Catherine Oakar

Special Assistant to the President for Community Public Health and Disparities

Catherine Oakar most recently served on the Biden-Harris Transition. She was also a Senior Advisor at Waxman Strategies consulting on public health, nutrition, and health care issues. During the Obama-Biden Administration, she served at the White House as the Associate Director of the Let's Move! initiative in the First Lady's office and as a Senior Advisor in the Office of National AIDS Policy. Oakar was also the Director of Public Health Policy in the Office of Health Reform at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She began her work in Washington, D.C. as a Winston Health Policy Fellow. She has also conducted community-based research with low-income cancer survivors and safety net clinics. Oakar graduated from the University of Notre Dame and the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She is originally from outside Cleveland, Ohio.