Heather Bates, MSW, ACC

Heather Bates comes to Transform Health with over 25 years of experience in the field of health policy program design, nonprofit capacity building, strategic planning, workforce development, and facilitation. In her role as the chief operations officer and vice president, Heather provides strategic leadership across all teams and oversees daily operations.

Heather began her career in direct service with the homebound aged population, eventually shifting towards policy and program design to focus on systems change. Since then, Heather has designed, developed, and led a variety of programming and facilitation efforts around the country centered on Medicare, Medicaid, and other health care programs. Heather coordinated the New York City State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) during Medicare Part D implementation. She has restructured several nonprofit and for-profit organizations to deploy data-driven approaches and ensure programmatic rigor.

In 2026, Heather was appointed to serve on a subcommittee for the California Elder and Disability Justice Coordinating Council (EDJCC) as part of the Master Plan on Aging, comprised of leaders from governmental, advocacy, and community organizations working to increase coordination throughout the state and develop recommendations to protect older adults, adults with disabilities, and their families.

Heather is an expert coach, mentor, trainer, and facilitator. She has helped numerous nonprofits and government institutions build their capacity, including state-based exchanges, primary care associations, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and nonprofits. Skilled in strategic planning, Heather has helped many C-Suite executives develop strategies to engage and motivate their staff to meet organizational goals.

An Ohio native, Heather obtained her bachelor’s degree from Ohio University and her master’s degree in social work from the New York City Hunter College School of Social Work. Heather is a certified coach with the International Coaching Federation.