About
Julie Rooney, MPA is the Director of Communications for the Office of the California Surgeon General. A communications strategist with more than three decades of experience working in the private, nonprofit, and government sectors, she found her true calling when she joined the California Department of Public Health more than a decade ago to help launch the California Home Visiting Program. She has worked extensively on outreach and education for a variety of public health issues, including Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, perinatal health equity, Zika virus, and COVID-19. In 2021, she joined the Office of the California Surgeon General where she served as Communications Director for Dr. Nadine Burke Harris. Today she leads two workstreams that are part of the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, including the Safe Spaces trauma-informed training for early care and education sectors, which launched on July 12, 2023, and the ACEs and Toxic Stress public awareness campaign, which will launch in fall 2023. She also continues her role as Communications Director for the state’s current Surgeon General, Dr. Diana Ramos.