Introducing Brittni Chicuata

Guest Blogger: Brittni Chicuata, Government Relations Director for Advocacy, Greater Bay Area, California

I am delighted to write this post as the new Government Relations Director for Advocacy in the Greater Bay Area. As a San Francisco native, I am thrilled to be working in a familiar region, furthering the mission of the American Heart Association by using a combination of data-driven strategies and grassroots outreach to improve and save lives.

The work of the AHA – namely, scientific research, promoting health equity, providing evidence-based solutions to all communities on prevention and treatment, and liaising with elected officials – is critical to ensuring that we reduce the risk of heart diseases and stroke, the #1 and #4 causes of death in the United States.

Prior to joining the American Heart Association, I worked in Los Angeles in the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Business Development, while attaining my master’s degree in Public Policy at the University of Southern California's Sol Price School of Public Policy. While at USC I tailored my curriculum to emphasize methods of using public policy to improve health in disadvantaged communities.

I am passionate about communicating health policy and committed to working as a liaison across sectors. In that vein, one of the things that I look forward to most is engaging you, the advocates! Your voice and enthusiastic participation are essential to the success of the work that we do and I am grateful to work for an organization that fully involves and prioritizes its volunteers.

I am excited to be home, in the Bay Area, working at a highly impactful nonprofit health organization during a time when health has taken center stage in the American consciousness. I look forward to working with you as we prioritize important issues related to cardiovascular diseases and stroke across the Bay Area.