A new wave of Black entrepreneurs are fighting healthcare inequalities
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It comes as no surprise that for many years there have been persistent inequalities and disparities in access and quality of healthcare for Black people. Horror stories about Black people being maligned and disbelieved by healthcare professionals have been consistently emerging from across the class spectrum for as long as modern medicine has existed, breeding understandable levels of mistrust in communities.
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Even well known public figures like Serena Williams, who had to endure a major health scare because her symptoms were downplayed, are not immune to the life threatening scenarios that are often a byproduct of unequal health systems. In America, for instance, an ongoing maternal mortality crisis sees Black women three to four times more likely than White women to die from pregnancy-related complications. These frightening statistics have only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
But rather than wait for a flawed and broken system to solve this critical problem, a new wave of Black entrepreneurs are making an impact. Using their unique perspective as potential beneficiaries of their products, these changemakers are inventing platforms specifically for Black communities. The success of these types of products are proving that there is a clear demand in the Black community for solutions that make the difficult task of finding quality healthcare far less daunting.
Health in Her Hue founded by Ashlee Wisdom is a digital platform that connects Black women and women of color to culturally competent healthcare providers. The free app allows users to pick from roughly 1,000 vetted, culturally sensitive providers.
Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, creator of Therapy for Black Girls, started the first iteration of this platform as a google doc with Black therapists because she kept seeing people online wishing they could find a Black therapist but not knowing where to start. Today this online space dedicated to encouraging the mental wellness of Black women, has a directory with hundreds of licensed Black therapists.
Nathan Pelzer, founder of Clinify Health, has a vision to use data and analytics to address the lack of quality healthcare services in underserved communities. The company works with health centers and independent clinics, helping doctors to identify their most at-risk patients using evidence-based medical and social data.
Kevin Dedner is the founder of Hurdle, the mental health startup that works to match patients with therapists who "honor culture instead of ignoring it". Taking an educational approach, Hurdle measures the cultural responsiveness of therapists and provides educational resources and coaching to improve their cultural humility.
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