Anita Totten, an associate on the Public Health team at the Milken Institute, provides project and research support for the team’s chronic disease and prevention, mental health, and health equity strategic pillars of work. She actively champions the role of employers in whole-person health through projects that advance racial equity and mental health system changes, employer-sponsored insurance innovation, obesity care modernization, and investments in digital health for substance use disorders. Anita aided the Institute’s work on chronic kidney disease prevention and management and was a part of the team to put forth recommendations on public-private partnerships in public health.

Before joining the Milken Institute, Totten served in various nonprofit management positions in the social and human services field, where she gained expertise in streamlining activities and advancing healthier communities by building and leading plans in anti-poverty programs, disaster preparedness, federal nutrition programs, child abuse prevention, and workforce development. She completed a Master of Public Health from the University of West Florida and has received a BS in health science from the University of West Florida.