Dr. Kevin Ahmaad Jenkins

A two-time award-winning journalist, health disparities activist, and dynamic speaker, Dr. Kevin Ahmaad Jenkins is one of the most electrifying voices in America dedicated to eliminating racial health disparities. Enlightening the masses on how racism negatively influences health, workplace culture, and organizational performance. He leverages innovative data-driven strategies to improve the quality of health and the standards of healthcare services of racial and ethnic minorities - along with helping organizations enrich their culture by leading critical conversations about today’s tough topics.

Prior to embarking on a professional voyage as a Lecturer within the Ivy League, Dr. Jenkins covered many major sports and entertainment events throughout the state of North Carolina. Famous across the state as the First Announcer to host the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Associations’ (CIAA) Super Saturdays, he relished entertaining crowds of 20,000+ sports fanatics for six consecutive years from 2000 to 2006. He was also the first weekend host of the North Carolina Educational Lottery and has served as the Public Speaker Announcer for North Carolina Central University and the On-Field Announcer for the Triple-A Affiliate for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Durham Bulls.

Dr. Kevin keenly delivers evidence-based solutions to dismantle the effects of racism from health, healthcare, and healthcare decision-making. Dr. Kevin articulates his real-life experiences and enduring knowledge through powerful presentations, lasting empathy, and straight talks to lead strategies focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion-to-action. He has successfully navigated academics, healthcare, and corporate arenas as both a thought-leader and consultant working with notable clients such as McKesson Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald’s, Duke University, and Virginia Department of Health and Human Services.

Acknowledged as a national authority in racism in medicine, Dr. Kevin Ahmaad Jenkins has received a wide range of acclamation and recognition. His contributions have focused on breaking the social stigmas relating to racial injustice in the fields of healthcare. His efforts in analyzing the link between racial stress and vascular-based diseases & Alzheimer’s disease have received an extensive commendation from the leading health and education authorities.

Named among the 40 Under 40 Leaders in Health by the National Quality Forum, his contributions have been featured in media outlets such as ABC World News, The Grio, Philadelphia Inquirer, The Philadelphia Tribune, and NBC. Dr. Jenkins serves as a fellow within the Veteran’s Health Administration’s Office of Minority Health and on the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s Roundtable on Health Equity.

In the past, Dr. Kevin has served as a Writer for The Daily News Jacksonville, NC, and a Columnist for the Durham Herald-Sun and BlackDoctor.org. He attained his Bachelor’s Degree from North Carolina Central University, a Master’s Degree from Florida A&M University, and received his Ph.D. in Sociology and Criminology & Law from the University of Florida.

Dr. Kevin Ahmaad Jenkins presently serves as the Lecturer and Visiting Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania and is appointed within the School of Nursing, the School of Social Policy & Practice, and Annenberg School of Communications.

Speaking Topics - 
 

MADE FOR LEADERS: Moving in a Direction of Equity

Dr. Kevin Ahmaad Jenkins developed a new speaking series titled "Moving in a Direction of Equity" to support leaders across industries to reach for excellence in organizational culture. 

MADE carves a roadmap for transformational leadership through research, humor, and powerful storytelling. 

Leading on his past and present platform, Dr. Jenkins curated the best practices of Black former professional athletes, veterans, and physicians that confront, inform, and heal the consequences of bias in corporate America. 

Whether a leader is unaware, indifferent, or ready to act, MADE leverages:

Necessary power

Authentic empathy,

and sustainable strategies

to MOVE IN THE DIRECTION OF EQUITY.

Learning Objectives:

• To understand the sociohistoric barriers that shaped today's corporate culture
• Demonstrate the implementation of the allyship to equity equation
• To interrogate how organizational culture shapes the motivation, scope, and execution of equity
• Define and implement empathy in internal and external organizational messaging
• Engage the organization's vertical and horizontal surrounding opportunities for equity
• Share evidence-based approaches that expand the equity denominator through an access framework
• MADE motivates leaders how to see the signs of inequity and craft evidence-based solutions that develop organizational culture. 

BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED: POWERING CRITICAL CONVERSATIONS

A catalyst for change that opens the path to healing dialogue.

Tough corporate conversations about inequity where we work, live, and learn can intimidate anyone. The toxicity of corporate environments surfaces when we host dialogue with no destination. No matter the conflict or crisis, organizations need to know why and how to lead critical conversations about tough topics. Dr. Kevin provides a roadmap and guides your company through the art of authentic engagement that reconstructs corporate culture.

Program takeaways:

• Provide the 'Winning Race' conversation starters to launch critical conversations with empathy.
• Recognize unheard employees as the experts of their own experiences.
• Implement clear and effective dialogue curriculum that interactively & inclusively embraces all perspectives.
• Talking the “isms” of our world at work is simply unnatural.
• Why regular inclusive dialogue increases revenue while enriching culture.
• How to outline and personalize an Inclusion-first culture.
• This powerful topic can be delivered as a keynote or workshop for your team.

Under Construction: Rebuilding Corporate Culture with DEI in Mind

Renovating a structure that’s already standing remains more difficult than building from the ground up.

Dr. Jenkins helps companies stare down the challenges of changing corporate culture. He provides a blueprint toward re-building corporate culture anchoring equitable engagement and decision-making. Dr. Jenkins helps companies plan, promote, and preserve data-driven DEI best practices. This powerful keynote converts DEI from corporate responsibility to corporate revenue.

Program takeaways:

• Deploys evidence-based case studies for internal alignment and activation of inclusive culture.
• Delivers a clear implementation framework for sustainable culture shifts with DEI at the center.
• Defines considerations for accountability through equitable messaging and enforcement of inclusive culture.
• Detail on how to authentically recruit & retain top talent from underrepresented groups.

WIN WHEN: Bringing Equity Into Action

"Win When" carves a roadmap to professional development through research, humor, and powerful storytelling.

Leaning on his past and present platforms, Dr. Kevin curated the best-practices of Black former professional athletes, veterans, and physicians that confronts, informs, and heals the consequences of bias in the corporate America.

Countless racial and ethnic minority employees share their struggles with race and identity in the workplace, the suffocation of success, and a looming fear of failure with no long-lasting DEI solutions.

Whether a teammate is unaware, indifferent, or ready to act, Win When, leverages necessary power, authentic empathy, and sustainable strategies to bringing equity to action.

Program takeaways:

• Understand the concepts of structural racism, inclusion & diversity, & overall equity.
• Discover how organizational culture shapes the motivation, scope, and execution of equity.
• Investigate the process and measurement of achieving equity through contemporary best practices.
• This program can be tailored for corporate audiences, healthcare professionals, and athletes.

Interactive Workshops / Bootcamps

THE INCLUSIVE MANAGER

Lopsided performance reviews and differential employee engagement hurt companies far worse than simply having no DE&I strategy. Dr. Kevin reimagines communication, incentives, and socialization to promote high-performance work environments.

Highlights from this workshop:

• Train managers on how to enhance equity & inclusion by mitigating the common challenges that induce conflict.
• Establish culturally sensitive internal review metrics and processes that measure underrepresented groups.
• Develop a sustainable crisis management plan for inclusion and diversity challenges.

EQUITY COACHING CLINIC

Your organization may need more interactive engagement after the opening DEI salvo. Our Equity Coaching Clinic provides a hyper-focus on one specific pain-point and executes the workshop experience in an hour. If your organizations’ board, departments or leaders need to go deeper in this content with one trusted voice, our Equity Coaching Clinic was designed for you.

Dr. Kevin gets your company “unstuck” and shapes strategy using thought-provoking activities that advise you through the most noted challenges after the big DEI speech.

Key topics include:

• Inclusion First Culture Assessment
• Equitable conversations
• Equitable messaging
• Equitable partnership building
• Internal Review Framework
• Crisis Management (2 sessions)
• Diversity Pipeline Development
• Equitable measurement and evaluation

WINNING RACE

Winning Race bootcamps are geared towards cross-functional team managers and executives and can be delivered virtually and in-person. Dr. Kevin energizes, empowers, and educates using his award-winning approaches for adult learners.

Before we begin the hard work of building and sustaining an inclusive corporate culture, Dr. Kevin performs an organizational culture diagnostic. He uses internal data from evidence-based assessments to perform predictive modeling techniques to identify patterns of success and concern.

Program takeaways:

• Face how to manage through racial crisis and societal injustice.
• Detail how to authentically recruit & retain top talent from underrepresented groups.
• Develop strategic plans and playbooks that roadmap internal & external best practices.