Karen Minyard, Ph.D., has led the Georgia Health Policy Center since 2001 and is a research professor with the Department of Public Management and Policy in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. Her research interests include financing and evaluation of health-related social policy programs, with an emphasis on funding mechanisms that enable multisector collaboratives to sustainably finance health and well-being in local communities.

In addition to overseeing the Georgia Health Policy Center’s overall strategic vision, Minyard plays a leadership role in projects that consolidate the center’s key learnings from research and practice in the areas of systems thinking, sustainability, and community health systems development.

Minyard supports both the public and private sectors (e.g., government agencies, local collaboratives, and foundations) in developing high-leverage, innovative approaches to funding that support transformational efforts aimed at creating healthy and equitable communities. As part of these transformation efforts, Minyard recognizes the importance of raising community voice, developing equitable processes, and shifting power among sectors and people to improve population health and equity. Her work with communities focuses on changing the way organizations and communities work together and how inclusion of people with lived experience in decision-making can create sustainable systems change.