Nomsa Khalfani, PhD, is Chief Executive Officer of Essential Access Health (Essential Access), leading the organization’s vision, strategy, and overall performance in advancing a more just and accessible sexual and reproductive health care system. She sets strategic direction and ensures alignment across the organization, guiding how Essential Access delivers impact through its programs, partnerships, and influence.
Nomsa brings deep expertise in capacity building and systems change, working at the intersection of practice, policy, and lived experience. Through Essential Access’s work with provider networks in California and Hawai‘i—and in collaboration with partners nationwide—she helps translate on-the-ground learning into strategies that strengthen care delivery and expand access.
Before joining Essential Access, Nomsa held several leadership roles at St. John’s Community Health, a network of federally qualified health centers in Los Angeles County. She is an alumna of distinguished leadership programs, including the Southern California Coro Women in Leadership Program, the Blue Shield of California Foundation Clinic Leadership Institute Emerging Leaders Program, the Women’s Foundation California Dr. Beatriz María Solís Policy Institute, and the Executive Women’s Leadership Cohort.
Dr. Khalfani also contributes her expertise through multiple leadership and advisory roles. She currently serves as President of the Los Angeles City Health Commission, Board Chair of Community Asset Development Re-defining Education (CADRE), Treasurer of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, and as a member of the California Department of Public Health’s Office of Health Equity Advisory Committee.
In recognition of her leadership and impact, Dr. Khalfani has been named one of Southern California’s 50 Diverse Leaders and received the Maternal Justice Health Equity Award.
Dr. Khalfani earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Santa Cruz, a Master of Arts from Phillips Graduate Institute, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Public Service Leadership from Capella University.