Runway is designed to bring the energy and dialogue around social justice, equity, and inclusion on our campus directly to alumni and parents, providing you with runways to be change-makers at work, as volunteers, and at home with friends and family. Runway was founded in 2017 and in the past has been held as a sit down luncheon at the downtown Olympic Club (ticket price waived for any attendee who works in social justice).

2020 Runway Lecture
took place via Zoom on 
October 30, 2020
Find the video on the right side of this page ->

Advancing Health Equity
in the Time of Covid-19
a conversation with four
distinguished alumnx
who work in public health

Louise Aronson MD, MFA ’81 is a leading geriatrician, writer, educator, and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. The author of the New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize finalist Elderhood, she is a regular contributor to the New York Times and the New England Journal of Medicine among other publications. Recognition of Louise’s work includes a MacDowell fellowship, four Pushcart nominations, the American Geriatrics Society Clinician-Teacher of the Year award, and a Gold Professorship for Humanism in Medicine. 

Cynthia Brown MSN '91, SB '87, spent the first 18 years of her career working as an Advanced Practice Nurse in Pediatric primary care and hospice. It was there that she began interfacing with the foster care system both as a health care provider and then as a foster parent, herself.  Cynthia took a break from healthcare to pursue other interests and landed in a nonprofit serving women experiencing homelessness.  While in that nonprofit, she realized the gravity of the Public Health crisis facing King County’s most vulnerable population and decided to reenter the health profession as a administration. She is now the administrator at a large Public Health Center in East King County. Cynthia earned her BA in English/African American Studies from Wesleyan University and her MSN from Yale University School of Nursing.

Jeffrey Hom MD, MPH, MSHP '00 is a policy advisor in the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, where he provides guidance to the Health Commissioner on programs and policies related to the well-being of all Philadelphians. A board-certified internist, his current focus is on substance use, particularly issues around access to treatment and harm reduction.Jeff is a leader on the team working to open what would be the first sanctioned supervised injection site in the country, helping educate the public to understand that addiction is a medical problem, not a moral failing, and ensuring widespread access to naloxone, a life-saving medication that reverses opioid overdoses.

Tomás Magaña, MD, MA, FAAP '82 is a board-certified pediatrician with expertise in the care of vulnerable children and adolescents, including those impacted by the juvenile justice and foster care systems, immigration and community violence. Dr. Magaña is the founder and director of the award-winning FACES for the Future Coalition, a collaborative of national programs designed to prepare disadvantaged youth for entry into college and careers in the health professions. He is a lead physician in the Department of School-Based Health Centers at La Clínica de La Raza, Inc. where he serves the complex medical needs of diverse youth from Alameda County. He is also assistant professor/medical director in the Masters Physician Assistant Department at Samuel Merritt University and an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. Additionally, he is director of the UCSF Latinx Center of Excellence Aspiring Physicians Program at San Francisco State University.

Our moderator, Jen Rogers '91 is an award-winning anchor and financial reporter for Yahoo Finance. Before joining Yahoo, Jen worked for CNN and Reuters, covering some of the biggest business stories of our time and interviewing a who’s who of business leaders, including Warren Buffett, Elon Musk and Bill Gates. In 2011, Jen earned the Gracie Award for Best Online News Anchor.

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Past Runway Lecture Speakers

2019 Lareina Yee '91, P '21: Our topic is the power of inclusion at work, raising awareness on the subject of implicit bias in the workplace. From small slights to overt racism or sexism, we will explore the practices that help bring the best out of yourself, your team and community. No matter what your role, leading with inclusion matters.Determined to win the war for talent and gender parity, Lareina leads Women in the Workplace, a research partnership with LeanIn.org and the Wall Street Journal. She is also chief diversity and inclusion officer for McKinsey, and member of the global partnership service team.

2018 Louise (Davis) Langheier '99, Co-Founder and CEO of Peer Health Exchange, established in 2003. PHE’s mission is to empower young people with the knowledge, skills, and resources to make healthy decisions. They do this by training college students to teach a skills-based health curriculum in under-resourced high schools across the country.

2017 Ian Haney López is the Earl Warren Professor of Public Law at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class. Haney Lopez forcefully connects the growing racial divisions in society and the surging wealth inequality that hurts everyone. Haney Lopez is an engaging educator who has spoken at the Aspen Foundation, Commonwealth Club, National Press Club, and more. He spoke with University High School students following the election in November, 2016.