Panelist: The Social Determinants of Black Women’s Health
Latecia Engram is a career federal employee in the Department of Health and Human Services. Her career spans more than 25 years serving as a public health subject matter expert and innovation leader in the oversight of data collection and evaluation efforts; designing capacity building and technical assistance activities; facilitating stakeholder engagement; and reporting health outcomes. Engram has led agency-wide initiatives in areas in innovation, data collection, and performance management for multiple operating divisions, including the Office of the Secretary, Administration for Children and Families, and the Health Resources and Services Administration.
Engram has led the development or participated in several landmark publications, including HIV/AIDS Among Minorities in Georgia (2002), the National Health Care Disparities Report (2003), and The State of Data Sharing at the Department of Health and Human Services (2018). In recent projects, she has applied new skills in information technology project management and emerging technologies toward combating public health issues and improving health status among vulnerable populations. In this role, Engram has successfully implemented projects to improve the speed, precision and efficiency with which HHS can answer mission-critical questions, design policy and augment prevention efforts.
Engram holds a bachelor’s in psychology from Spelman College and a master’s in health promotion and education from the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina, Columbia. She credits her initial passion for public health to her Spelman adviser, Barbara Bell, Ph.D.; Spelman’s Health Careers Program; Bill Jenkins', Ph.D., introduction to public health at Morehouse College; and her first mentor/supervisor while employed at the Morehouse Public Health Science Institute, Nat White. Engram's continued passion is fueled through her community service career where she has had the honor of holding multiple leadership positions in many organizations, including the National Alumnae Association of Spelman College and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.