Dr. Sachs has extensive experience in public policy and public finance. From 1978-1983 he served as senior health and human services advisor to New York Governors Hugh L. Carey and Mario Cuomo. He supervised state agencies including the Departments of Health, Mental Health, Mental Retardation, Alcohol and Drug Abuse, and Social Services. He was a major contributor to New York’s hospital cost containment program and a leader in the effort to provide community care as an alternative to institutions for the State’s citizens with disabilities.

Following President Clinton’s election in November 1992, Dr. Sachs served on the Presidential Transition Team as the Executive Coordinator for the transition areas involving the Departments of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development and Veterans affairs.

Dr. Sachs is still actively involved in the development and implementation of domestic social policy affecting people who are disadvantaged and disabled. He recently worked with the United States Department of the Treasury and the State of New York to implement the part of the Trade Adjustment Act that provides health care tax credits to displaced workers. He served as a member of Governor Pataki’s Medicaid Task Force and is advisor to Governor Arnold Schwartzeneggar.

Dr. Sachs has worked with numerous hospital systems and health care organizations to resolve critical financial and management challenges. Dr Sachs has demonstrated a unique ability to distill and reduce complex regulatory and reimbursement challenges into problems that are solved within incredibly short time horizons.

Dr. Sachs currently serves as president of Reaching Up. Inc., a not-for-profit organization he was instrumental in developing. Founded in 1985 by John F. Kennedy, Jr., Reaching Up works in close cooperation with the John F. Kennedy Jr. Institute for Worker Education, the City and State Universities of New York and many New York State based labor unions. Reaching Up was designated by the U.S. Congress as a national model for its innovative work in creating educational opportunities to help advance the careers of direct care workers. The project focuses on workers providing direct care to individuals within the health care system including persons with mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

Dr. Sachs is a founding director and officer of HELP USA (Housing Enterprises for the Less Privileged), a not-for-profit organization started in 1987. HELP USA is an innovative non-profit corporation that builds transitional housing and provides on site services and training programs serving hundreds of thousands of homeless and jobless families throughout the United States since its inception. He was particularly involved with the development of an innovative finance mechanism that combined publicly and privately issued financial instruments.

Dr. Sachs sits on a number of voluntary boards including, The Wildlife Conservation Society, The Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, the Leonardo DiCaprio Environmental Foundation and The Creative Coalition. In addition, he serves as an advisor to many educational and social not-for-profit agencies in the New York area.

Dr. Sachs was educated at the State University of New York at Stony Brook where he was awarded Bachelor of Arts and Doctor of Dental Surgery degrees. He is an avid runner and resides in New York City.