Jay A. Youmans, JD
Co-Founder and Partner
Jay is a public policy and healthcare executive with nearly two decades of experience at the intersection of government, healthcare, regulation, and emerging technologies. His work has spanned nearly every major area of public health and healthcare policy in Massachusetts, with a particular focus on translating complex policy and regulatory challenges into practical, measurable results.
He is Co-Founder and Partner of Bulfinch Strategies Group and Co-Founder, President & CEO of MassIntelligence, an organization focused on responsible AI policy, governance, and innovation across healthcare, human services, and life sciences.
Prior to co-founding Bulfinch, Jay served as Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to six Massachusetts Commissioners of Public Health under three Secretaries of Health and Human Services and governors of both political parties. As a member of the Department of Public Health’s senior management team, he helped oversee more than 3,500 employees, approximately 100 programs, and more than $1B in state and federal appropriations.
Jay has played a principal role in the development and implementation of several significant Massachusetts healthcare and public health initiatives. With Tom, he co-authored the Commonwealth’s landmark overhaul of the regulatory framework governing healthcare mergers, expansions, acquisitions, and major capital projects, helping unlock more than $250M annually in healthcare investment directed toward addressing social determinants of health. He also co-authored Massachusetts’s statewide statutory and regulatory framework for mobile integrated healthcare, establishing the first statewide program of its kind in the country.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jay designed and helped deploy a public-private statewide mobile rapid-response testing initiative that generated more than $30M in new revenue for his client while expanding access to testing across Massachusetts. His work has also included developing a pediatric behavioral health emergency diversion program implemented across 24 hospitals statewide; successfully passing legislation enabling statewide purchase, distribution, and administration of pediatric vaccines without cost-sharing, moving Massachusetts to “Healthiest State” ranking in 2017 by the United Health Foundation; and creating first-in-the-nation prescription drug misuse educational core competencies for approximately 8,200 medical, dental, advanced practice nursing, and physician assistant students.
More recently, Jay helped secure the Commonwealth’s first major investment in AI-powered medication administration technology for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, resulting in a $16M state commitment. His work increasingly focuses on the intersection of healthcare policy, artificial intelligence, digital health, and emerging technologies.
Jay also played a formative role in the development of Massachusetts’s cannabis industry, co-authoring the Commonwealth’s original medical-use regulations and contributing to the development of its adult-use statutory framework. He later co-founded The CultivatED Program, a first-in-the-nation workforce development initiative designed to create pathways into the cannabis industry for individuals adversely affected by the War on Drugs through record sealing and expungement, higher education, professional development, mentorship, training, and job placement.
Before founding Bulfinch with Tom Mangan and Jefferson Smith, Jay helped lead the healthcare and cannabis practices of a major Massachusetts public policy firm, generating nearly $2M in annualized new business and helping grow both portfolios into industry-leading practices.
Jay earned his JD from Suffolk University Law School and his undergraduate degree from Boston University. Jay serves on the Finance Committee of Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea J. Campbell.
Say hello at jay@bulfinchstrategies.com.
