Audrea Caesar is the inaugural chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer (CDEIO) for the UNC Healthcare system and the UNC School of Medicine. She is working to embed equity into the culture, policies, and practices to achieve a more inclusive organization while decreasing disparities in health. Audrea is a certified health education specialist (CHES) and a senior certified human resources professional (SHRM-SCP) who specializes in Leadership, Organizational Behavior, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Health Equity. With more than 20 years in the public sector, Audrea has served at the state, county, and city levels of government. Prior to UNC Health, she came to UNC Health from the City of Raleigh, where she created and led the city’s first Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. In this role, she developed Raleigh’s first racial equity action plan emphasizing workforce equity, police-community relations, business inclusion and community engagement, and served as an advisor to the Mayor and City Council on issues related to community health, social justice, and equity. Prior to her role in Raleigh, Audrea held several positions helping organizations better understand the social determinants of inequity. As director of community outreach and support for Union County’s Department of Health and Human Services, she founded the Union Health Equity Collaborative, which trained more than 150 providers and staff from Union County Public Health, Atrium Health Union, Novant Health, and members of the community on topics related to social determinants using Union County-specific data. Audrea has also worked in the provider network management arena as a medicaid ombudsman, assisting all medical provider types with billing, coding, and reimbursement.
