“The strength of many communities comes from the good work of generations working to lessen the limitations previously put upon them.”

With more than 25 years of both government and corporate experience in global public health, Carmen Sachiko Villar said she views policy change as a cost-effective way to impact health equity.

“It’s imperative to bring diverse points of views to the table to prepare leaders, especially leaders of color, to fill roles that can work to change antiquated laws and regulations limiting access to health care,” she said.

Villar joined NMF’s Board of Directors more than six years ago as the vice president of social business innovation at Merck, after spending more than two decades with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including as Chief of Staff during the Obama administration.

Today, she is the vice president of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and corporate citizenship for Gilead Sciences, a biopharmaceutical research company focused on health issues such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C.

“I’ve come to realize that corporate America is not all the same,” Villar said. “And that where we come from says a lot about what we do and why we do it.”

Villar said her own background heavily influenced her career.

Her Japanese mother, born into a World War II internment camp, worked on farms growing up and fostered Villar’s sense of responsibility to the places and spaces humans take up.

Her Mexican father, raised by strong immigrant women, fostered Villar’s sense of commitment to her communities.

“I remember needing to go to the doctor with my great-grandmother to translate because we couldn’t find a Spanish-speaking physician. And as an adult, I thought, we still need more physicians of color in the U.S. medical system, and we need more who are interested in research and representing diverse points of views on boards.”

As a woman of color seeking a college education and career, Villar said her father was intentionally tough on her to make her understand she’d need to work harder and be more prepared than her peers.

“I spent a lot of my time in local campaign offices and community organizations giving back to neighbors,” she said.

In fact, Villar said she was nearly born during the Chicano Moratorium, where peaceful protests against the disproportionate number of Mexican American men being drafted into the Vietnam War turned violent in 1970 East Los Angeles.

“My parents left halfway through the march because my pregnant mother wasn’t feeling well,” she said. “You can understand why I would become interested in how other people’s histories have evolved and how it translates into what they do and think today.”

Villar studied cultural anthropology and ethnic studies as an undergraduate at UC Berkeley.

“Many cultures believe, practice, and teach their children, for example, that working hard will reap positive rewards, but when you actually lift your head up and see the rules and regulations put in place by a much different demographic, it makes it much more difficult for you to succeed.”

Villar began working as a legislative aide in the California Assembly and as a policy affairs coordinator for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation before earning her graduate degree in social welfare UC Berkeley.

“I then became a Presidential Management Fellow focused on policy and programming for HIV, STD, and tuberculosis prevention at the CDC, and found myself eventually moving to Zambia to tackle the AIDS crisis in Africa,” she said. “It became one of the best experiences of my life and career.”

Villar was part of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and continued her work with CDC as a key health advisor for both Ebola and Zika emergency responses during her tenure as Chief of Staff, earning her the Presidential Meritorious Rank Award.

Then, Dr. Julie Gerberding – the first female CDC director and, at the time, an executive vice president at Merck & Co., a biopharmaceutical company – recommended Villar interview for a job at Merck.

“I said to CEO Kenneth Frazier, who was then one of the four Black CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, that I wasn’t sure about leaving government service for the private sector,” Villar said. “And he said, ‘If you come here, you can do the same work with the full weight and resources of our company behind you.’”

Villar recalled a similar experience meeting Daniel O’Day, CEO of Gilead: “He shook my hand and said, ‘Thank you for trusting us.’

“A week later O’Day stood on stage at my first quarterly meeting and talked about the two main pillars of our work – scientific innovation and health equity – and that because of the spaces Gilead works in, our approach to development was unique.”

“He knew we needed feedback and input from the patients and communities directly impacted.”

Villar said her work is increasingly at odds with America’s current trend toward more individualistic attitudes.

“If you were brought up in affluence without ever needing to deal with racism, sexism, or any biases, you may not appreciate the importance of truly needing the support of a community in order to survive. It feels as though the wealth gap continues to create a similar gap in our humanity.”

Villar said quality education is key to continued exposure to possibilities and empathy across different life experiences.

“The things we need to do to attain our end goals of representation and policy change starts with early childhood development,” she added. “And when politicians say it’s not an educator’s job to teach certain subjects but rather the family’s, that hinders children with unique realities, like a single mother working three jobs, or living with a grandmother, who may lose access to diverse and critical information because there is no time or resources in which to receive or convey it.

“And when budgets tighten and we lose school subjects such as art, physical education, health, and field trips, we’ve lost incredible opportunities to teach one another something outside our own world views.”

Villar is also Co-Chair of the Board at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), with programming developed by and for communities in New Jersey that can benefit most from exposure to the Arts.

“NMF helps me fulfill my mission to social justice, and NJPAC helps me dedicate time to those in my own backyard.”

Both nonprofits are currently challenged with difficult social and political environments.

“But when this work gets hard, we should remember the progress we’ve made,” Villar said. “Resilience and creativity are key. The strength of many communities comes from the good work of generations working to lessen the limitations previously put upon them.

“Even when we feel like we’re stepping back, we must remember that tomorrow, we might take two steps forward.”