About Us
My name is Dr. Zachary Travis. I’m a professor of medical science education and public health at Western University of Health Sciences, where I also serve as the Humanism Officer for the College of Health Sciences across our Pomona, California and Lebanon, Oregon campuses. I hold a PhD from Loma Linda University, where my doctoral dissertation focused on traumatic brain injury, and an MPH in Health Policy and Administration from California Baptist University.
Kevin Alvillar and I met during our MPH program at California Baptist University. From the beginning, we connected through a shared passion for community-rooted work and place-based public health. Kevin earned his undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies with a minor in Feminist Studies from UC Santa Barbara. He now serves as a Senior Healthcare Administrative Service Analyst at Riverside University Health System, where he focuses on improving systems that serve vulnerable populations.
Both of us were raised in Southern California, and we are deeply committed to supporting the regions we came from. We believe real change starts locally, with leaders who are personally invested in the well-being of their communities.
Our Policy Proposal
After completing the Randall Lewis Health & Policy Fellowship, Kevin and I responded to the 2025 Policy and Innovation Challenge hosted by Partners for Better Health. Our project focused on recovery and rebuilding after the devastating January 2025 wildfires in Los Angeles County. We asked ourselves an important question: How can we rebuild in a way that not only addresses what was lost, but also prepares us for a healthier, more resilient future?
We believe that future rebuilding efforts must be bold, equity-centered, and grounded in long-term thinking. Inspired in part by Ezra Klein’s Abundance, we challenged the assumption that rebuilding should mean returning to what existed before. Our proposal outlined a strategy that integrates health infrastructure, affordable housing, environmental safety, and community leadership. We aimed to support recovery that does not just restore but transforms. The proposal was awarded second place in the Innovation Challenge and continues to inform our public health and policy work today.
Why the Fellowship Matters
The Randall Lewis Health & Policy Fellowship provided the foundation for everything that followed. It gave us mentorship, exposure to real-world public health work, and the space to test ideas that matter. The Fellowship helped us build confidence, form lasting partnerships, and approach policy and systems change from a deeply human perspective.
This Fellowship is critical not only because of the experience it offers, but because of the kind of leaders it helps shape. We are living in a time when health challenges are increasingly interconnected with housing, climate, infrastructure, and education. To address those challenges, we need thoughtful, collaborative leaders who can think across disciplines and act with urgency and care.
Those kinds of leaders do not just emerge on their own. They need to be nurtured, challenged, and supported. The Randall Lewis Health & Policy Fellowship does exactly that. It creates an environment where future leaders can grow, reflect, and build the tools they need to serve their communities with clarity and conviction.
Rosie Lewis is the Corporate Marketing Manager at The Lewis Group of Companies. A Claremont native who enjoys hiking, yoga, and developing her green thumb, Rosie also appreciates quality alone time to wrestle with existential questions because someone has to figure out why we’re all here pretending everything’s fine while our houseplants judge our life choices.