Pan, Kothari, Fanelli Among Governor Appointees

On Monday, Governor Gavin Newsom announced a series of appointments to leadership roles within the California Department of Public Health and the California Department of Social Services, among other agencies. The following officials were appointed:

Erica Pan, Deputy Director for the Center for Infectious Disease and California State Epidemiologist, CDPH – Erica Pan has been appointed as the California State Epidemiologist at CDPH. Pan has served as interim health officer and director of the Division of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention at the Alameda County Public Health Department since 2011. Dr. Pan was director of public health emergency preparedness and response at the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) in 2011 and director of the Bioterrorism and Infectious Disease Emergencies Unit at SFDPH from 2004 to 2011.

Chevon Kothari, Chief Deputy Director, California Department of Social Services (CDSS) – Chevon Kothari has been appointed CDSS Chief Deputy Director. Ms. Kothari has served as the director of the Mariposa County Health and Human Services Agency since 2018 and was director of the Mariposa County Human Services Department from 2014 to 2018. She was also principal consultant and owner of Capacity Consulting from 2008 to 2014 and executive director of the Alliance for Community Transformations from 2010 to 2014.

Susan Fanelli, Chief Deputy Director of Policy and Programs, California Department of Public Health (CDPH) – Susan Fanelli was reappointed to her role as Chief Deputy Director at CDPH, a position she has held since 2018. Ms. Fanelli served as acting director of CDPH in 2019 and held several other positions since 2004.

Jayanth Kumar, California State Dental Director, CDPH – Jayanth Kumar was reappointed to his role as the California State Dental Director, a position he has held since 2015. Dr. Kumar previously served in several roles at the New York State Department of Health between 1980 and 2015 and was an associate professor for the School of Public Health and New York state dental public health residency program director at the University of Albany.

The full announcement from the Governor’s Office is available here.