Senior Policy Advisor

• Marylou Sudders served as Secretary of Health and Human Services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from 2015-2023 under Governor Charlie Baker. As the Commonwealth’s longest-serving Secretary, Sudders oversaw 12 state agencies and the MassHealth program, with a budget of over $27 billion and 22,000 public employees, leading programs that provide treatment, care, and support to one in every three Massachusetts residents. Her many accomplishments include overhauling Medicaid into a population-based health program, negotiating two multi-billion-dollar Medicaid demonstration waivers, instituting systemic child welfare reforms, spearheading significant investments in behavioral health, including the implementation of the Behavioral Health RoadMap, and resolving two longstanding judicial consent decrees involving children’s mental health and acquired brain injury services. Sudders also chaired the state’s marketplace for health and dental insurance and served on the Commonwealth’s Health Policy Commission as an inaugural member.Sudders never forgets that behind those numbers are the lives of individuals, families, and communities in need of respect and support. She is a social worker committed to the health and well-being of Massachusetts residents, including addressing equity and reforming behavioral health care. Sudders led the state’s COVID-19 pandemic response and advanced critical public health interventions and human service strategies to meet the needs of all Massachusetts residents. According to The Commonwealth Fund’s 2022 Scorecard on State Health Performance, Massachusetts and Hawaii vastly surpassed all other states in its COVID response.  

  Sudders has been a highly impactful leader in both the public and private sectors, including serving as the Massachusetts Commissioner of Mental Health, a non-profit CEO, and associate professor and program chair at Boston College’s School of Social Work.