I am Ali Kato, the founder of Kato Advisory, LLC, bringing more than 20 years of experience at the intersection of health care, policy, and operations. Before launching my firm, I served as Head of Managed Care: Health Plan Operations and Patients’ Rights at the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, where I built a new health plan operations unit from the ground up. I secured Board of Supervisors approval, hired and led a new team, and negotiated multi‑year contracts that reshaped financial responsibility structures under state requirements. I also managed a $69 million annual budget and oversaw authorizations for specialty mental health services, including eating disorder treatment, partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programs.

Concurrently, I served as Acting Division Chief, overseeing inpatient psychiatric hospital contracts with a $162 million budget. In this role, I led rate development and contract analyses for some of the highest‑acuity mental health populations in Los Angeles County.

Prior to DMH, I was Government Affairs Director for the LA County Alliance for Health Integration, coordinating policy across the Departments of Mental Health, Public Health, and Health Services. I acted as liaison to the Board of Supervisors and also developed, prepared, and facilitated monthly Board Deputy briefings on Medi‑Cal reform under CalAIM.

Earlier in my career, I spent more than a decade at DaVita, Inc., holding multiple leadership roles. As Director of Integrated Kidney Care, I created and scaled a nationwide patient experience program for Medicare Advantage members, raising the national Net Promoter Score from 50 to 70 in one year and reducing voluntary disenrollment by 50%, generating $3 million in annual revenue. I also led California legislative affairs representing the organization before state and federal policymakers.  As Director of Market Development, I helped launch and then convert DaVita’s Medicare Demonstration pilot into a full Medicare Advantage plan in Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, and Orange Counties, driving 21% annual membership growth across multiple counties.  

I began my career in public service and politics, working for U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, EMILY’s List, and the James Hahn for Mayor campaign, where I supported constituent services, developed policy positions, prepared candidates for media and community engagements, and wrote speeches and briefing materials.

I earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from UC Davis and an MBA from the University of Southern California. I am also a certified Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt for process improvement.