Kou Thao

Director of Embedding Equity American Medical Association

Kou Thao (he/him) is Director of Embedding Equity within the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Center for Health Equity. In this role he is responsible for internal systems transformation to embed racial justice and health equity throughout the AMA. Prior to his role at the AMA, Kou was Director of the Center for Health Equity at the Minnesota Department of Health, where he led the state’s COVID-19 equity strategy and operations. In that role he managed a team of 150+ staff and secured over $40 million to go directly to community-led organizations for COVID response. His career spans 15 years leading social and racial justice work across non-profit, philanthropic and government sectors around the country. Kou earned his Masters in Social Welfare from the University of Chicago and Masters in Psychology from Saint Joseph’s University. He is a 2013 Bush Fellow and a 2012 White House Champion of Change.