Public Health Policy & Strategy
Practical knowledge. Breadth of expertise. Interdisciplinary training.
I use my real-world experience to help my clients bridge the gap between vision and application and find solutions to pressing public health challenges.
Photo by Lydia Daniller
FEATURED CLIENTS
Do you want to make the world a better place by creating opportunities for people and communities to live happier, healthier lives?
Let’s work together! I provide expertise and technical know-how to help my clients operationalize their public health projects.
It is what I’ve tried to do my entire career: as a senior health program planner at a local public health department, as a public interest attorney in an HIV/AIDS law project, and as a vice president at a national non-profit focused on using policy to promote health equity. There are many ways to work towards a stronger public health system that works for everyone.
Photo by Bart Nagel
Principal: Manel Kappagoda, JD, MPH
I’m a public health strategist trained in the law, and I help organizations and entities work to eliminate health inequities using policy tools. My passion is promoting community health and health equity through public health policy and systems change.
Over my 13 years at ChangeLab Solutions, including as Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, I honed my expertise in providing public health policy technical assistance to government agencies, health systems and community-based organizations. Before that, I advocated for low-income clients living with HIV/AIDS on tenants’ rights and disability issues as an attorney at the East Bay Community Law Center and later as their Director of Administration and Policy. I have also worked at the San Francisco Department of Public Health as a senior health program planner and the Public Health Institute as a deputy director of a COVID-response project.
Striving to improve health equity has been a key driver of my career choices and from 2016 to 2019 I was honored to sit on the Advisory Committee of the California Department of Public Health’s Office of Health Equity. I served as Vice-Chair from 2018 to 2019.
I have a law degree from University of California, College of the Law, San Francisco, a Masters degree in Public Health from University of California, Berkeley and I am a member of the California Bar.
My Services
At the start of every engagement, I work with my client to make sure I truly understand their short and long-term goals and then help them to shape the path to achieving their objectives.
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Technical assistance and training at all stages in the policy process to help advocates, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and private companies understand existing laws and regulations.
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Strategic planning for public health programs including brainstorming and serving as a sounding board and guide for choosing among multiple options for program structure or policy choice.
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Legal and policy analysis of issues related to public health, health equity and healthcare.
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Crafting and presenting trainings that clearly explain legal and technical concepts to a lay audience.
Sample Projects
Report on the Role of Law and Policy in Healthy Food Consumption
The Healthy People 2020 Law and Health Policy project lifted up evidence-based legal and policy interventions that impact public health. I coauthored The Role of Law and Policy in Achieving the Healthy People 2020 Nutrition and Weight Status Goals of Increased Fruit and Vegetable Intake in the United States, which documented policy solutions to help communities increase access to and intake of fruits and vegetables in support of Healthy People 2020 nutrition objectives.
Policy Resources on Diabetes Self-Management, Education and Training
With colleagues at ChangeLab Solutions, I developed a series of tools on diabetes self-management, education and training (DSMET) programs and insurance coverage including a legal epidemiology database and an article on the issue of Medicaid coverage for DSMET programs.
Technical Assistance for Nemours Children’s Health Moving Healthcare Upstream Initiative
I oversaw ChangeLab Solutions’ technical assistance to the 17 teams from communities across the country that received technical assistance and training through Moving Healthcare Upstream, an initiative of Nemours Children's Health. The teams were working on reducing food insecurity and addressing asthma. As part of that project, my colleagues and I developed technical assistance memos to support the teams.
