John Connolly serves as assistant commissioner for the Health Care Administration within the Department of Human Services. In this role, he leads the Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare programs, which provide health coverage for roughly 1 in 4 Minnesotans.
Prior to joining the Department of Human Services, John served as chief strategist for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, where he focused on leadership and advancement of Medicaid-funded services and programs, oversight of health facilities, homelessness and emergency response. Before that, he spent many years working in behavioral health in both state and county government, serving as deputy secretary for behavioral health for the California Health and Human Services Agency and director of the Substance Abuse Prevention and Control Division of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. John also served as deputy director of Insure the Uninsured Project, a nonprofit organization focused on expanding and improving health coverage in California, and as a senior policy analyst at the Kaiser Family Foundation. He began his career as a public middle school teacher.
John holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Chicago, a master’s degree in education from Bank Street College of Education and doctorate in health policy from Harvard University.
