Zahirah Alleyne-McNatt, MHA  

Zahirah Alleyne-McNatt has lived in numerous diverse communities from rural environments in Trinidad and Tobago and Maui, Hawaii to urban environments in New York City.  She has always had an interest in health and healing in under -privileged communities, both in the United States and abroad.  Her interests led her to a major in Africana Studies at Cornell University, along with a rigorous course load in Biological Sciences.  In April 2006, she graduated from the University of Michigan, School of Public Health with a Master of Health Administration.

Prior to earning her master degree, Zahirah served as a co-host for a radio program in New York City covering topics related to reproductive health, Medicaid and alternative medicine.  During the historic March for Women’s Lives in Washington DC, she interviewed March leaders from the Black Women’s Health Imperative and the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum.  Zahirah has given presentations on health care quality and transparency and is currently training to become a speaker in the Baltimore City Public School system with the goal of inspiring young people to pursue higher education.

While a student at Cornell University, she was Co-Director of the Thakaneng Collective, an African centered youth program in Ithaca, New York.  She also served as a special events planner, organizing city bus tours, travel to conferences, receptions and holiday festivities.
 
Zahirah moved to Maryland and became an Administrative Fellow with MedStar Health, an integrated, regional health care system, where she served in many capacities, including co-facilitator of an interdisciplinary team focused on improvement of care for heart failure and other chronic disease patients.  In past positions with Ascension Health and the University of Michigan, Zahirah worked with community organizations and academia to build meaningful partnerships to improve the health status of surrounding neighborhoods. 

Zahirah currently resides in Maryland and is passionate about improving access to health and education. She works for Johns Hopkins Medicine International and manages day-to-day operations of global projects and is specifically focused on program development in Trinidad and Tobago.  She is a volunteer with the Child Health Foundation and is looking forward to answering the call of the Ariel foundation’s vision, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?  If I am only for myself, what am I?  If not now, then when