Zachariah Hennessey

Zach Hennessey joined PHS in 2017 as Vice President of Neighborhood Health to lead PHS’ community work — including development, quality and evaluation, budget setting, knowledge management, and all internal and external relationship management. In 2021 he was named Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer to lead PHS’ innovative work to develop trustworthy and reliable pathways between healthcare systems, managed care organizations and community resources that advance health equity. In this role he is responsible for developing strategic partnerships across sectors and deploying innovative uses of technology to build community resilience in the wake of COVID-19.
Zach is a health and human services leader with more than 15 years’ experience partnering with NYC communities to advocate for just policies, secure critical resources, leverage innovation, and create opportunities that advance health and health equity. Prior to PHS, he served as Assistant Vice President for Community and Population Health at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center and co-directed the Special Projects Division of the Spencer Cox Center for Health at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, New York’s largest Designated AIDS Center. In these hospital leadership positions, he he worked to build community partnerships and preventive services into clinical care. Zach has also served as a consultant to a broad range of community-based organizations. He leads the NYC COVID-19 Rapid Response Coalition, serves on the Board of the Ridgewood, Queens YMCA, and previously served on the Mayor’s HIV Planning Council and the New York State LGBT Health and Human Services Network. He holds a Masters in Developmental Psychology from Teacher’s College, Columbia University, and was a Johnson & Johnson Undergraduate Research Fellow and Henry Rutgers Scholar at Rutgers College.