Lauren Moran, MPP, is the director of leadership and capacity building at the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS). In this role, she has worked with Medicaid programs and teams in over 30 states and territories on topics related to Medicaid policy and operations, organizational and staff capacity building, and leadership development. She oversees a portfolio of leadership and capacity building programs including CHCS’ state-based policy and leadership training academies for state Medicaid and health and human services staff, as well as the Medicaid Pathways Program, a leadership program designed to bolster the capacity of senior Medicaid staff to effectively lead a complex organization like Medicaid and impact organizational goals. This also includes Equity Changemakers Institute, a leadership development program for public sector leaders who have significant oversight over agency efforts to advance health equity.

Lauren also co-leads the Medicaid Leadership Institute, which provides training to Medicaid directors and their staff to help enhance the skills and expertise necessary to successfully lead their Medicaid programs, impact key health outcomes, and advance health equity. She is particularly interested in how leaders build teams, adjust strategically to shifting political and health care environments, and integrate Medicaid policy with broader social policy issues at the state level.

Prior to CHCS, Lauren worked for the Child Health Evaluation and Research Center, a multidisciplinary health services research group at the University of Michigan Health System. Her work focused on understanding the pediatric provider workforce pipeline; developing pediatric quality measures under the CHIP Reauthorization Act; and providing project management support for an evaluation of Michigan’s Medicaid expansion program. Lauren also completed a graduate fellowship in the Office of Strategic Policy in the Executive Office of Michigan’s Governor where she staffed the Governor’s task force on prescription drug and opioid misuse.

Lauren holds a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Michigan, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English language and literature from Kalamazoo College.

While not at work, Lauren enjoys hiking, traveling, and reading.