Dr. Ybarra holds degrees in Nursing and Public Health from the University of Washington. She is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Scholar, and received her doctorate in Political Science/Public Policy from the University of New Mexico. A community health nurse by training, she started her career in the Yakima Valley doing home visits, and over the course of 21 years helped to build a large community/migrant healthcare system. As a scholar, she has made contributions to knowledge on immigrant integration and well-being, immigration policy, and farmworker health.
Dr. Ybarra currently works as the Director of the Office of Innovation, Alignment, and Accountability for the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families, where she leads the agency efforts around research and innovation. She has served in a number of appointed and elected leadership positions, including the Yakima School District Board of Directors during the 2000s. She also served as the first Chair of the Governor’s Interagency Council on Health Disparities, and in that role oversaw the development of Washington State’s first Action Plan to Eliminate Health Disparities in 2010.