Anton Gunn
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Anton J. Gunn (born March 1, 1973), a healthcare consultant and former American politician, is the former head of the Office of External Affairs at the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is " ...
under Secretary
Kathleen Sebelius Kathleen Sebelius (; née Gilligan, born May 15, 1948) is an American businesswoman and politician who served as the 21st United States secretary of Health and Human Services from 2009 until 2014. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sebeli ...
.Director of External Affairs , HHS.gov
In January 2014, he stepped down to return to the private sector as a consultant, health care entrepreneur and professional speaker. Gunn played a role in the implementation of the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presi ...
, also known as “Obamacare”. In January 2015, Gunn assumed the position of Executive Director of Community Health Innovation and Hospital
Chief Diversity Officer The chief diversity officer (CDO) is an organization’s executive level diversity and inclusion strategist, whose job may include, but is not limited to, addressing discrimination in the workplace, launching initiative to change organizational cul ...
at the
Medical University of South Carolina The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) is a public medical school in South Carolina. It opened in 1824 in Charleston as a small private college aimed at training physicians and has since established hospitals and medical facilities acr ...
. Since 2018, he also serves as co-chair of the Health Care Voter campaign.


Personal life

Anton J. Gunn was born in
Portsmouth, Virginia Portsmouth is an independent city in southeast Virginia and across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,915. It is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Naval M ...
, on March 1, 1973. He attended
Kempsville High School Kempsville High School is a comprehensive public high school for students in grades 9–12 in the Virginia Beach City Public Schools system. In the western section of the city, the Kempsville High School covers approximately 12 sq. miles and dr ...
in
Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...
. Gunn is a graduate of the University of South Carolina (USC) where he played
American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
for the South Carolina Gamecocks. He also earned a master's degree from USC's College of Social Work. Gunn's younger brother Cherone L. Gunn was killed on 12 October 2000, in an
Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
terrorist attack on the . Gunn attributes the tragedy of the USS ''Cole'' bombing with sparking his activism into electoral politics. He currently resides in
Columbia, SC Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...
with his wife, Tiffany & daughter, Ashley.


Early years

After finishing his football career at the University of South Carolina, Gunn worked as a community organizer and a nonprofit executive for twelve years in South Carolina and
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
before getting involved in politics.
Peter Dreier Peter Dreier is an American urban policy analyst, author, Modern liberalism in the United States, liberal commentator and college political science professor. He is the Dr. E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics at Occidental College in Lo ...
listed Gunn as one of the 50 Young Progressive Activists Who Are Changing America. Gunn was the political director for
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
's 2008 presidential primary campaign in South Carolina. Gunn also served as a delegate to the
2008 Democratic National Convention The 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform and officially nominated its candidates for president and vice president. The conventi ...
in
Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
. On November 4, 2008, Gunn defeated David Herndon by a 54-46 margin to fill a state legislative seat vacated by Bill Cotty. He was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives, serving District 79 which included parts of Richland and Kershaw Counties. Gunn was the first
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
to be elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives from District 79.


South Carolina House of Representatives

Gunn was sworn in as a State Representative on December 12, 2008, becoming the first African American to represent District 79 (Richland & Kershaw counties). In his first year in office, Gunn sponsored or co-sponsored 204 pieces of legislation. Gunn engaged on policy issues with relevance to South Carolina—he joined the education superintendent in pushing for public "school choice," against some in his own party as well as Republicans who wanted to privatize the whole system. He also signed on to a letter to Obama from young elected officials calling for a climate deal. His leadership strategy proved successful in the 2010 state budget fight where Gunn managed to pass an amendment focused on government transparency, a difficult feat even for Republicans. Gunn served on the Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs committee in the House where his subcommittee assignment was Medical Affairs, Children Affairs and Social Services. Rep. Gunn provided a key leadership role on all health care-related legislation assigned to the committee. He was the author and lead sponsor of legislation creating the General Assembly’s first and only Joint Electronic Health Information Study Committee to examine the feasibility of increasing the use of Health Information Technology and Electronic Personal Health Records in South Carolina. Gunn announced on August 13, 2010, that he would not seek re-election to his House seat to accept a presidential appointment as Regional Director at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services in the Obama Administration.


United States Department of Health and Human Services

On August 13, 2010, President Barack Obama appointed Gunn to serve under Health and Human Services Secretary
Kathleen Sebelius Kathleen Sebelius (; née Gilligan, born May 15, 1948) is an American businesswoman and politician who served as the 21st United States secretary of Health and Human Services from 2009 until 2014. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sebeli ...
as Regional Director of the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is " ...
for Region IV which includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Gunn served as the senior member of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Regional Office in the Southeastern United States. Gunn represented the Secretary in direct official dealings with State, Local and Tribal government organizations by establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with Governors, Mayors, and other key State, local and Tribal officials. Gunn provided guidance and coordination to the efforts of HHS-Intergovernmental & External Affairs (IEA) staff in dealings with Federal and non-Federal government officials. As Regional Director, Gunn served as a presenter to business and organizations on the provisions of the Affordable Care Act. His presentations were often focused on explaining the provisions of the Affordable Care Act to interested parties. Gunn participated in an Affordable Care Act community forum in Jackson, Mississippi where he explained the law to Mississippians. On April 4, 2012, Secretary Sebelius appointed Gunn to be the Director of External Affairs in the Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs (IEA) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As Director of External Affairs, Mr. Gunn served as the senior official in the Obama Administration with responsibility for advising President Barack Obama and Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on engagement strategies to implement the Affordable Care Act. He also developed and maintained relationships with external stakeholders for Secretary Sebelius. Mr. Gunn represented the Secretary in direct official dealings with national, state, and local external organizations. Gunn was featured in a series spotlighting African Americans who are playing an integral part in implementing the historic Affordable Care Act. In the series published by the Black AIDS Institute, Gunn explained his role as the Director of External Affairs, "My job is to find people outside of government who want to help implement the law, and make sure I provide them with the information and the tools necessary to help us make sure the law is effective. My job is to ensure that I build strategic partnerships and alliances with those outside entities so that we can deliver on all of the promises that the Affordable Care Act frames for people." In June 2013, Gunn was featured in The Hill.com as one of '10 Players to Watch on Obamacare Rollout' because of his role maintaining good relationships between the Obama administration and powerful healthcare interest groups, many of which have become restless as the law’s enactment sees challenges. The Hill.com also featured Gunn in their list of 2013 People to Watch This Fall.


Career after the Obama administration

In January 2014, Gunn founded 937 Strategy Group, a national healthcare management consulting firm that provides advice and services to healthcare technology startups and other businesses looking to capitalize on financial opportunities resulting from healthcare reform. He has been a continued advocate of the Obama healthcare policy, stating to ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' in October 2014 "The program has turned a corner", stating that as of that month about ten million individuals were covered by the program. In July 2014, Gunn was named a Fall 2014, Resident Fellow, at the
Harvard Institute of Politics The Institute of Politics (IOP) is an institute of Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University that was created to serve as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy, as well as to inspire Harvard undergraduates to consider careers in politi ...
in the
John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...
at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
. Gunn and other Resident Fellows will interact with students; develop and lead weekly study groups; and will participate in the intellectual life of the Harvard community. The Institute of Politics was established in 1966 as a memorial to President
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...
and aims to inspire undergraduates to consider careers in politics and public service. In August 2014, Gunn was named the Executive Director of Community Health Innovation and Chief Diversity Officer for the
Medical University of South Carolina The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) is a public medical school in South Carolina. It opened in 1824 in Charleston as a small private college aimed at training physicians and has since established hospitals and medical facilities acr ...
. His position started in January 2015. In January 2021, Gunn left MUSC Health to expand 937 Strategy Group, a leadership training and management consulting company with a mission to serve 10,000 leaders and at least 10,000,000 employees they lead as they build a workplace culture where every employee and customer feels visible, valued, respected, included and empowered. Gunn's focus of fixing the toxic workplace culture in the American healthcare led to his recognition by Fierce Healthcare as one of the Most Influential Minority Executives in Healthcare The publication quoted Gunn saying, "The biggest problem in healthcare is toxic workplace culture. A toxic culture characterized by unfairness, incivility, and mistreatment is destroying the morale of America's healthcare workers. I have seen it spread like aggressive cancer throughout multiple organizations. Global pandemics, structural racism, civil unrest, economic calamity, and other damaging events are compounding the toxicity in the healthcare workplace. This results in low engagement, low productivity, high turnover, and incivility. A recent survey of 10,000 doctors-in-training found one in three had either witnessed or been targeted by toxic behavior in the workplace in the last 12 months. “According to SHRM, American employers lost $223 billion over five years due to toxic workplace culture. We have to end injustice in the workplace and recreate the environment that builds a world-class culture with diverse, high-performing teams and great leaders that everyone can admire. This environment will lead to higher engagement, increased productivity, and a culture that will inspire leaders to focus on the real mission, improving the health, safety, and well-being of patients, families, and communities.”.


Bibliography

* Zimbalist, A. "Unpaid Professionals: Commercialism and Conflict in Big-Time College Sports", Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999. pp. 40; *Gunn, Anton J. ''The Audacity of Leadership: Ten Essentials To Becoming A Transformative Leader In The 21st Century'', Authorhouse (August 24, 2009); *'' The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama.'' New York: Knopf, 2010. pp. 496–503 *Scales, T. Laine, et al. "Social Environments and Human Behavior : Contexts for Practice with Groups, Organizations, Communities, and Social Movements", Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole, 2011. pp. 170–175; *Gunn, Anton J. ''The Presidential Principles: How to Inspire Action and Create Lasting Impact, Advantage Media (September 11, 2018)'' *Gunn, Anton J. ''Just Lead: 44 Actions to Break Down Barriers, Boost Your Retention and Build a World-Class Culture, 937 Strategy Group (September 15, 2022)''


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunn, Anton J. 1973 births Living people Democratic Party members of the South Carolina House of Representatives University of South Carolina alumni South Carolina Gamecocks football players 21st-century American non-fiction writers American political writers American male non-fiction writers Medical University of South Carolina faculty African-American state legislators in South Carolina 21st-century American male writers Working Families Party politicians 21st-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American people African-American male writers