About Same Sky

Built to make sure
children come first.

Same Sky is a nonpartisan initiative housed at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. We listen to families, find common ground across political lines, and build the evidence that turns what parents want into national policy.

Across America, parents share the same hopes for their children. Our systems rarely ask them what that takes.

Same Sky does. We believe children can be the common ground that a divided country still shares — and that the consensus for action already exists. What has been missing is a clear, sustained effort to translate it into federal policy.

We are building that effort: through rigorous polling, community listening, independent measurement, and a nonpartisan policy agenda grounded in what families actually said.

Stephen W. Patrick, MD, MPH, MS, FAAP
Stephen W. Patrick, MD, MPH, MS, FAAP
Founder, Same Sky
Chair, Department of Health Policy and Management
Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University
Read the full founder's statement →

I have had the privilege of working inside the federal government — including serving as a Senior Policy Advisor in the Biden White House — and I have sat in rooms where consequential decisions about children's lives were made by people with genuine commitment. And still, children were not the organizing principle.

These are not partisan issues. Every administration I have worked with has cared about children. But none has had a coherent, sustained agenda that puts children at the center.

Same Sky is my attempt to build what I never found in Washington: a specific, public, nonpartisan federal policy agenda for children — one that is tracked and sustained across administrations and election cycles. Our legitimacy comes from parents and children themselves. We earn our voice in communities. We carry it into Washington.

Read the full founder's statement →

The team

Our Team

Stephen W. Patrick
Stephen W. Patrick, MD, MPH, MS, FAAP
Founder & Director

Stephen is the O. Wayne Rollins Professor and Chair of Health Policy and Management at the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, a practicing neonatologist at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, and a 2026 Presidential Leadership Scholar. His NIH-funded research focuses on opioid use disorder, child welfare, and translating evidence into policy at the state and national levels.

He previously served as Senior Policy Advisor at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, where he led development of a national action plan for families affected by substance use. He has testified before Congress, authored more than 150 peer-reviewed articles, and served on the National Academy of Medicine's Board on Children, Youth, and Families.

Read the founder's statement →

Sarah Loch
Sarah Loch, MPH
Director of Research & Strategy

[Bio coming soon — please provide a short paragraph for Sarah.]

Ellie Pourbohloul
Ellie Pourbohloul
Communications Director

Ellie is a communications strategist with nearly a decade of experience across research, healthcare, and technology, specializing in translating complex information into messaging that informs and engages diverse audiences. She has developed multi-channel communications — including video, interactive trainings, websites, and social media — on behalf of government agencies, researchers, and organizational leaders.

Raphiel J. Murden
Raphiel J. Murden
Biostatistician

Raphiel is an Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at the Rollins School of Public Health, where his work contributes to a wide variety of public health areas, including child welfare, women's health, HIV, and neuroimaging. He has analyzed and reported results from the Same Sky poll for several years, and collaborates with Dr. Patrick on research examining state policies' effects on infant foster care placement and maltreatment.