Welcome to CHA’s New Executive Director, Catherina Isidro!

Catherina Isidro- headshot-modified

Please join us in providing a warm welcome to California Health Advocates’ new Executive Director, Catherina Isidro! We are thrilled to have her on board. She brings over 20 years of experience in the private and non-profit sectors with a gamut of expertise ranging from association management, strategic planning, fund development, contract negotiations, legislative and public affairs, organizational governance, marketing and communications, membership development, human resources, budget and finance, event planning and management of a Political Action Committee.

In addition to her role of Executive Director for the California Health Advocates, she is also currently the Executive Director for the Forensic Mental Health Association of CA (FMHAC). Prior to that, she was the Deputy Executive Director for the California Independent Oil Marketers Association where she enhanced the internal organization infrastructure necessary for the growth of these associations. 

Catherina’s philosophy is to address the needs of underserved communities, such as California’s Medicare beneficiaries and family members. This philosophy has also guided her work in advocating for the mental health community while working as the Deputy Executive Director for the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI California) in 2005. Aside from being responsible for the day-to-day operations of the organization, her primary role was to manage the various programs and services provided to its members. With this responsibility, she handled all contract negotiations, statements of work and cost proposals. She collaborated with the State Department to resolve issues and to facilitate the performances of each state-funded contract.

Catherina moved to the Sacramento region from the Bay Area in 1997. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and is an active board member of the California Access Coalition.  

You can read more about her and her expertise/background on Our Team page. Thank you for joining us, Catherina!

Karen Joy Fletcher

Our blogger Karen Joy Fletcher is CHA’s Communications Director. With a Masters in Public Health from UC Berkeley, she is the online “public face” of the organization, provides technical expertise, writing and research on Medicare and other health care issues. She is responsible for digital content creation, management of CHA’s editorial calendar, and managing all aspects of CHA’s social media presence. She loves being a “communicator” and enjoys networking and collaborating with the passionate people and agencies in the health advocacy field. See her current articles.