Black women are facing a growing crisis as recent policy shifts threaten reproductive justice, healthcare access, and public health research. Data from the National Center for Health Statistics reveal that while maternal mortality rates for white and Hispanic women decreased in 2023, rates for Black women continued to rise. This is serving as a stark indicator of the government's inattention, as exemplified by legislation like the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Yet, Lisa Cunningham and the team at the Black Women's Health Imperative are stepping up to make a difference.
“We want to make sure that Black women are aware of all of the options available to them.”
Lisa serves as the Executive Vice President of Marketing & Communications at the Black Women’s Health Imperative (BWHI), the only national nonprofit with a sole focus on advancing health equity for Black women and girls. With a 30-year-long career in the entertainment industry, Lisa has successfully channeled her strategic creative mindset to advance health equity through multiple initiatives, including a partnership between the WNBA and Opill, the first FDA-approved, non-prescription, progestin-only daily birth control pill.
Miah Hardy, founder of ‘Black Women in Audio’ spoke with Lisa to learn more about BWHI’s special relationship with HBCUs, their partnership with the WNBA, and how you at home can get involved.
What inspired you to make the transition away from the entertainment industry into health equity?
I had a long career in the entertainment industry, and at some point, I said, “That's it.” I just literally walked out the door and never looked back. My mother was aging, and I was looking at the health care system that was working well for our family because we had resources. But I might be sitting next to someone in the waiting room who's struggling. I was listening to these stories and starting to get a real interest in health and so that's when I decided to transfer all of my powers for good. I don't say that disparagingly because I had a great 30-year run in the entertainment industry. It's just now this is the path I'm on.
As EVP of Marketing & Communications at the Black Women's Health Imperative, I’ve had the opportunity to do some really cool things. I directed MePeriod, a documentary with Tabitha Brown, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and other mothers discussing menstruation and puberty. We’ve had amazing campaigns with Ciara for cervical health and Mary J. Blige for breast cancer awareness. It has truly been a glorious ride with the organization, in that respect, because the work is just so crucial to me, and the one thing that I do like about the organization is that we don't treat health in these silos. We take a real 360 approach to Black women as a whole. So it's not just our breast health, our mental health, or our reproductive health. Everybody needs to catch up that all these things are connected.
How did the partnership between Opill and the WNBA come to life?
I think the first partnership was during COVID with vaccine awareness, so any time the WNBA calls, we answer. We see how they show up for us. It was a no-brainer when the WNBA came to us and asked us to partner, because our goal is to always let our folks know about all of the tools in their toolkit. But if a Black woman doesn’t know that she can go to the pharmacy across the street to get an over-the-counter birth control pill—if she doesn't even have that information, we failed ourselves. We failed our women. That's why it was a no brainer, because we knew that there was an information gap in our community. We started polling and did listening sessions with everyday Black women and we found out that women just didn't know about Opill. We want to make sure that Black women are aware of all of the options available to them.
How are you all engaging Black women outside of celebrity partnerships?
You get the celebrity to get the attention, but when you start talking about all of the numbers, if you say 3 to 4 times more Black women die from maternal health-related causes, then those are real-world, everyday women. We were at Essence Fest, and we engaged with about 1,500 women through surveys. That's a big part of our arm, research. We just conducted the largest menopause survey, perimenopause, and menopause, so that we can start to see what affects the everyday Black woman with regard to this. Do they have access? Do they even know about treatments and therapeutics? Does somebody your age even know what the word perimenopause is? The issue is that we cannot start these conversations when we're 40. So that's a big part of our work, going through that health cycle with women.
BWHI was started on the campus of Spelman College and you all currently have a doula training program at Morgan State University. Can you speak more to the relation of BWHI to HBCUs and your possible expansion of that partnership?
Let me tell you one thing. We love our HBCUs. We have a program called My Sister's Keeper, and this year is the 10 year anniversary. We’re so proud of that. And we’re on 8 HBCU campuses currently, which gives us an opportunity to build a pipeline. At Morgan State, we had two doula cohorts. Thinking of the film MePeriod, we were able to screen the film on multiple campuses. When we did the Opill x WNBA tour, we were able to go to four campuses through our My Sister’s Keeper program. It's a program that we’re able to bring additional resources, activations, and education to college students. On a day-to-day, week-to-week basis, [My Sister’s Keeper participants] are deep in the trenches. They’re learning how to be an advocate, how to write to their senators, and they're even going to Capitol Hill. My Sister’s Keeper gives them a real rich experience from a Black woman-led organization, which is truly important in this time.
What are ways that people at home can get involved with Black Women's Health Imperative, especially in response to the Trump administration's attack on equitable health practices?
We encourage everybody to go to our website and sign up for our newsletter because we’re activating on multiple fronts. We may say, “Hey, we want you to chime in on this topic to sign on to some sort of advocacy piece.” We may say, “Meet us here in Atlanta, because we're going to be at the steps of the state Capitol.” So the best case is to go to the website, sign up for the newsletter, and start getting those alerts on how you can get involved with us.
Why should everybody care about Black women’s health?
If you can impact us, that's the secret to it all. It helps everyone. It is so simple. That’s the message. We know that when we help Black women, we help the whole country. We help the whole world.
