Eboni Winford, 39, director of research and health equity, Cherokee Health Systems
Getting a PhD is not easy; being the first in your family to do so is even harder. Dr. Eboni Winford embraces the role. Her work focuses on equity in health care. She hopes to conduct a data-driven analysis of racial disparities in health outcomes.
When you reflect on your career so far, which achievement stands out the most?
I am the first person in my family to earn a Ph.D. When they call me Dr. Winford, I’m not the only one answering. I am responding on behalf of my family members who have been denied access to educational spaces because of their skin, social status or economic barriers. I answer on behalf of the ancestors who endured unimaginable horrors in their efforts to exist in spaces not created for them. I answer on behalf of all my nieces and nephews who realize that their higher educational pursuits are more than possible.
What is the biggest professional obstacle you have had to overcome and how did you overcome it?
I am often the only black person and the only woman in professional spaces and that can be challenging at times. I have had to learn to trust my voice and my place in spaces where those like me are not often present, while also being aware of how my identities hold stereotypes that can undermine my position. I have learned the power of mentorship from black women who have walked similar paths to mine. Being vulnerable enough to ask for help and hear their stories has helped me reconcile these challenges.
What will you focus on in 2023?
Obtaining Health Equity Accreditation for Cherokee Health Systems. Completing the data collection and analysis of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Leaders Interdisciplinary Program Project on the relationship between racism and health outcomes at a federally qualified health center with my colleagues Drs. Jennifer Jabson Tree and Dr. Judson Laughter. Develop processes and policies to facilitate research, training and other community-based partnerships between Cherokee Health Systems and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Considering pursuing Board Certification in Clinical Health Psychology.
What is your biggest professional dream?
I dream a lot! As of today, one of my biggest professional dreams is to ensure that all applications for federal funding include a requirement that applicants specifically address health equity. This component would require applicants to provide an overview of equitable ways to conduct research and identify measurable outcomes that demonstrate their commitment to equity. This approach would work to contradict all research that has been done considering the professional growth of researchers over and above the participants they conduct research on.
Which mistake did you learn the most from?
Failure to delegate and trust others has hindered my professional and personal well-being. Believing that I am the only one who can accomplish a task goes against my values of collaboration and shared leadership and undermines the talents and strengths of those I routinely work with. Distrust of my team members contributes to exhaustion and fatigue, which significantly limits my ability to be my fullest and most authentic self.
What motivates you?
Fairness, equality, reduced inequalities, elimination of barriers and root causes.
What’s the most overrated business advice you’ve heard?
Anything related to the “grinding culture” or “no pain, no gain” narrative causes more harm than can be imagined. Our lives are consumed by productivity as a marker of our value and contribution; however, failing to account for well-being and radical acts of self-care diminish our ability to emerge as our full selves. Focusing only on productivity and economic results lowers our self-esteem and creates feelings of guilt when one does not produce as much as is expected to be successful in one’s career. This is a recipe for burnout.
What trait do you want most in a colleague?
Reliability, flexibility, authenticity, fun, compassion, organization and honesty.
What about Knoxville would you like to upgrade?
Increasing the availability of inpatient mental health and substance use disorder treatment facilities for low-income and no-income residents. Enhanced affordable public transportation that would allow East Knoxville residents to easily access other areas and businesses that extend beyond this community, for example West Knoxville Health Resources. Extra specialty providers who are willing to provide care to low-income and no-income residents. Medical legal partnerships for low-income and non-income residents who lack the resources to advocate for themselves when legal concerns may adversely affect their health and well-being. The process of getting help for someone experiencing a mental health crisis, including employing mental health practitioners as first responders instead of law enforcement officers. Protected spaces and places of spaces for homeless individuals to exist without negative consequences. Affordable grocery stores in East Knoxville.
What do people not know about you?
I am an introverted extrovert. I would rather spend time at home with a 1000 piece puzzle or a good book than be in public settings with larger groups of people. I even prefer this to spending time in more intimate settings with smaller crowds. I feel refreshed and recharged in my space. I am truly a homebody despite my great energy and personality.
- Family: Man Dr. Brandon Winford and parents Adrienne and Ronald Stewart
- Years of work in the current company: nine
- Diplomas and certificates: Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Charlotte; MPH, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; BA, Duke University
- Community involvement: Board of Directors of the Voluntary Ministry Center; Centro Hispano of East Tennessee Board of Directors, secretary and parliamentarian; Planned Parenthood of Mississippi and East Tennessee, Knoxville Community Board chair; Zeta Phi Beta Sorority president, first vice president, secretary, parliamentarian, regional secretary, International Mental Health Team; National Association of Community Health Centers, second vice chair of the LGBTQ and HIV Task Force; Governor’s Rural Health Care Task Force; American Psychological Association Health Equity Committee, Task Force on Eradicating Racism, Discrimination, and Hate speech; Board of Directors of the Family Health Care Collaborative, co-chair of the Primary Care Behavioral Health Special Interest Group; American Public Health Association Secretary for Community Health Policy and Planning Section
This Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.
– Arora Arena
