Alumni Spotlight: Jessica Yanow, MPH ’05

Building Systems That Last: How Jessica Is Strengthening Public Health Across Arizona

Since November 2021, Jessica Yanow has served as President & CEO of the Arizona Alliance for Community Health Centers, where she works to strengthen access to care and support health centers across Arizona. Throughout her career, she has also served on a variety of local and national boards, committees, and councils, including her current service on the Delta Dental of Arizona Foundation Board of Directors and as Co-Chair of the Arizona State Health Improvement Plan Steering Committee.

Jessica’s public health journey has been shaped by one core belief: everyone deserves access to the resources and support needed to thrive. Originally from the suburbs of Chicago, she has spent the past 23 years building her career in Arizona across state government, nonprofit leadership, and health systems work.

Although she did not initially plan to pursue public health, her early work in HIV/AIDS education, women’s health, sexual health education, and domestic violence services continually drew her toward issues of health equity, access, and systems change.

Through those experiences, she recognized that health outcomes were often shaped not only by individual programs, but by broader systems that influence access to care, housing, safety, and support. That realization ultimately led her to pursue a Master of Public Health at the University of Arizona’s Zuckerman College of Public Health. She graduated with her MPH in 2005.

A Framework for Systems-Level Impact

Jessica credits the University of Arizona with helping her think beyond individual programs and toward broader systems-level impact.

During her MPH program, she gained a deeper understanding of how policy, funding, infrastructure, and systems decisions shape health outcomes across communities.

Just as impactful as the academic training, however, were the relationships she built along the way.

“Arizona’s public health community is small, and the connections I made during the MPH program are ones I still rely on more than 20 years later,” she shared. “It’s common for me to walk into meetings with external partners and realize we went through the program together.”

Her internship at the Arizona Department of Health Services opened the door to her first role in state government and helped launch a career grounded in collaboration and partnership-building.

“Across every role since, collaboration has been constant, because durable systems are built through trust, shared problem-solving, and long-standing partnerships.”

Strengthening Access to Care Across Arizona

Throughout her career, Jessica’s work has consistently focused on strengthening systems that support access to care.

At the Arizona Alliance for Community Health Centers, she has helped secure and deploy more than $50 million in funding to expand healthcare capacity across Arizona’s health center network. She has also advanced workforce development initiatives, including the Medical Assistant Training Program, while strengthening advocacy efforts to protect Medicaid and improve access to care.

Earlier in her career at the Arizona Department of Health Services, Jessica worked in chronic disease prevention, women’s health coordination, and emergency preparedness. Those experiences reinforced the importance of infrastructure and coordination, particularly during times of crisis.

Later, at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, she led large-scale public health investments through Mobilize AZ, focusing on substance use disorder, mental health, diabetes, and social drivers of health.

“The work is not about any single program. It is about building systems that are durable, responsive, and capable of supporting communities over time.”

Although her roles have spanned multiple sectors and focus areas, the mission behind the work has remained remarkably consistent: creating systems that make health and care more accessible, equitable, and sustainable for communities across Arizona.

What Public Health Means to Jessica

For Jessica, public health extends far beyond programs or services. It is about building the conditions that allow communities to thrive.

“Public health is the work of building and protecting the conditions that allow people and communities to thrive.”

She believes public health requires looking beyond individual outcomes to examine the broader structures that shape them, including policy, workforce, funding, and the social drivers of health.

“When those elements are aligned, communities are healthier and more resilient,” she explained. “When they are not, it not only affects the health of communities but also other aspects of life, like employment or the ability to care for children.”

Jessica also emphasizes the importance of long-term thinking in public health work.

“The most important work is often not immediate or visible. It is the steady effort to design systems that hold up over time and serve people consistently.”

For her, the ultimate goal is building systems strong enough to ensure access to care is not dependent on circumstance, but instead supported by intentional, coordinated, and sustainable infrastructure.

Advice for Future Public Health Leaders

Jessica encourages students and recent graduates to embrace the wide-ranging and often non-linear nature of public health careers.

“Public health offers a wide range of paths, and very few of them are linear. You will likely move across sectors, roles, and areas of focus. That is not a detour. It is part of building a meaningful career.”

She advises students to focus on developing skills that translate across settings, especially communication, collaboration, and the ability to navigate complexity.

“Public health work rarely happens in isolation,” she said. “The ability to work across disciplines and build relationships is essential.”

She also encourages future public health professionals to stay curious, remain grounded in purpose, and give themselves time to grow into the work.

“You do not need to have everything figured out early,” Jessica shared. “Over time, those experiences will come together into something cohesive and impactful.”

Through more than two decades of leadership across Arizona’s public health landscape, Jessica’s career demonstrates the power of systems thinking, collaboration, and purpose-driven leadership. Her work continues to strengthen the structures that help communities not only access care but truly thrive.