Mikel Whittier, MHA
(he/him/his)
Director, Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, UCLA Health
Experience
Mikel Whittier is the inaugural director of the Office of Health Equity and Inclusive Excellence established April 2021 at UCLA Health.
Mikel has vast experience advancing health equity and racial equity in health care settings like academic medical centers, state, and urban public health systems, and non-for-profit hospital systems. His work has focused on quality improvement and systems transformation to progress access to high quality and affordable care for various marginalized demographics.
Prior to joining UCLA Health, Mikel served in various leadership roles at top ranked academic medical centers. Additionally, he served on the senior leadership team at St. Louis Integrated Health Network, where he worked to build an accountable care community to improve racial equity in the local public health system as part of the recommendations made by the Ferguson Commission after the murder of Michael Brown Jr. Mikel has also served as an advisor on several political campaigns and worked as an adjunct professor at Saint Louis University prior to moving to Los Angeles.
Education
Mikel received his doctorate in business administration from Liberty University and his master’s degree in health care administration from the University of Missouri. He is also a certified leadership and performance coach and a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
