Tanya Harris

Tanya Harris is the incoming Executive Director of the Aspen Health Innovators Fellowship. In this role, she will develop a growing community of energized, values-driven leaders committed to finding viable solutions to confront U.S. health care’s problems. As a public health professional with a deep commitment to serving vulnerable populations,Tanya has over 25 years experience expanding access to health care, managing Medicaid plans and regulations, and influencing Federal and state program development. Before joining the Aspen Institute, Tanya served as the National Director of Health Care Operations at Planned Parenthood, where she advised leaders across the country on health policy, including the creation and implementation of a national strategy regarding health plan engagement and contracting. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she led the organization’s efforts to shift as many services as possible to telehealth. Prior to that, she was the Associate Director for the Office of Managed Care in the District of Columbia, which was responsible for Medicaid managed care plans serving 150,000 District residents through $500 million in contracts. She also served as Chief of the AIDS Drug Assistance Program for the District of Columbia, overseeing the city’s $14 million program providing COBRA, Medicare Part D subsidies, and free medication to people living with HIV/AIDS. Tanya began her career working as a case manager with communities of color living with HIV in central Brooklyn and the South Bronx at the height of the AIDS pandemic in the United States. Tanya earned her B.A. from New York University with a focus on Caribbean literature and her graduate degree in health policy from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. She is deeply committed to equity and belonging, serving as a diversity trainer with boards of directors. Tanya comes from a long line of educators and has taught health policy as an adjunct professor. She is involved in her local community through board service at a health center and volunteering with area hospice and village programs. Tanya lives with her 20-year-old son and dog in coastal Delaware.