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Lynn Knox

Lynn Knox began her career as a State Coordinator for George McGovern’s presidential campaign, and she progressed to become one of the only women on Jimmy Carter’s National Advance team. From there, she joined the Massachusetts Department of Public Health as public affairs director under Dr. Johathan Fielding, a pioneer in identifying the social determinants of health. Moving back to Kansas where she graduated from college, Lynn worked as an assistant to Gov. John Carlin, became director of the Midwest Corrections Reform Program and eventually director of the ACLU for Kansas and Missouri. Kaiser Permanente brought Lynn, her husband, Howard, and two sons to Oregon as special projects manager, where she developed a health education theater program and the Health Options for Teens  program. Lynn next worked for the City of Portland, where she led the development and implementation of the Portland Economic Opportunity Initiative for 10 years, using a wrap-around services model focused on job training or micro-enterprise development to lift over 3,000 residents out of poverty. In 2014, Lynn moved to the Oregon Food Bank as State Health Care Liaison working with large health systems and small clinics to facilitate their development of interventions and policies to address food insecurity and other social determinants with their patients. Currently, Lynn heads a consulting firm, Social Determinant Solutions, working with community organizations and the Oregon Health Authority to implement programs addressing the social needs and inequities which drive poor health.