The California Medicine Coalition is governed by a board of directors steadfastly committed to driving change for a healthier California.
Our Board
Coyness Ennix, Jr, MD, FACS
Board Chair
Dr. Coyness Ennix is a practicing cardiac surgeon currently practicing at John Muir Hospital in Concord, CA. His over 30 years of practice in the Bay Area include hospital appointments in Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, Alta Bates Medical Center, Alameda County Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente Medical Group, San Ramon Medical Center and Valley Care Medical Center, among others. He holds board certifications from the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.
Dr. Ennix received his medical degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee and his surgical training in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery at The Cleveland Clinic Educational Foundation in Ohio, and postgraduate cardiac surgery training at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Dr. Ennix is a member of the Governing Board of Trustees at Meharry Medical College.
Dr. Ennix follows in the footsteps of his father, Coyness Ennix Sr, in his conviction and passion for social justice. He resides in Oakland, California with his wife, Kathy and is the proud father of a lawyer and nurse.
Mark Henderson, MD
Vice Chair
Dr. Mark Henderson is Professor of Internal Medicine, Vice Chair for Education, and Associate Dean for Admissions at the UC Davis School of Medicine. He previously served as Residency Program Director for Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio and at UC Davis. Dr. Henderson has won numerous teaching awards and currently holds the Dean’s Endowed Chair in Teaching Excellence at UC Davis School of Medicine and is a Master of the American College of Physicians. He has edited several textbooks including The Patient History: an evidence-based approach to differential diagnosis. He is co-principal investigator of the Accelerated Competency-based Education in Primary Care (ACE-PC) program and the California Oregon Medical Partnership to Address Disparities in Rural Education and Health (COMPADRE), both funded by the American Medical Association.
Dr. Henderson has studied the MMI method for medical school interviews, including as PI of the California Longitudinal Evaluation of Admissions Practices (CA-LEAP) consortium across the University of California system, funded by the National Board of Medical Examiners. Other scholarly interests include medical student career choice, diversity in medical education, workforce development, utility of the medical history, and development of clinical reasoning. He has traveled extensively and done medical work in several Latin American countries including Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Paraguay. His hobbies include downhill skiing and attending Bruce Springsteen concerts or major league baseball games with his family.
Nathan Cox, MBA
Treasurer
Nathan Cox brings over three decades of financial leadership experience to InRoads Credit Union as President/CEO. Previously, he served as SVP/Chief Lending Officer at a $5.2 billion credit union, and before that, he oversaw commercial banking for U.S. Bank in Central and Northern California.
Inspired by the community commitment that credit unions are known for, he pivoted from banks to credit unions in 2019. “It was about legacy,” Cox says of the pivot. “I’ve always wanted to enhance the communities where I live and work, leaving them better than before.” Extending this community-first mentality to all areas, Cox brings his servant leadership style to roles that enhance community and financial wellness.
Mr. Cox holds an MBA from Golden Gate University’s Ageno School of Graduate Business and his undergraduate degree from Loyola Marymount University. Nathan is a collaborative, process-oriented, thought leader who has a knack for problem-solving, and is known for creating a culture where diverse thought leadership thrives.
Beth Broome
Secretary
Beth Broome is the Senior Advisor to the Provost for STEM Strategy at UC Davis. Beth leads the STEM Strategies team whose work centers around creating opportunities and advancing efforts to engage business, industry, and regional stakeholders in supporting equity-driven STEM initiatives across the university. Her team accomplishes this by leveraging the university’s assets to build high quality partnerships that are mutually beneficial for both institutions and, most importantly, benefit students. Prior to her leadership role at UC Davis, Beth was the STEM Director for the Science Foundation of Arizona. Beth incorporates her background in interdisciplinary education, nonprofit, and community planning expertise to create these strategic partnerships and initiatives aligned to the STEM mission of UC Davis. Beth lives in Sacramento, CA.
Dena Bullard, MHS
Dena Bullard is the Senior Director for Health Sciences and Workforce Innovation at the UC Office of the President where she has worked since 2004. In this role, she serves as a senior advisor to the Associate Vice President and provides systemwide oversight, issues management, and coordination of health sciences and workforce planning, program, and policy issues for UC’s 21 health professional schools, including advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion. She has also conducted extensive research and written several reports about statewide health workforce shortages and about UC health sciences education and health professional practice needs in California. These reports have helped build the case for health sciences enrollment growth at UC after more than three decades, through the development of new health professional schools and new educational programs focused on underserved communities. Before joining UCOP, she held health policy positions at the California Primary Care Association in Sacramento and the Health Resources and Services Administration in the US Department of Health and Human Services. Dena is passionate about social justice, health equity, increasing access to care for the underserved, and expanding health sciences educational opportunities for underrepresented groups. She is a long-serving member of the Black Staff and Faculty Organization and has served on the President’s Advisory Committee on the Status of Women. She is also a member of the American Council on Education Women’s Network (Northern California Chapter), where she serves as a member of the board, and she represents the university on several statewide coalitions and workgroups. Dena received her bachelor’s degree from Berkeley and her master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
William Jahmal Miller, MHA
Jahmal Miller is the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) for Dignity Health Mercy Medical Group and is responsible for all aspects of the administrative, business and governance functions of the Group’s professional medical services. Miller previously served Dignity Health’s parent company, CommonSpirit Health, as System Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. He has also served as Director of Corporate Reputation and Thought Leadership for Blue Shield of California. In addition to leadership roles at Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health systems, Miller was the Deputy Director of the California Department of Public Health’s Office of Heath Equity, serving as the state’s lead advisor to Governor Brown on issues related to reducing health and mental health disparities and to achieving health equity for all Californians.
Miller is internationally recognized as a thought leader and expert on issues pertaining to health care, public health, health equity, mental health and public policy. Miller earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Columbia University, and received his Master’s of Health Administration from the University of Southern California. Western University of Health Sciences awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters (DHL) for his achievements in the field of health and human services.
Thuy Thi Nguyen, JD
Thuy Thi Nguyen (Thúy Thị Nguyễn) is a partner at Garcia Hernández Sawhney, LLP for their Education Law and Equity Leadership Practice Groups. Prior to joining GHS, Nguyen served as the seventh President of Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, California. Nguyen is believed to be the first Vietnamese American college president in the country.
Nguyen has also served as interim general counsel for the California Community Colleges’ Chancellor’s Office and was the General Counsel for the Peralta Community College District where she served in numerous roles including as Acting Vice Chancellor for Human Resources.
President Nguyen is the founding board chair of the California L.A.W. Pathway, a non-profit that coordinates a program to diversify California’s law schools via the California Community Colleges. The California Medicine Scholars Program, California Medicine’s first initiative, is largely motivated and modeled after California LAW. In 2016, Nguyen received the Diversity Award from the State Bar of California, an award given to an individual who has helped diversify the legal profession.
Nguyen earned her B.A. in Philosophy from Yale University and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, where she was a member of the inaugural class of the Public Interest Law and Policy Program. Nguyen is a Rotarian, a Paul and Daisy Soros for New Americans Fellow, and a proud alumna of the Castlemont Knights in Oakland, CA.
Daniel P. Pellegrini, MD, MMM
Dr. Pellegrini is a practicing cardiac surgeon with the Permanente Medical Group where he serves as the Director of Senior Surgical Care at Kaiser Permanente, San Francisco.
Prior to his San Francisco appointment, Dr. Pellegrini was Chief of Quality and as Chief of Cardiovascular Surgical Services for Kaiser Permanente in the East Bay Service Area, where a significant portion of Dr. Pellegrini’s duties include the navigation of Cost/Quality. Dr. Pellegrini received his medical degree from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA and a Master's in Medical Management from Carnegie Mellon University in 2010. His surgical training was completed at The Ohio State University. Prior to joining KP in 2007, Dr. Pellegrini worked for the University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Pellegrini’s background and work in Quality Improvement at Kaiser has brought a specific understanding of medical decision making and cultural disparities along with a background in finance to the California Medicine project, and is grateful to be included in the trajectory of this very important work.
Efrain Talamantes, MD, MBA, MS
Dr. Efrain Talamantes is dedicated to serving historically underinvested communities and advancing health equity. He leads initiatives throughout the country to enhance leadership and diversity in the healthcare workforce. As the Chief Operating Officer of Health Services at AltaMed Health Services, Dr. Talamantes shapes the AltaMed experience across the entire health care delivery system spanning over 40 clinics throughout Southern California. He oversees every aspect of day-to-day care and incorporates patient-centered solutions to address social determinants of health. Prior to becoming the Chief Operating Officer, he served as Medical Director for the AltaMed Institute for Health Equity and Medical Education, leading health services and community-partnered research and training to advance health equity and medical education at AltaMed. Dr. Talamantes is a primary care internal medicine physician and previously served as Associate Director for the University of California, Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities, Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program, and co-directed the Center for a Diverse Healthcare Workforce (CDHW). He co-founded MiMentor.org, serves as the Chair of the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California, he is a board member of the National Medical Fellowships, University of California, Riverside School of Medicine and the Chicago School of Psychology.
Dr. Talamantes received his medical degree from the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles, and holds a Masters of Science in Health Policy Management from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and a Masters of Business Administration from Emory University.
Nataly Tellez, MBA
Nataly Tellez is passionate about creating a robust and diverse healthcare workforce that is responsive to and reflective of the many unique communities that exist across our country. As the Deputy Director of Workforce Development at the California Primary Care Association, she has designed and implemented a number of initiatives that have fostered pipeline partnerships, expanded community-based training, and removed barriers inhibiting provider recruitment and retention in community health centers. Nataly also sits on the Board of Directors for the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved. She believes the answers to our most pressing healthcare concerns lie within community partnerships and collaboration.
Nataly earned her Masters in Business Administration from the University of California at Davis Graduate School of Management, and received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Arianna Morales
Acting Executive Director
Our Team
Arianna Morales as the Acting Executive Director of the California Medicine Coalition has supported the development of CMC since its inception. Arianna
has over 10 years of experience shepherding education and workforce change initiatives focused on racial and economic justice. Her approach draws on tools and principles of community collaboration, improvement science and mutual accountability.
Prior to her most recent role with CMC, Arianna has worked with San Francisco Bay Area non-profit organizations leading youth program design, systems improvement and strategic partnership initiatives. Arianna received training in improvement science with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and policy advocacy with the Women’s Foundation of California and the National College Attainment Network. In addition to her work at CMC, Arianna sits on the board for Ocelotl, an Oakland-based organization dedicated to building youth wellness and leadership. Arianna earned her Masters of Arts from the University of California Berkeley and her Bachelor of Arts from Vassar College.
Arianna resides in Richmond with her husband and two children and serves as the inaugural President of the Parent Teacher Association and a member of the School Site Council at her children’s elementary school.
Yulissa Diaz
Programs and Communications Associate
Yulissa is a first-generation Latina professional and a recent UC Berkeley graduate with a diverse background in community engagement and mental health advocacy. As a recent UC Berkeley undergrad, her experience spans from supporting marginalized communities, particularly BIPOC individuals, to addressing digital literacy gaps and facilitating virtual support programs for students. Yulissa’s work with underserved communities has given her a deep understanding of the importance of representation and access to resources, driving her passion for multicultural marketing.
With her strong foundation in community empowerment and mental health advocacy, Yulissa’s goal is to leverage her unique insights and experiences to drive inclusive and impactful strategies in multicultural marketing, where she can continue advocating for diversity and representation.
Alicia K. Dixon
Founder and Consultant, A. Dixon Advising
With over 30 years of experience working across nonprofits, government, and foundations in California, Alicia brings a unique blend of expertise in equity, systems change, and continuous improvement. She’s passionate about finding creative, long-term solutions to tough community challenges. Alicia’s leadership, program development and grant making abilities equip her to make a substantive contribution toward sustainable change. A graduate of UCLA with a Master in Public Health, and a BA in Microbiology from UC San Diego, Alicia combines big-picture thinking with a deep commitment to making a difference.
