Striving to Correct Healthcare’s Structural Inequities.
Striving to Correct Healthcare’s Structural Inequities
Fatima Dainkeh, SPH alum and the Learning and Development manager at She+ Geeks Out, leads workshops, webinars, and networking events for diversity, equity, and inclusion practitioners and advocates.
According to School of Public Health alum Fatima Dainkeh (SPH’18), at the heart of all public health issues lie structural inequities: “Every ‘ism’ is a public health issue.”
As Learning and Development manager at She+ Geeks Out—a B corporation based in Boston that connects and supports women in tech and tech-adjacent fields while providing tools for companies to create inclusive workplaces—Dainkeh examines “isms” from multiple angles, including racism, sexism, and classism.
Dainkeh, who previously managed the racial justice program at YW Boston, develops content and leads workshops, webinars, and networking events for DEI practitioners and advocates who are working to create inclusive institutions while navigating workplace issues, such as inequitable policies, microaggressions, and bias.
“After SPH, I wanted to be in a position where I could help people understand the structural inequities that exist in our society,” she says. “It’s one thing to read an article about ‘5 Steps to an Inclusive Organization,’ but there’s something much deeper about connecting directly with people, hearing their stories, and sharing the successes and challenges that come with doing the necessary work to achieve equity.”
During her time at SPH, Dainkeh embraced the process of shedding light on issues of equity and justice. In 2018, she produced the short film, Stories of Black Motherhood, which called attention to the experiences of Black mothers, especially during a time when the disproportionate burden of Black maternal mortality began receiving immense attention. In the film, Black mothers from Boston shared intimate and powerful accounts of how structural inequities impact their ability to parent.
“In public health work, we don’t always ask the people experiencing the issue what needs to be done,” Dainkeh says. “I wanted to use my platform to amplify Black voices that have been talking about racism in healthcare for a long time.”
She is optimistic that people will recognize the power they hold as individual agents of change to achieve equity and better health outcomes for all populations.
“We each have a role to play, but together, we can make a difference in our communities, institutions, and daily lives.”