Dena Loijos, MPH is the Santa Cruz Community Health Centers’ Chief Strategy and Impact Officer.  As a Santa Cruz resident for 30 years, Dena is dedicated to the health and wellness of the residents of Santa Cruz County.  Prior to joining SCCHC, Dena worked for the Santa Cruz County Public Health Department for over 23 years.  She was responsible for the Agency’s Community Health Education Unit, which houses various prevention programs, including, Tobacco Control, Syringe Services, HIV/HCV Testing and Prevention, Nutrition Education, and Obesity Prevention, Traffic and Pedestrian Safety, Child Passenger Safety, Teen Health Outreach, and Teen Pregnancy Prevention.

She has demonstrated leadership in the area of health equities and social determinates of health.  For over five years, she represented the Health Department in the local health equities group and BARHII (Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative.)  Dena approaches program development and evaluation through foundational standard of health in all policies, health equities and social determinates of health, always looking for new ways to advance equity.