Susan Choi

Susan Choi, senior program officer, joined the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) in 2022. Her work at RWJF seeks to advance leadership for social change, with a particular focus on supporting grassroots and community-based leaders striving for health equity and racial justice. In these efforts she draws upon her training as a social psychologist, background in research and evaluation, and experience working at the intersection of nonprofit, healthcare, and public health sectors. 

Prior to joining RWJF, Susan spent 10 years at the Health Care Improvement Foundation, a healthcare nonprofit based in Philadelphia. As the senior director of population health, she was instrumental in establishing a population health portfolio centered on critical community health needs, such as food security and health literacy. In this role, she was primarily responsible for designing and facilitating multi-stakeholder coalitions and collaboratives, with an approach that sought to more fully embody equity and trauma-informed principles with every group and every gathering. Her experience managing community health needs assessments, in particular, has given her a deep commitment to building respectful, authentic relationships with communities to realize their visions for health and wellbeing.  

Previously, Susan served as a research associate at the Cambridge Health Alliance and the Institute for Community Health. Her unique joint role enabled her to support community benefit efforts addressing language access, health disparities, and HIV care at a safety net hospital, while also conducting community-based participatory evaluation of health promotion programs.  

Susan earned her BA in psychology from Harvard College and PhD in social psychology from Harvard University.

When not working, Susan enjoys exploring all corners of her adopted hometown, Philadelphia, with her husband and friends. She serves on a number of nonprofit boards, which allows her to support causes close to her heart, including food access, immigrant health, and children’s mental health. She loves singing while playing the ukulele, conducting “research” for the perfect dumpling, and trying out new routes at the climbing gym.