Rachel Davis, Managing Director, MSW 
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Rachel Davis, Managing Director, has been with Prevention Institute since 1997, playing a key role in advancing the conceptual work of the organization. For the past ten years, Rachel has developed and overseen projects pertaining to preventing violence, community health and reducing inequity, health care reform, and mental health. She develops tools and materials to support local and state initiatives and trains government agencies, foundations, and community collaboratives across the United States. Rachel also oversees qualitative research and literature reviews and writes extensively. She speaks and consults nationwide on topics related to her fields.
Rachel serves as Project Director for UNITY (Urban Networks to Increase Thriving Youth through Violence Prevention), the Institute's CDC funded national initiative to strengthen and support the 45 largest U.S. cities in more effectively preventing violence. She also provided research, script development, facilitator training, and management expertise to the Institute's Partnerships for Preventing Violence satellite series, which trained over 15,000 leaders and practitioners across the country. Rachel has facilitated planning processes for various city and county governments, helping them to generate strategic action frameworks for preventing violence.
In the area of community health and reducing inequity, Rachel co-developed THRIVE (Toolkit for Health and Resilience in Vulnerable Environments), an interactive Web-based tool to help identify and foster factors in the community environment that will improve health outcomes and reduce inequity. Her findings were published in The American Journal of Public Health. Recently, Rachel co-authored A Time of Opportunity: Local Solutions to Reduce Inequities in Health and Safety for the Institute of Medicine Roundtable on Health Disparities. Rachel oversaw and reported on an 18-month community-driven livability initiative in Alameda County. She also serves on the advisory committee for California Children's Health Index. Some of the key writings she co-authored include Health for All: California's Strategic Approach to Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health and Good Health Counts, a review of community indicator reports published by The California Endowment.
Rachel has been involved in state and national level activity to ensure that health care reform incorporates a focus on and investment in primary prevention. In collaboration with The Urban Institute, Prevention Institute and The California Endowment developed Reducing Health Care Costs Through Prevention, which served as the centerpiece for a California state capitol briefing and has been a springboard for national efforts to document and advocate for the value of prevention.
Rachel has taken the lead in the Institute's mental health efforts. Drawing on her background in this area, she has documented the effectiveness of preventive and early intervention approaches and provided training and technical assistance for mental health program staff. She also facilitated a countywide planning process to develop a primary prevention framework for behavioral health. Rachel is the lead author of First Steps: Taking Action Early to Prevent Violence, which includes vignettes of evidence-based prevention and early intervention programs and closely examines mental health issues. Prior to joining Prevention Institute, Rachel had extensive experience as a social worker for the San Francisco Unified School District, where she developed and implemented prevention and intervention programs for health, mental health, and violence. Rachel also worked in a residential treatment facility with SED children. She received her MSW from UC Berkeley's School of Social Welfare.