Dr Michael PAINTER

Managing Director, Programs, Nia Tero

Physician, attorney, and advocate for a healthy future for all, Michael Painter was a senior program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation from 2005 to 2020. To Michael, a healthy future is one where humans thrive in harmony with all living things and serve as sacred protectors of our home. He and his colleagues have scoured the nation and the world looking for great ideas that can help build that just and equitable future on a warming planet. In 2003-2004, Painter was an RWJF Health Policy Fellow with Senator William H. Frist, MD, then Majority Leader. Prior to that, he was the chief of medical staff at the Seattle Indian Health Board, a community health center serving urban American Indians and Alaska Natives. Michael holds a JD from Stanford Law School and an MD from University of Washington. Michael is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.