Maranda C. Ward, EdD, MPH
Maranda C. Ward, EdD, MPH
The George Washington University
Dr. Maranda C. Ward is an Assistant Professor in The George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences where she designs, evaluates, and teaches health equity curriculum for undergraduate students that integrates her #EquityMatters podcast. However, when asked, she describes herself as a community educator, curriculum developer, and youth builder.
She has strong commitments to equity, community legacy, as well as youth and workforce development. These commitments come through as the training director for the Governor’s Academy of Health Sciences- a healthcare pipeline program managed through a private-public partnership between GW and Alexandria City Public Schools. As an affiliate faculty for the GW Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service, she translated her participatory action research on youth identity into a youth-led canvas-based mural on preserving D.C. legacy. Dr. Ward's research is further converted into practice as the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Promising Futures - a youth development pipeline for D.C. youth ages 11-24 that integrates a social justice approach to positive youth development using edu-tainment to invite youth to explore their civic and social identities, social inequities, and health seeking behaviors. She is also a certified trainer for three Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) evidence-based interventions: Focus on Youth + ImPACT, VOICES/VOCES, and Project AIM. She also authored a curriculum based on the Social Change Model of Leadership for undergraduate GW business school students to implement a citywide social entrepreneurship venture with D.C. youth. She also leads the curriculum reform efforts of GW’s health sciences program.
When she is not teaching or serving on-campus, she is engaged in DC in a range of capacities. For instance, she is a board member for Girls Rock DC- a non-profit committed to music and social justice education for girls, trans youth and non-binary youth. She also serves on the Sibley Memorial Hospital & Johns Hopkins Medicine advisory board for wellness projects in Wards 7 and 8. The DC Mayor, Muriel Bowser, appointed her to fill the Ward 8 seat on the Mayor's Commission on Health Equity.
Maranda earned her Doctorate in Education from GW, her Master's in Public Health from Tulane University, and her Bachelor's degrees in Sociology and Anthropology from Spelman College. She enjoys learning from youth, traveling, and brunch.
For more information, visit www.marandaward.com.