About

Meet The Team

Our consultants provide an unmatched level of engagement and understanding of nonprofit needs and goals. Get to know us and how we can help your organization fulfill its mission.

Rachel Sacks, MPH

PRESIDENT

Rachel brings to LHF more than 15 years of experience in the public health and nonprofit health sector. She helps clients conceptualize, define, and actualize new ideas for grant opportunities and partnerships, and is adept at translating complex scientific, medical, and policy information into easily understandable language for lay audiences. Rachel is also a skilled facilitator who regularly leads state and local planning processes and has presented at national conferences.

Rachel’s work with organizations and stakeholders across the healthcare field has provided her with a broad perspective on the challenges and opportunities the sector faces. Her prior work has included roles at the Illinois Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Chicago Department of Public Health, and the Center for Jewish Genetics. Rachel graduated Cum Laude from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Science in Human Culture, and holds a Master of Public Health from UIC.

Lauren Knap, MS

CONSULTANT

In her decade as a consultant to nonprofits, Lauren has coordinated complex projects and interfaced directly with organizational leadership to ensure the on-time and on-budget delivery of needs assessment, grant acquisition, and strategic planning projects. She specializes in data collection and analysis, be that grant prospecting for specific programs or broader organization goals, or analyzing health indicators and demographic trends to inform organizational decision making.

Previously, Lauren held positions in the education sector, teaching 5th grade in a low-income, underserved school in Charlotte, North Carolina, and serving as Program Manager and Lead Teacher with In Search of Genius in Chicago. Lauren graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education and Philosophy from Illinois Wesleyan University, and completed her Master’s in Nonprofit and Non-Governmental Organization Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania.

Our History

Leading Healthy Futures was founded by Pamela Xichel Cairns, MHA, in 2011. Known for her ability to define and lead strategies that stand the test of time, Pam’s inspiring leadership, skilled facilitation, and creative approaches to solving complex problems helped countless health and human services organizations chart successful futures. Pam’s 35-year track record of success in executive leadership, grants management and fundraising, governance, and operations improvement included serving as President and CEO of Erie Family Health Center – one of Chicago’s largest Federally Qualified Health Centers – and leading the formation of several multi-organizational collaborations and strategic alliances that are still active to this day.

In 2018, Leading Healthy Futures’ service line transitioned to the leadership of Rachel Sacks as part of Henry Street Solutions, Inc. Both Rachel Sacks and Lauren Knap previously worked under Pam’s expert guidance for years, and were mentored in providing this unique brand of creative and high quality consulting services to health and human service nonprofits.

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Email us at info@leadinghealthyfutures.com