Our Team
FQA Institute for Social Impact is a non-profit consulting firm that focuses on addiction. We help SUD organizations design and scale solutions, by developing effective strategies, optimizing processes, and fostering connection across the system. We are experienced healthcare leaders who want to create sustainable change in the addiction ecosystem.
OUR STORY
40M
People living with SUD in the United States
95K
Preventable deaths from causes related to excessive alcohol use
10%
People with SUD get the treatment they need
Despite ample financial resources, deep knowledge of the healthcare system and a large network of medical and behavioral resources, our founder Vijay Murugappan lost the mother of his children, and a caring pediatrician, to years of mental illness, addiction and associated complications.
Addiction can have devastating effects on individuals and families, but also have the power to destabilize societies as a whole. According to the Pew Research Center, almost half of U.S. adults say they have a close friend or family member that is addicted to drugs or was in the past. Billions of dollars are spent by governments, non-profits and social enterprises to address this second leading cause of avoidable deaths, yet they remain largely intractable with only modest return. Vijay, like millions of others, faced many challenges:
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Finding the right care for an individual and their family and sustaining recovery
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Feeling as though the different parts of the system (e.g., treatment, payers) are not talking with each other to coordinate a response
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Not understanding all the treatment options, such as medications for AUD and OUD
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Needing direction on how to best support a loved one, without enabling behavior.
OUR HISTORY
Personal experiences with mental illness, substance use disorder (SUD), disability inclusion and other social issues motivated our founding team to seek a new approach.
Vijay Murugappan
Co-Founder & Board Chair
Vijay is an inspirational leader with over 23 years of experience in strategy, sales, analytics, operations, and consulting roles in a variety of industries. He is also the Managing Partner and CEO of FQA, a strategy and performance consulting firm. He has held leadership positions at HCSC as well as being a partner at Deloitte, IBM, and PwC.
Caitlin Powers, MPH
Co-Founder & Executive Director
Caitlin brings a public health background and a passion for supporting people with SUD and their loved ones. She has extensive experience developing strategies to improve access and affordability and affordability of care. Before joining FQA Institute, she led the disability inclusion program at Northwestern Medicine and managed strategy and process improvement projects at HCSC.
Sanjana Shenoy, MPP
Associate
Sanjana is public policy professional with experience in operations and research, primarily in start-ups. She brings a passion for problem solving and developing novel solutions. Sanjana is a former educator with experience leading non-profit projects in community literacy and child welfare, in addition to her work in business.
Have a project in mind?
Write to us at contact@fqainstitute.org.
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