Dr. Ala Stanford knew she wanted to be a doctor by the time she was eight years old. But role models were few and far between in her working-class North Philly neighborhood. Her teachers were dismissive, and the realities of racism, sexism, and poverty threatened to derail her at every turn. Nevertheless, thanks to her faith, family, and the sheer strength of her will, today she is one of the vanishingly small number of Black women surgeons in America—and an unrelenting force in the fight for health justice.
In Take Care of Them Like My Own, Dr. Stanford shares an unflinching account of her story, explaining how her experiences on both sides of the scalpel have informed her understanding of America’s racial health gap, an insidious and lethal form of inequality that exacts a devastating toll on Black communities across the country, affluent and underserved alike.
Dr. Ala Stanford is founder of the Black Doctors Consortium, a national leader in health equity, a health care policy advisor, and former regional director of the US Department of Health and Human Services of the mid-Atlantic appointed by President Biden.
Join us at the City Club as Dr. Stanford discusses the lessons about the power of communities working together to take care of one another; and the importance of fighting for a healthcare system that truly fulfills its promise to all Americans.
Speaker
- Dr. Ala Stanford
Founder, Dr. Ala Stanford Center for Health Equity
Moderator
- Dr. Edward Barksdale Jr.
Professor of Surgery at the University of Chicago; and Chief Surgical Officer, Chicagoland Children’s Hospital Alliance