Our Story
BLKHLTH is an Atlanta-based non-profit organization founded by four graduates from Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health; Khadijah Ameen, Matthew McCurdy, Mercilla Ryan-Harris, and Paulah Wheeler. As students in a predominately white institution, we quickly noticed gaps in the understanding of the complexities of race and health from both our peers and instructors.
Inspired by the call to rebuild black liberation through the #BlackLivesMatter movement created by Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi, and Alicia Garza, we created t-shirts and sweatshirts that displayed the phrase Black Health Matters. These shirts were initially used to start a bold and necessary conversation on our campus: black people get sick more often and die sooner than other races of people due to structural issues caused by racism.
We quickly realized that the lack of accessible and accurate information around the intersections of racism, race, and health was not unique to our academic institution. This information is missing in most spaces and most importantly in our black communities. So we decided to do something about it.
Paulah Wheeler, MPH
Co-Founder
Paulah is a Detroit native with a passion for advancing the health of Black people both at home and abroad. Paulah has trained healthcare workers in Kenya, Nigeria, Cambodia, and Bangladesh in public health management and leadership, and she currently manages a national HIV program in South Africa.
Khadijah Ameen, MPH
Co-Founder
Khadijah is passionate about increasing access to and quality of health and social services to ALL Black people.
Khadijah has spent most of her professional career working within various healthcare delivery and payer settings partnering with clinicians and senior-level administrators to identify ways to improve engagement, quality, and outcomes for marginalized populations.
Mercilla Ryan-Harris, MPH
Co-Founder
Mercilla is a proud Atlanta native with a passion for improving the overall health of the black community through development of culturally humble public health programming.
Matthew McCurdy, MPH
Co-Founder
Matthew McCurdy (he/him) is passionate about applying social science theory, health equity frameworks, and design to develop creative solutions that improve health outcomes for Black people.