# Jane Garcia

> Jane Garcia has run La Clínica de La Raza since 1982, growing a scrappy storefront clinic in Oakland's Fruitvale into a $150M federally qualified health center serving more than 86,000 patients across Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano counties. She walked in as a Berkeley public health intern in 1978 and never left, building a Bay Area institution while suing two federal administrations over immigrant care.

- **Role:** Chief Executive Officer at La Clínica de La Raza
- **Organizations:** La Clínica de La Raza, California Primary Care Association (former President), The California Endowment (board), Alameda Alliance for Health (board), Oakland Thrives Leadership Council, East Bay Health Workforce Partnership
- **From:** El Paso, Texas, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BA, Yale University, MPH, UC Berkeley School of Public Health
- **Known for:** Grew La Clínica de La Raza from a $2M neighborhood project to a $150M+ organization with ~1,700 employees, Expanded service footprint to 35 sites across Alameda, Contra Costa, and Solano counties, Now serves 86,000+ patients and 328,000+ annual visits

## Career timeline

- **1978** — Joined La Clínica de La Raza as a student intern while at UC Berkeley
- **1980** — Earned MPH from UC Berkeley School of Public Health
- **1982** — Named Chief Executive Officer of La Clínica de La Raza
- **1987** — Received Common Cause Award for Public Service Achievement
- **1997** — Led successful challenge against the Wilson administration's defunding of Medi-Cal for pregnant undocumented immigrants
- **2004** — Received the YMCA Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Prize; inducted into Contra Costa Women's Hall of Fame
- **2007** — Received San Francisco Foundation Community Leadership Award
- **2008** — Inducted into Alameda County Women's Hall of Fame
- **2010** — Received Betsey K. Cooke Advocacy MVP Award from the National Association of Community Health Centers
- **2017** — Named Most Admired CEO by the San Francisco Business Times
- **2018** — Received the Most Influential Women in Business award
- **2019** — Led La Clínica's federal lawsuit against the Trump administration's 'public charge' rule
- **2020** — Named one of 16 women who changed public health by UC Berkeley; 'Trailblazer for Culturally Appropriate Clinical Care'
- **2021** — Public charge rule abandoned nationwide following La Clínica's suit

## Achievements

- Grew La Clínica de La Raza from a $2M neighborhood project to a $150M+ organization with ~1,700 employees
- Expanded service footprint to 35 sites across Alameda, Contra Costa, and Solano counties
- Now serves 86,000+ patients and 328,000+ annual visits
- Served an unprecedented three-year term as President of the California Primary Care Association
- Led legal action that blocked Pete Wilson's Medi-Cal restriction for undocumented pregnant women (1997)
- Filed the August 2019 lawsuit that secured preliminary injunctions against the federal public charge rule in California, Oregon, DC, Maine and Pennsylvania
- Named UC Berkeley School of Public Health 2019 Alumna of the Year

## Latest updates

- **2021-03** — Federal public charge rule formally abandoned, capping a multi-year court fight La Clínica led.
- **2020-01** — Named one of 16 Berkeley Public Health women who changed the field.

## Links

- Website: https://laclinica.org
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jane-garcia-771b24a
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/la_clinica_
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/pages/La-Cl%C3%ADnica-de-La-Raza/794584967248890

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/jane-garcia
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-30