From Community to The Hill: Designing AI for Better Health Outcomes
Using AI To Serve Everyone
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are reshaping healthcare — from early disease detection to more personalized patient care. But to make sure these breakthroughs help everyone, we must center equity in how these tools are designed and used.
The From Community to The Hill: Designing AI for Better Health Outcomes event and reception will announce the ACE Your Health AI Task Force and White Paper that will provide insights on AI trends, policy, and real-world applications for health equity. Leading experts will amplify practical solutions to ensure innovation serves historically marginalized communities and addresses their priorities.
Join the Discussion
The discussion will explore how AI and ML are already improving patient access to care and outcomes and creating more efficient and equitable healthcare systems. Join us to learn how to be part of this transformative moment and ensure that the future of healthcare is one where technology serves everyone.
Meet Our Speakers
Derrick Johnson
President and CEO, NAACP
Derrick Johnson serves as the 19th president and CEO of the NAACP, a role he has held since October 2017. Under Johnson's leadership, the NAACP has taken on numerous impactful initiatives to advance racial justice, expose systemic inequities, and amplify the organization's advocacy for Black communities across the nation. Most recently, he spearheaded the launch of NAACP Capital, a fund of funds aligned with the NAACP's mission of achieving equity, political rights, and social inclusion for Black people and all persons of color. Under his leadership, the organization is becoming the leading authority on Black culture, expanding its legacy from civil rights to fighting for equity across multiple arenas of American life.
Dr. Chris Pernell
Director, Center for Health Equity, NAACP
Dr. Chris T. Pernell is a dynamic physician leader and social change agent. In her practice, she focuses on health justice, community-based advocacy, and population-wide health promotion and disease prevention. A celebrated visionary and apostle of public health, Dr. Chris serves as the Director of the NAACP Center for Health Equity. The Center is charged with driving equitable health outcomes and transforming healthcare systems while valuing the whole person. Prior to joining the nation's oldest and most venerable civil rights organization, she launched The Esther Group, a public health consulting and health equity strategy firm. As founder of The Esther Group, she lives the mandate to dare a future where organizations, communities and systems can innovate for a better world and humanity.
Tanisha M. Sullivan, J.D., M.B.A.
Head of External Engagement & Health Equity Strategy, Sanofi
Ms. Sullivan is an award-winning civic, legal and business leader with decades of experience working in and with the life sciences companies. As Head of External Engagement and Health Equity Strategy for Sanofi Ms. Sullivan's portfolio includes US health equity strategy, executive engagement and government relations. Committed to public service, from 2013- 2015, Ms. Sullivan served in a cabinet level position with the Boston Public Schools as its inaugural Chief Equity Officer. Ms. Sullivan is the President of NAACP New England Area conference. In addition, she serves as chair of Governor Maura Healey's Advisory Council on Black Empowerment and as a member of the Boston College Law School Rappaport Center for Law and Public Policy Advisory Board. She received several business and civic recognitions, including the BBJ 40 Under 40, Power 50, 100 Most Influential Leaders in Boston and BC Law Alumna of the Year.
Dr. Tony Price Jr.
Senior Fellow, Center for Health Equity, NAACP
Tony serves as the Senior Fellow within the Center for Health Equity at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, where he leads national initiatives aimed at eliminating health disparities and advancing health equity. In this role, Tony provides strategic leadership on key projects and leverages his expertise in chronic disease prevention, exercise, and physical activity to support healthier outcomes in historically underserved communities.
Cedric Haynes
Vice President, Policy and Legislative Affairs, NAACP
In his role as Vice President, Policy and Legislative Affairs, Cedric is responsible for leading the process to develop, grow, and maintain an influential position for the NAACP, impacting federal and state public policy initiatives. Cedric started his journey in public policy via the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Emerging Leaders program in 2009. Since then, he has worked with Congressman Bennie G. Thompson, including the House Homeland Security Committee offices. Cedric has varied policy experience in the private sector, having consulted with numerous startups and long-established businesses on issues including entertainment, micro mobility, housing, transportation infrastructure, and energy.
Dr. Nicol Turner Lee
Director, Center for Technology Innovation (CTI), Senior Fellow in Governance Studies, Brookings
Nicol Turner Lee is a senior fellow in Governance Studies, the director of the Center for Technology Innovation (CTI), and serves as co-editor-in-chief of the TechTank blog and The TechTank Podcast. Her research focuses on the intersection between technology and social justice in areas that range from universal access to communications to the design and application of artificial intelligence models. In 2023, Turner Lee developed and launched the AI Equity Lab, which is focused on advancing inclusive, ethical, nondiscriminatory, and democratized AI models and systems throughout the United States, and the Global South, including the African Union, India, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America.
Dr. Craig Watkins
Ernest A. Sharpe Centennial Professor, Executive Director of the IC2 Institute, University of Texas at Austin
Dr. Watkins's research focuses on the ethical implications of artificial intelligence. Craig is one of the Principal Investigators for UT Austin's Good Systems Grand Challenge, a University funded initiative that supports multi-disciplinary explorations of the technical, social, and ethical implications of artificial intelligence. Craig's team explores the societal implications of artificial intelligence, focusing on how implicit biases, for example, in datasets, model formulation, and deployment can lead to disparate impacts, especially in high stakes contexts like healthcare.
Chris Hemphill
Founder & Head of Applied AI & Data Science, Modular Feedback; Health AI & Health Equity Fellow at NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy Research
As head of Modular Feedback, Chris Hemphill's charge is to help healthcare leaders and innovators "Reclaim the Algorithm." Where Big Tech's AI prioritizes clicks and doom scrolling over wellness, Healthcare AI has more serious obligations to patients, providers, and payers. Chris's leadership in mitigating AI's biases & expanding outreach to underserved Black and Asian communities led to a fellowship with NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy Research in 2022. Chris continues to drive health equity AI initiatives there.