America Bracho, MD, MPH, CDE

Dr. America Bracho is the CEO of Latino Health Access, a center for health promotion and disease prevention located in Santa Ana, California. Latino Health Access facilitates mechanisms of empowerment for the community and trains community health workers as leaders of wellness and change. Dr. Bracho has more than 40 years of experience in community health. She worked as a physician in her native Venezuela, after which she came to the U.S. to obtain a Master’s Degree in Public Health at the University of Michigan in 1988. She is also a certified diabetes educator since 2000 and a graduate of the California Health Care Foundation Health Care Leadership Program 2003-2005.

Dr. Bracho created the first HIV outreach, counseling and testing program for the Latino community in Detroit, Michigan in 1988 and was one of the founders of The Midwest Hispanic AIDS Coalition in charge of bringing information and services to Latinos and other communities with social vulnerability in the Midwest States of the country. As such, she participated in local, national and international strategies to respond to the HIV epidemic. From 2011 to 2021 under her leadership Latino Health Access participated the Building Health Communities efforts with The California Endowment in California and for the first three years was the main HUB that led to the creation of the local coalition in Santa Ana, California. Most recently under her leadership Latino Health Access led the COVID response in the Latino Community in Orange County California through the Latino Equity Coalition 2020-2022.

Dr. Bracho is a current member of the Board of Trustees for Casey Family Programs and a former trustee of the Inatai Foundation 2018-2026 and of the Marguerite Casey Foundation 2008-2011. She was a member of the California Health Workforce Alliance from 2003-2020 and during 2019 became member of the California Future Work Force Commission. She also was a member of Kellogg Foundation Task Force on Health Disparities in 2005, member of the Parent Training Institute National Advisory Committee in 2003, member of the Medical Education for the Latino Community (PRIME-LC) Advisory Board 2003 - 2005, member of the Children’s Healthcare Access Initiative Steering Committee 2002, Board Member of the SOS Committee 2001-2004, Policy Advisory Committee Latino Coalition for a Healthy California. 1998-2000, Board Member of American Diabetes Association of Orange County 1997- 1999

Dr. Bracho has been a presenter for hundreds of Universities including University of California (UC) in Los Angeles, UC Irvine, UC Berkeley, Cal State (CS) Long Beach, CS San Diego, CS Fullerton, U of Michigan, U of Connecticut, U of Colorado, John Hopkins University, University of Rochester New York, University of Chicago among others; Professional associations such as The Society of Professors of Family Medicine, The Orange County Coalition of Health Care Centers, The Texas Association of Primary Care Centers, The National Association for Hospices and Palliative Care, and community and promotor groups such as the National Association of Community Health Workers, Vision y Compromiso and more. She has been a consultant for the Pan American Health Organization and a valuable faculty member for several international courses in Latin America, Asia, Australia and Europe.

Dr. Bracho is a community-based participatory leader and research collaborator who has studied and supported efforts to design, implement, and evaluate promotores-based interventions for Latinos communities, with a focus on equity, community-driven practice, and measurable impact.
She has received several awards for her contributions including: Distinguished Fellow. UCI Planning, Policy and Design Distinguished Fellow Program in 2015 and 2019, California Assembly Community Pillar Award, OC Influencer for Good, California Senate Woman of the year in 2020, The California Leadership Award, James Irvine Foundation 2008; Doctor of Humane Letters, honorary degree from the Arizona School of Dentistry& Oral Health, May 2007; Southern California Public Health Association’s Milton Roemer Award, April 2005; Visiting Scholar 2005. University of Rochester, School of Medicine, Visionary of the Year Award. Coastline Community College Foundation. June 2004, Sischy Scholar. University of Rochester. School of Medicine. 2003, Orange County Hispanic Women of the Year Award. Bracho has been featured in several documentaries including the HBO Special “The Weight of the Nation” and a TedMed Talk on the role of patients in improving health care and their communities. Dr. Bracho is a co-author of the book “Recruiting the heart and training the brain: the work of Latino Health Access”.