Dr. Erin Jackson-Ward is the Executive Director of Grantmaking and Social Impact at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles with oversight of a philanthropic portfolio that has disbursed over $150 million since 2018 to over 200 nonprofit, community-based organizations, as well as leadership of Cedars-Sinai’s social responsibility efforts across the domains of sustainability, supplier diversity, employee volunteerism, in-kind donations, and impact investing. Under Erin’s leadership, Cedars-Sinai launched a multi-year grantmaking initiative focused on health equity that promoted access to care and supported public-private partnerships across clinical and social service organizations throughout Los Angeles County. She has led over $60 million in grantmaking toward the intersection of housing and health, including projects that help older adults age in place in supportive housing, a collaborative to insert young adult leadership into the youth homelessness system, and an assessment of the preservation needs of board and care facilities that unlocked tens of millions of dollars in capital funds from the state of California. Cedars-Sinai’s longstanding commitment to supporting local Federally Qualified Health Centers also expanded under Erin’s guidance, with innovative grants to support a diverse workforce, launch telehealth capacity, and support multi-agency partnerships to integrate behavioral health, oral health, housing and access to care.

Inspired by personal experiences within the healthcare field, both through her mother’s positive patient experience with a rare cancer and amputation contrasted with her father’s difficult experience as a stroke patient in palliative care, Erin’s passion for public health, equity, and access was instilled at a young age.Previously, Erin served as an operational leader for the Cedars-Sinai Medical Network, where she played a significant role in Cedars-Sinai’s expanding presence in new communities, giving her tremendous perspective on the day-to-day challenges of healthcare management. Prior to joining Cedars-Sinai, Erin was involved with many nonprofit organizations throughout the country, working primarily on the sociomedical needs of pediatric HIV, homeless, and formerly incarcerated populations. Erin received her DrPH in Health Management and Leadership from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and holds both an MPH from Columbia University and a BA in Psychology and Genetics from UCLA.Inspired by her experience leading a unique and significant philanthropic effort at Cedars-Sinai, Erin’s doctoral work focused on establishing practice guidelines for hospitals across the country interested in adopting and/or adapting grantmaking efforts as part of their community benefit requirements to the IRS. Through that work, Erin not only raised awareness of Cedars-Sinai’s grantmaking as one of the top philanthropic organizations in Los Angeles, but also serves as a national expert and speaker on community benefit practices.