Elsie Taveras, MD, MPH

Dr. Elsie Taveras is a nationally recognized healthcare executive and equity strategist currently serving as the inaugural Chief Community Health and Health Equity Officer at Mass General Brigham. In this systemwide role, she leads a $17 billion academic health system’s unified approach to improving community health, community investment, and advancing health equity strategies across care delivery, research, innovation, and education. As Executive Director of the Kraft Center for Community Health at MGB and a Professor at Harvard Medical School, she combines clinical expertise with data-driven, research-informed program design to improve community health through innovative, scalable solutions.

With over two decades of executive and academic leadership experience and continuous funding from the NIH and major foundations, Dr. Taveras has built high-impact, scalable models in pediatric population health, childhood obesity, as well as clinical and community-based interventions for obesity prevention and management. She holds an endowed professorship—the first Latina in Harvard Medical School’s history to do so—and has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles. A seasoned advisor to federal agencies, foundations, and philanthropic organizations, Dr. Taveras brings governance acumen, deep stakeholder engagement skills, and a track record of translating research into institutional change. Her experience leading cross-sector collaborations and advancing equity aligns strongly with mission-driven board service.