City of Phoenix Hires First Public Health Advisor

Phoenix City Manager Jeff Barton announced that Nicole Dupuis-Witt will join the City’s leadership team as its first Public Health Advisor on October 17.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, the City sought professional consulting services to assist with Phoenix’s public health efforts in response to the pandemic. This expertise proved beneficial in advising the City’s strategic approach to pandemic recovery and response, and emphasized the need to bring public health knowledge to the City on a permanent, full-time basis.

“The addition of public health expertise to our leadership team strengthens our ability to address public health needs across the City,” said City Manager Barton. “Public health is a central tenant to many of the City’s top priorities including heat response and mitigation, housing and homelessness, food systems, senior services, transportation and more. I am confident that Nicole’s experience and data-driven approach will further position Phoenix as a resilient and prosperous place to live, work and play.”

As Public Health Advisor, Dupuis-Witt will work closely with City departments towards the achievement of public health objectives and in support of City priorities. The advisor position was approved by Phoenix City Council in April 2022.

“I am incredibly excited to return to Arizona and join the team at the City of Phoenix. It is an honor and privilege to be selected to serve the City as its first Public Health Advisor,” said Nicole Dupuis Witt. “While COVID-19 will continue to be an important public health priority for the near future, I look forward to working with the community on other critical public health issues and the vision toward a healthier Phoenix.”

Dupuis-Witt brings more than 15 years of experience leading transformative health initiatives to Phoenix. She is known as a champion of equitable approaches to health services and multi-sector, multi-partner collaborations that improve health outcomes for diverse communities. Her extensive experience includes work in urban and rural districts across three countries, bridging local government, public health and nonprofit sectors.

Most recently, Dupuis-Witt served as the Chief Executive Officer for the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit in Ontario, Canada – a role she took on at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond COVID-19, she has also led comprehensive approaches to complex issues such as the opioid crisis, community food insecurity, mental health services and more.

Dupuis-Witt holds a master’s of public health degree from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro and an undergraduate degree in anthropology from Arizona State University.