Bio

Heidi Hagen McPherson has dedicated two decades to public health and community development service, in local, national, and international roles. Her focus and expertise are in catalyzing collective capacity for improved population health systems and outcomes. This focus on improving the ecosystem to provide a foundation for better health and health equity, led to her current role as Co-Lead of the Health Equity Collective with the UTHealth School of Public Health’s Center for Health Equity. The Health Equity Collective (“Collective”), now 200+ organizations strong, was developed to serve as a long-term, durable driver for improving health outcomes and health equity through collaboratively improving social determinants of health systems, with a singular mission of establishing a sustainable, data-driven, human-centered ecosystem of care that equitably addresses SDoH among residents of the Greater Houston area. 

Heidi has extensive experience building collaborations with healthcare, public health, corporate, and community partners in building cultures of health. In addition to co-leading the Health Equity Collective, Heidi serves on several health coalitions, including Houston Business Coalition on Health, Texas Collaborative for Healthy Mothers and Babies (TCHMB), Be Well Acres Homes, Cities Changing Diabetes, and the Greater Houston Partnership. 

On a personal note, Heidi enjoys running, tango, birdwatching, reading, and exploring the world and the backyard with her family. Originally from Hawaii, Heidi has enjoyed living in Texas for over 20 years.