Compassionate Minds – Sophia Ikura – Episode 6

In this episode, host Helen Angus, CEO of AMS Healthcare, speaks with Sophia Ikura.

Sophia is the founder and Executive Director of Health Commons, a pioneering organization dedicated to addressing health disparities by combining the tools of a diverse set of disciplines from epidemiology to service design and political science to bring community-driven solutions into the health policy space.

With a robust background in senior executive roles within government, Crown Agencies, and politics, Sophia brings a wealth of experience to her leadership.

As the Senior Director of Strategy and Community Engagement for the Toronto Regional Health Authority (formerly the Local Health Integration Network), Sophia was instrumental in engaging health system leaders and diverse communities across a population of 1.2 million and a budget of $4.4B in healthcare investments. Her efforts informed strategic health system planning, bringing population health management approaches to help address equity gaps across the diverse communities of Toronto.

Sophia’s experience includes serving as a senior advisor to the Premier of Ontario and three Health Ministers over a five-year period. In these roles, she advised on critical matters such as health system funding reform, the provincial quality agenda, health human resources, public health, wait times management, home and community care, and hospital administration.

Prior to these roles, Sophia was the Director of the Nursing Secretariat, where she developed and implemented a four-year nursing human resource plan. This initiative guided $180 million in recruitment and retention activities, resulting in the creation of over 12,000 nursing positions across the health sector.

Sophia holds a Master of Public Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Queen’s University. Her academic background, combined with her extensive professional experience, equips her with a unique perspective on health system challenges and solutions.

Through Health Commons, Sophia is committed to amplifying community expertise and the wisdom that comes from lived experiences to develop practical, hyper-local solutions for equitable health outcomes. The lab integrates service design, community engagement, co-design, and policy expertise to create impactful health interventions.

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