Staff
Jeanette Kowalik PhD, MPH, MCHES
Dr. Jeanette Kowalik is the Director of Policy Development at TFAH. In her role, Dr. Kowalik collaborates with and convenes leaders in public health and allied fields to identify, develop, and advance public health policy initiatives. Her professional focus on the social determinants of health, health equity and combatting racism helps to advance TFAH’s work in all three areas.
Immediately prior to joining TFAH, Dr. Kowalik was the Commissioner of Health for the City of Milwaukee where she led the department’s COVID-19 response and declaration of racism as a public health crisis in 2019. She began her career as an intern at the City of Milwaukee Health Department in 2002 and returned in 2018 to serve as the department’s commissioner. Dr. Kowalik’s Washington experience includes serving as the Associate Director of Women’s and Infant Health at the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs. She holds faculty appointments at Baylor University and Columbus State University (Georgia). Dr. Kowalik earned a PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in Health Science (Population Health) and a Master’s in Public Health from Northern Illinois University. She also attended the Management Academy for Public Health at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Her undergraduate degree in Healthcare Administration is from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.