Ryan Barker, MSW, MPPA is the Vice President of Health Policy at Missouri Foundation for Health (MFH). He joined the Foundation in 2002 and assisted in the establishment and growth of the Health Policy area at MFH. His work has included research and education on the impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), as well as Missouri’s Medicaid program. Since the passage of the ACA, he has conducted more than 300 sessions on the impact of the ACA to a variety of groups (e.g., health care providers, chambers of commerce, health systems, social service organizations). His work also focuses on increasing health equity for all Missourians, including strategies to eliminate health disparities and create structural change through local and state policies. He currently oversees the Foundation’s Cover Missouri Coalition, which has 1,000 members and is working to reduce the uninsured rate in Missouri to less than 5 percent in the next 5 years.
Prior to joining MFH, Ryan worked at The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati focusing on program evaluation and grantmaking in the area of severe mental illness. Before entering the foundation world, Ryan was a clinical social worker with runaway and homeless youth at social service agencies in Cincinnati, Ohio and Portland, Oregon.
Ryan obtained a Bachelor in Science from Xavier University, a Master in Social Work from the University of Cincinnati, and a Master in Public Policy Administration from the University of Missouri – St. Louis (UMSL). In 2014, Ryan received a Distinguished Alumni Award from UMSL in recognition of his career, service to the community, and to the PPA program.
Presentation(s):
Diverse Families: Cultural Competency in Working with LGBT Parents