Dr. Ala Stanford has a long list of accomplishments. She is the first black female pediatric surgeon trained entirely in the United States. She is the founder of the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium. She opened the Ala Stanford Center for Health Equity in 2021 to offer primary care and behavioral health services in North Philadelphia. In 2022, USA Today named her to their list of Women of the Year, and she was appointed as Regional Director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

In November 2020, CSL announced a collaboration with the Urban League of Philadelphia focusing on leadership and career development as well as public health, with specific funding to support the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium. As we celebrate Women’s History Month in March, it was the perfect time to speak with Dr. Stanford as part of our podcast series, World of Promise, to talk about her work in protecting human health, the challenges she has faced, her thoughts on health equity and how she is working to improve access to quality healthcare for all.