencies, overseeing evaluation project plans and timely completion of deliverables and state reporting milestones.
- Supported the design of county-wide justice reform dashboards / KPIs monitoring recidivism, cost savings, racial disparities, and system performance, enabling continuous tracking and accountability to taxpayers.
- Facilitated multi-agency, regional coalitions using collective impact frameworks to align decision-making, share data, and drive continuous program improvements across justice / reentry systems.
- Advised county executives, policymakers, and stakeholders on evaluation findings and policy recommendations, providing strategic guidance to shape county reentry programs and Multnomah County state legislative agenda.
Program Manager & Research Consultant
Washington University in St. Louis, Centene Center for Health Transformation, Center for Social Development
05.2015 - 05.2019
- Oversaw portfolio of population health interventions to promote chronic care management behaviors in at-risk children enrolled in Centene managed care plans.
- Led program design and implementation in collaboration with partners from academic, health system, and patient stakeholder organizations.
- Co-managed Refund to Saving (R2S), a policy intervention that promoted financial security for over 680,000 low-income households.
- Synthesized research/evidence into manuscripts, research reports, briefs, legislative testimony, and other policy-oriented products to inform healthcare and social policy.
Education
Master of Social Work (MSW) - Policy Analysis & Research
Washington University in St. Louis
St. Louis, MO01.2015
Bachelor of Arts - Psychology, Political Science
Malone College
Canton, OH01.2013
Skills
- Medicaid policy
- Health policy
- Medi-Cal
- Public health
- Social Determinants of Health
- Behavioral health policy
- Advocacy
- Coalition building
- Health equity
- Policy communications
- Government relations
- Client management
- Stakeholder engagement
- Strategic planning
- Policy analysis
- Policy advising
- Regulatory analysis
- Data governance
- Health information privacy and security
- Data analysis
- Data visualization
- Program management
- Program evaluation
- Survey design
- Applied research
- Public administration
- Budget analysis
- Public speaking
- Adobe Suite
- Microsoft Suite
- Writing
Products
See list of select products and publications here.
Timeline
Senior Consultant, Policy Innovation
Intrepid Ascent
09.2025 - Current
Senior Policy Associate
Center for Connected Health Policy (Public Health Institute)
08.2020 - 05.2021
Policy Analyst
Oregon Health & Science University, Center for Evidence-Based Policy
09.2019 - 08.2020
Public Safety Analyst & Research Manager
Multnomah County Commissioner's Office, Local Public Safety Coordinating Council (LPSCC)
04.2018 - 09.2019
Program Manager & Research Consultant
Washington University in St. Louis, Centene Center for Health Transformation, Center for Social Development
05.2015 - 05.2019
Master of Social Work (MSW) - Policy Analysis & Research
Washington University in St. Louis
Bachelor of Arts - Psychology, Political Science
Malone College