Seven Black Women in Health Tech that Inspire Me

Honoring Women’s History Month

In 1978, Ophelia Gibson was barely out of her teens and an expecting mother. Born and raised in the old plantation lands of Tucker, AR, that year, she uprooted, moving to the ‘The Rock’ – Little Rock – to start a new life with her husband and baby boy. Life picked up quickly in the city. By the summer of 1978, she’d completed an internship at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) and was offered a job as a secretary. “I was the only Black person on my entire floor,” she says. Fast forward to 2023, Ophelia retired from UALR after 45 years, making her one of the longest-serving employees in the institution’s history. In the span of her almost five-decade career with the University, she gained a reputation as an ardent supporter of the school’s Black Student Union, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Shirley Chisholm, Benjamin Hooks, and Dick Gregory. She earned her psychology degree. And, she became a single mother of three when the father of her children passed suddenly after Christmas in 1986.

I am proud to call Ophelia my mother. She delicately balanced her single parenthood with an ambitious drive to create a good life for herself and her kids. Long work days were followed by night school or evenings spent preparing days' worth of dinners for my siblings and me to eat in her absence. Reflecting on this year’s Women’s History Month theme – Women Who Advocate for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – my mother is the first woman to come to mind. In her own beautiful means of resistance, she pushed back on inequity through a bold insistence on a fair chance at thriving against all odds.

My mother’s example has left me attuned to the pervasive issues that weigh women down in the workplace. Especially, Black women. Black women in the United States earn less than white men in every state, with a 2022 Census data wage gap of 37% between white men and Black women. Black women also make 20% less than white women on average. Pay is not the only measure of inequity. Compared to other women at their level, Black women leaders are more likely to have colleagues question their competence and to be subjected to demeaning behavior. According to a recent McKinsey and LeanIn.Org study, one in three Black women leaders says they've been denied or passed over for opportunities because of personal characteristics, including their race and gender.

Honoring Women’s History Month has always been an imperative of mine. My mother and other matriarchs like my late grandmother, Ella Mae, often inspire my commemorations in March. Their stories fuel my work in health equity and my desire to see seismic gains for Black women in the workplace. This year, I’d like to extend my practice of ceremonial remembering to an exceptional cadre of Black women in health tech making waves in health equity.

Erica Murdock, Zeteo Health

In my last company, Hurdle Health (now Backpack Healthcare), I learned an important lesson, thanks to Erica–– having a vision is important, but having a partner who knows how to execute and strategically manifest that vision in the day-to-day is equally important. Erica is a dynamic operations leader with a passion for digital health start-ups. I’ve had the pleasure of working side-by-side with her in the health equity space for the better part of the last three years. As an experienced digital health founder and operations leader with a successful career in health innovation, Erica excels at breathing life and essential detail into health moonshots. Every day, Erica teaches me patience through her calm demeanor.

Ashlee Wisdom, Health in Her Hue

Ashlee’s work in health equity began with a personal experience in graduate school that exposed the impact of healthcare disparities for women of color. Fueled by both her personal experience and data highlighting the disproportionate health burden on women of color, she embarked on a mission to improve access to culturally intentional healthcare. At Health In Her HUE, she and her team have created a digital platform that connects Black women and women of color to culturally intentional healthcare providers and offers health information and content that aligns with their lived experiences. I have grown to admire Ashley’s persistence and dedication to improving the health of Black women.

Erica Plybeah, MedHaul

As the Founder and CEO of MedHaul, Erica has been at the forefront of creating a technology-driven enterprise that bridges a critical gap by connecting vulnerable patients – the underprivileged, elderly, rural residents, and individuals with physical or mental disabilities – with essential transportation resources. Over the last decade, she has dedicated herself to designing and deploying innovative software solutions across various healthcare sectors, including health systems, clinical research organizations, and digital health companies. Her journey has been driven by a deep commitment to leveraging technology to address real-world challenges. Whenever I need sound advice, Erica is one of the few people I can count on for measured counsel.

Sheena D. Franklin, K’ept Health

Sheena founded K’ept Health to reimagine how patients receive and manage their care through AI-assisted telehealth. Starting with dermatology, K’ept Health provides care with a root-cause, whole-person approach focusing on data, technology, and real doctor-patient relationships. Outside of her work at K’ept Health, she is an advocate for expanding access to care and unbiased, ethical data management for responsible AI. Sheena and I participated in an incubator program years ago, and she continues to inspire me in the evolution of her business.

Katara McCarty, Exhale

In August 2020, during the throes of the pandemic and in the wake of George Floyd’s death, Katara launched a meditation app not only created by a Black woman but created for Black women. Since its launch, Exhale has grown to be more than just an app. It is a movement, with Katara at the helm, that centers Black women in wellness. Katara and I first met at a Rock Health event. I was immediately impressed with how she balanced scaling her business and being present for her family.

Hafeeza Muhammad, Backpack Healthcare

Hafeezah is the Founder and CEO of Backpack Healthcare, a leading pediatric mental health company providing therapy, medication management, and psychiatry to children, teens, and young adults. Named 2023’s Culture Builder of the Year by Technical.ly Baltimore for her leadership and commitment to advocating for underrepresented communities, she also remains dedicated to advocacy outside of her role at Backpack. Hafeezah is a founding member of Chief D.C., a private network built to drive more women into positions of power. I have never met anyone more passionate about the mental health needs of adolecents.

Lisa K. Fitzpatrick, MD, MPH, MPA, Grapevine Health

As a physician, former Medicaid Chief Medical Officer, and CDC-trained medical epidemiologist with broad experience across the health sector, Lisa has led positive interventions in underserved communities to understand and influence health equity and social drivers of health. For the past five years, she has served as Founder and CEO of Grapevine Health, a data-driven patient engagement company that creates and delivers culturally appropriate health education content digitally to help close care gaps for underserved communities. Lisa’s commitment to serving in communities like Southeast and Southwest Washington, DC, is unmatched. She reminds me why I do this work whenever I interact with her.

I am hopeful about the future of healthcare because of these women. Especially as we sit on the cusp of a technological revolution ushered in by emerging technologies like AI, I take heart in knowing that these women’s voices and innovations are at the forefront. I hope their own versions of resistance, like my mother’s, will continue to break down barriers to entry and leadership for future generations of Black women.