Project Team

J. Eugene Grigsby III, PhD, is President/CEO of the National Health Foundation a Los Angeles based organization that seeks to improve and enhance the health of the underserved by developing and supporting innovative programs that can become independently viable, provide systemic solutions to gaps in healthcare access and delivery and have the potential to be replicated nationally. Prior to assuming this position, Dr. Grigsby was a professor of urban planning and Director of the Advanced Policy Institute at UCLA’s School of Public Policy and Social Research. He also founded and was President of The Planning Group an urban planning and management consulting firm. Dr. Grigsby led consulting engagements for the UCLA Medical Center, the California Hospital Medical Center, and many other government and private sector clients throughout the United States and Canada. Dr. Grigsby is recognized nationally and internationally as an expert in urban development strategies, receiving awards from Stanford University, Occidental College, and The University of North Carolina.He has co-edited three books, Shaping A National Urban Agenda: The Role of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, Residential Apartheid: The American Legacy, and Regions That How Cities and Suburbs Can Grow Together, as well as a number of journal publications. As a past member of the Los Angeles Times Board of Advisors, Dr. Grigsby wrote a regular column on economic issues. Currently Dr. Grigsby is on the Board of the California Hospital Medical Center, Kaiser Foundation Health Plans and Hospitals, Inc., Occidental College, and WattsHealth Charities. Dr. Grigsby received his Ph.D. degree from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Heather M Kun, MS ScD is Vice President of Research and Evaluation at the National Health Foundation where she is responsible for overseeing the research and evaluation arm of the organization in addition to participating in development, operational and fundraising activities. She is currently overseeing all chronic disease management projects among others.

Prior to working for NHF, Dr. Kun was an epidemic intelligence service officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stationed in the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s Acute Communicable Disease Control Branch. She has also worked as a consultant for various private family foundations and has led and participated in multiple large scale quantitative and qualitative research projects specifically centered on immigrant health.

Dr. Kun received her Doctorate of Science (Sc.D) degree from the Harvard School of Public Health. Her dissertation work addressed health status and access to healthcare of farmworkers living along the eastern Mexico-California border. Dr. Kun also holds an M.S. degree in Environmental Science and Management from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a B.A. in Biology and Environmental Sciences from Yale University.

Kelly Bruno is an experienced social service & health care executive, with over 15 years of service in the non-profit industry. Currently the Vice President of Programs for the National Health Foundation (NHF), Ms. Bruno designs, develops and implements programs that focus on healthcare system delivery change and insuring the uninsured population. Currently, in response to patient dumping concerns in Los Angeles, Ms. Bruno is leading a collaborative effort with the County of Los Angeles, public and private hospitals, and other local organizations to double the number of recuperative care beds available to homeless patients discharged from hospitals needing aftercare.

Prior to joining NHF, Ms. Bruno was Vice President at ONEgeneration; a national model of intergenerational shared-site programming that joins adult daycare for frail seniors with childcare for children ages 6 weeks to 6 years. In addition to managing the operations for these licensed and accredited programs, Ms. Bruno collaborated with researchers at both Penn State University and Virginia Tech to conduct, publish and present research studies confirming the benefits of this program for young children and persons with memory disorders. Under Ms. Bruno’s administration, this intergenerational program garnered national attention, receiving coverage on “Good Morning America” and “The Today Show.” Over the course of her 10 years at ONEgeneration, Ms. Bruno promoted the adoption of and was a staunch advocate for intergenerational programs. She has consulted across the country for universities, researchers, advocate organizations and services providers on the design, implementation and evaluation of such programs. Furthermore, she has published articles in the American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias, Journal of Applied Gerontology, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, and Activities Directors’ Quarterly, and been an invited presenter at numerous conferences across the country.

In addition to her career in the nonprofit industry, Ms. Bruno has committed much of her personal time to serving on volunteer boards for other nonprofit organizations such as Tierra del Sol Foundation, Santa Clarita Valley Youth Project, Accredited Home Health Foundation and Santa Clarita Valley Domestic Violence Center.

Ms. Bruno is trained in both gerontology and early childhood education, has her Masters degree in Social Work from California State Long Beach as well as a California Nursing Home Administrators license