Commissioner Kimi Watkins-Tartt
Kimi Watkins-Tartt serves as director of the Alameda County Public Health Department. In this capacity, she is responsible for providing overall direction, planning, and organization of the programs and operations of the Public Health Department.
Prior to this, and in the role of deputy director, Ms. Watkins-Tartt was responsible for the oversight of the department’s programmatic divisions, which include Family Health Services, Community Health Services, Public Health Nursing, and Communicable Disease Control and Prevention. Additionally, Ms. Watkins-Tartt oversaw the management of internal department policies, program budget, grant coordination, and personnel management. Ms. Watkins-Tartt has worked for more than 25 years within the local public health community and brings a wealth of experience in public health administration, policy development, as well as community health planning and coordination. Prior to taking on the role of deputy director, Ms. Watkins-Tartt led the Division of Community Health Services, driving the division’s strategic initiatives including the launching of new efforts that aligned with the department’s strategic direction to achieve health equity. Ms. Watkins-Tartt was instrumental in helping the department design and implement its health equity and local policy efforts and spearheaded the department’s first Chronic Disease Prevention Planning process.
Ms. Watkins-Tartt has a long standing passion and commitment to health equity and social justice. She is a founding member and current co-chair for the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative (BARHII) and serves as vice chair of the Health Equity and Social Justice Committee of the National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO).