Dr. Maranda Ward, an assistant professor at the George Washington University with a background in Sociology/Anthropology, Maternal and Child Health, as well as Education, is a recent winner of the Faculty Development Grant for Racial Justice in Health Training.
With this grant, she is developing video-based learning modules about structural racism in healthcare-and historically across medicine. In order to truly address racialized health disparities the healthcare community must critically examine themselves, their institutions, and their practice for how they either maintain or disrupt racism.
Dr. Ward plans to integrate these modules into existing GW health professions training programs. The modules will center community residents, community leaders, and community experts most impacted by these inequities, and who are doing the daily work to upend racism in our community. Given the School of Medicine and Health Sciences’ (SMHS) commitment to health and racial equity, this project aims to redefine what equitable and participatory university-community partnerships look like for antiracist aims.
In addition to her academic work, Dr. Ward is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Promising Futures, a community-based program that prides itself on activating the positive youth development. She was also appointed to the Ward 8 seat on the DC Commission on Health Equity by Mayor Muriel Bowser. Dr. Ward’s work bridges community education, program development, and combating the social conditions that produce structural violence.
