Alliance for Health Policy welcomes Claire Sheahan as new President and CEO

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 29, 2024, Washington D.C. – The Alliance for Health Policy Board of Directors announced today that after a national search led by Korn Ferry, they have selected Claire Sheahan as the new President and CEO of the organization.

“The Alliance was  founded 30 years ago to provide needed information to policymakers as they tackle tough health policy questions, and that mission remains critical today. With Claire as the next leader for the organization, the board is confident that the Alliance mission is in capable hands,” said Tanisha Carino, Ph.D., Alliance for Health Policy Board Chair.  

“The Alliance Board recognized that Claire’s passion, energy, and finger on the pulse of health care and health policy are the right mix to take the organization forward.  We trust that together, we will accomplish great things,” said Elizabeth Hall, Vice Chair of the Alliance. 

Known as an empathetic and practical leader, Claire has spent more than 20 years working in health care policy as a strategy consultant, communications expert, and program leader effectively engaging others to catalyze change. She spent more than fifteen years as a leader at consulting and communications agencies, including GMMB, Fleishman Hillard and Avalere. She also served in public affairs roles at the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, Generic Pharmaceutical Association (now the Association for Accessible Medicines/AAM) and Alexion Pharmaceuticals. Since October 2023, she has served as the interim COO at the Alliance, and her term as CEO begins the first of February. 

“I am excited to work with all those who know and value the Alliance’s contributions, and to engage new voices and partners in the coming years,” said Sheahan. “The Alliance mission has never been more relevant, and I look forward to working across the health policy community to grow the organization’s impact.”

Sheahan succeeds Sarah Dash, MPH who spent 10 years at the organization. According to Dash, “I couldn’t be more thrilled to pass the torch to Claire as the next leader of the Alliance. In our work together, I’ve witnessed Claire’s deep commitment to our core values and her clear vision for the Alliance to advance the field of health policy. I am deeply confident that she is the right person to take the organization forward.”

Read more about Claire Sheahan here:

Claire Sheahan is a dynamic executive with more than 20 years of experience effectively engaging others to catalyze change in health care and health policy. 

Claire has served in leadership roles in associations, corporations,  consulting and communications firms, including GMMB, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Fleishman Hillard, the Generic Pharmaceutical Association (now AAM), Avalere, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, and others. In these roles, she has managed effective educational and engagement campaigns, introduced new capabilities, products and services, established novel cross-functional teams, and successfully achieved gains in reputational status, growth and audience impact. 

In her career, she has worked for organizations across the spectrum in health care ranging from scientific discovery to public health to patient advocacy.  These include non-profits like the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and National Health Council; medical leaders like the American Academy of Family Physicians, the International Society for Stem Cell Research and Mayo Clinic; and companies like Biogen, Cigna, and Siemens Health. 

Claire is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, where she served a semester as a research assistant to a member of UK parliament, and a co-founder of the campus sketch comedy troupe. She also holds an MSc. with Distinction from the London School of Economics in Media and Communications, where her dissertation focused on the construct of public opinion within the halls of the U.S. Congress. Claire also served as an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University, teaching students in the Communications MA program. She is the mother of two children, a cancer survivor, and serves as a Director on the Fairfax Library Foundation Board.

For media inquiries related to the Alliance, please contact Madeline Pennington, mpennington@allhealthpolicy.org.

About the Alliance for Health Policy

The Alliance for Health Policy is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to helping policymakers and the public better understand health policy, the root of the nation’s health care issues, and the trade-offs posed by various proposals for change. We educate congressional and executive agency staff on health policy issues, engage the health care community and stakeholders in solutions-focused dialogues, and convene public webinars on a range of health policy topics and emerging health issues.  Regardless of their point of view, our audience recognizes the Alliance’s reputation as a well-respected source for unbiased health policy information.