National Collaborative for Health Equity’s executive director to speak at Carnegie Hotel next month

Christopher, executive director of the National Collaborative for Health Equity (NCHE), will speak on Tuesday, Nov. 7.

Dr. Gail C. Christopher, a nationally recognized leader in health policy known for her work bringing holistic health and diversity concepts into public sector programs and policy, will give a free public lecture at East Tennessee State University next month. 

Christopher, executive director of the National Collaborative for Health Equity (NCHE), will speak on Tuesday, Nov. 7, in the Grand Soldiers Ballroom at the Carnegie Hotel at 6 p.m. A meet and greet reception will take place at 5:30 p.m. 

This is the third annual Health, Equity and Inclusion lecture hosted by the ETSU Office of Equity and Inclusion and the ETSU College of Public Health and is part of the college’s Leading Voices in Public Health lecture series. Christopher’s talk is titled “A Call for Action: Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation in the United States.” 

"We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Gail C. Christopher to campus for our third annual Health, Equity and Inclusion lecture,” said Dr. Randy Wykoff, dean of the College of Public Health. “Dr. Christopher is a true trailblazer in health policy, and we could not be more excited for our students — and the community at-large — to hear from someone of her stature who is a nationally renowned expert in understanding the social determinants of health and well-being.”  

ETSU is a vibrant community that invites conversation on important issues, regularly bringing celebrated authors and thinkers to campus.  

“This lecture is an incredible opportunity for the region to hear first-hand the impact health equity and diversity concepts can have on improving overall health and well-being,” said Dr. Keith Johnson, ETSU’s vice president for Equity and Inclusion.

Christopher was named executive director of the NCHE in 2019, an organization that aims to promote health and racial equity by equipping institutions and leaders from historically marginalized and excluded communities with tools to improve the social, economic and environmental conditions that shape health.

In addition to her role with the NCHE, Christopher also chaired the Board of the Trust for America’s Health from 2012 - 2022 and served as the senior advisor and vice president at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), where she was the driving force behind the America Healing initiative and Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation effort. 

In 2015, she received the Terrance Keenan Award from Grantmakers in Health, and in 2007 she received the Leadership Award from the Health Brain Trust of the Congressional Black Caucus for her work in reducing racial and ethnic health disparities, among a number of other awards. In 2019, she became a Senior Scholar with George Mason University’s Center for the Advancement of Well-Being. She has also written or co-written three books, a monthly column in the Federal Times and more than 350 articles, presentations and publications. 

Prior to joining WKKF, Christopher was vice president of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies’ Office of Health, Women and Families in Washington, D.C. There, she led the Joint Center Health Policy Institute, a multi-year initiative created to engage underserved, racial and ethnic minorities in health policy discussions.

She holds a doctor of naprapathy degree from the Chicago National College of Naprapathy in Illinois and completed advanced study in the interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in holistic health and clinical nutrition at the Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities at Union Graduate School of Cincinnati, Ohio.

For more information, contact the College of Public Health at (423) 439-4203 or email storkj@etsu.edu. For disability accommodations, call the ETSU Office of Disability Services at (423) 439-8346.

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East Tennessee State University was founded in 1911 with a singular mission: to improve the quality of life for people in the region and beyond. Through its world-class health sciences programs and interprofessional approach to health care education, ETSU is a highly respected leader in rural health research and practices. The university also boasts nationally ranked programs in the arts, technology, computing, and media studies. ETSU serves approximately 14,000 students each year and is ranked among the top 10 percent of colleges in the nation for students graduating with the least amount of debt.