State Based Experience
OUR
VISION
Blend winning campaign concepts with policy and funding expertise to create and deliver healthcare solutions that advance equity, improve access and create sustainable funding. We believe Medicaid is the connecting force that links our nation’s low-wage workers, under-resourced populations and the underinsured to the critical care they deserve. When Medicaid is leveraged, healthcare advocates are engaged, providers and payers thrive, policies succeed, and human rights are realized.
Improve the lives of people in under-resourced communities by delivering unique and innovative healthcare solutions with integrity and intention. Whatever your starting point, we connect stakeholders to secure Medicaid funding, activate positive change and pave the way for affordable, accessible, quality equitable care – for patients and workers across the nation.
OUR
MISSION
OUR STORY
At DIRA, we share a passion for progress. We believe that healthcare is a human right and a central issue in this country. Today, the healthcare system is plagued with health inequities, particularly for under-resourced communities, including communities of color, women and low-income populations. We strive to deliver concrete solutions that strengthen existing healthcare structures to meaningfully improve people’s lives.
We are a women-owned partnership with over two decades of experience blending winning campaign concepts with policy and funding expertise to deliver better, more equitable and sustainable healthcare solutions for under-resourced populations - including communities of color, women and low-income populations. We founded DIRA after working together in the world of Medicaid financing, low-income communities, labor and campaign strategy.
Since the beginning, our missions have been inextricably linked to a greater purpose: an unquenchable passion for progress combined with an innate desire to serve others and make a meaningful contribution to under-resourced communities.
Today, we concept, craft, design and finance healthcare solutions with integrity and impact. Whether testifying in front of legislative hearings, providing background to a state governor’s team, working with elected officials to advance healthcare training solutions to increase workforce capacity (from high school apprenticeships to master’s graduate problems), enhancing insurance coverage, or securing millions of new federal Medicaid funding to improve health equity and access, DIRA Partners empowers clients to achieve things they didn’t know were possible.
MICHELE MCGINN
FOUNDING PARTNER
Michele dreams without limits. With just the seed of an idea, Michele brings the passion and the vision to make it a reality. She has a well-honed talent for tending these seeds and bringing people together to envision a garden.
Importantly, Michele doesn’t stop there. She delivers more than just a concept. She rolls up her sleeves and tends it all along the way – from idea generation to implementation.
Michele is relentless about identifying and testing ideas and then figuring out how to provide the necessary resources and expertise to drive progress.
With nearly two decades of experience in healthcare and campaigning, Michele is passionate about improving healthcare for our most vulnerable populations while simultaneously strengthening the system for providers, workers, government payers and stakeholders. Michele’s ability to frame a vision and move people to action is key to helping her clients get their win.
NANCY ENRIGHT
FOUNDING PARTNER
Nancy is a problem solver at her core. She infamously grabbed a Rubik’s Cube from a client’s desk and solved it while offering ideas to the client. But Nancy isn’t just interested in solving any problem – she solves problems with a purpose.
Having started her career as an engineer in research and development, Nancy realized that she was most energized by her work advancing women in engineering. She soon left to work on campaigns, but never left behind her engineering mindset.
Nancy uses an analytical yet visionary framework as she tackles situations. Once there is a spark of the idea, she surrounds herself with the facts and details in order to envision a narrative while checking in with the political reality. She uniquely distills complex technical ideas to help others see a solution.
No matter the topic – Nancy solutions to develop the path forward. She uses her curiosity to learn more about how systems currently work and iteratively design solutions in the context of continual change to help her clients get their win.
JILL TANEM
WORKFORCE DIRECTOR
Jill thrives on empowering people to tap into their strengths, values and ambitions. She has a unique ability to identify what motivates others, while also recognizing that existing structures often prohibit a person from stepping into their full selves. Jill envisions a future in which structures are equitably designed to provide all individuals access to healthcare, good jobs and ultimately, fulfilling their lives.
With a career grounded in people-oriented roles, Jill brings a human-centered approach to understanding both the problem and the system in which it resides. She lives in the details, leaning on people’s stories to understand the nuances of how data drives a potential solution impacting a community’s access to healthcare.
Jill’s ability to break down processes and information in conjunction with her determined passion for continuous improvement, not only for herself but for the individuals and structures around her, enables her to make a meaningful impact and help her clients get their win.
DIRA MEANING
Drawing from Nancy’s Vietnamese heritage, the name DIRA (pronounced Dee-Rah) is an interpretation of a Vietnamese phrase meaning “go forward.” True to our name, our approach is nimble, responsive, boldly honest and human centric — adapting readily to political circumstances, staying alert and charting a new path forward.
Building on our rich history as colleagues and friends, DIRA speaks to our values.
The buffalo is a nod to Michele’s family farm in Kansas that was started 150 years ago. The buffalo of the Plains is a sign of hope and positive transformation.