Special Coffee Talk: Systems and Scale in Public Health

Speaker bio:

Niles Friedman is a global GovTech specialist and social impact advisor advancing public-sector innovation, actionable strategy, and global health. His work spans the U.S. federal government during the Obama Administration, state governments in California and Washington, Los Angeles County, municipalities across the United States and Europe, and health ministries throughout Africa.

Niles specializes in designing, building, and scaling social impact organizations and public institutions through collective partnerships with startup founders, C-suite executives, boards of directors, and public-sector leaders.

Niles began his career in healthcare consulting with Deloitte and The Advisory Board Company, where he advised healthcare organizations on strategy, growth, and operational improvement. He later served as Vice President of Commercial Market Development for a South African startup, helping drive business growth and launching a global division dedicated to expanding access to essential products and strengthening point-of-care service delivery through coalition-building across Europe and Africa.

During the Obama Administration, Niles served at the U.S. Small Business Administration, where he managed a governance board of 50 small business executives focused on increasing access to capital, fostering local entrepreneurial ecosystems, and addressing regulatory barriers to growth. He subsequently worked with the California Health and Human Services Agency to establish its first Office of Innovation, helping improve public service delivery through data-driven insights, human-centered design, and digital transformation initiatives.

Most recently, as a Founding Executive Advisor with a strategic advisory firm, he led partnerships with hundreds of executives and emerging leaders across government, philanthropy, nonprofit organizations, and academia, emphasizing strategic planning, executive advisory services, community-centered strategy development, governance, and leadership and organizational effectiveness.

As a leader, contributor, board chair, and speaker, he has become a respected voice in the global conversation about the future of GovTech and civic technology.

Zoom link to access Niles' session: (TBC)

Assigned Readings:

Optional Readings and Resources: