Dr. Chris T. Pernell is a dynamic physician leader and social change agent. In her
practice, she focuses on health justice, community advocacy, and population
medicine and well-being. A celebrated visionary and apostle of public health, Dr.
Chris serves as the Director of the NAACP Center for Health Equity. The Center is
dedicated to driving equitable health outcomes and transforming healthcare
systems while valuing the whole person. Before joining the nation’s oldest and
most revered civil rights organization, she launched The Esther Group, a public
health consulting and health equity strategy firm. As the founder of The Esther
Group, she is guided by the mandate to envision a future where organizations,
communities, and systems can innovate for a better world and humanity.
Previously, she served as the first Chief Strategic Integration and Health Equity
Officer at University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey. Dr. Pernell oversaw a
portfolio that included Population Health, Strategic Planning, Community Affairs,
and the Human Experience. Her office spearheaded the development of a health
equity strategy and integrated diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism
initiatives across all system operations.

Prior to her tenure at University Hospital, she led the 1199SEIU/League Labor
Management Initiatives (LMI) Workplace and Community Health Program.
Working with 1199SEIU leaders and frontline workers—the nation’s largest
healthcare union—and executive partners across New York City's healthcare
institutions, her efforts centered on workplace health strategies, worker
empowerment, health equity, and health system transformation.

Dr. Chris is a charismatic and leading voice in preventive medicine and public
health. Singled out both for her business acumen and public health expertise, her
list of honors includes Insider NJ Powerful Women of New Jersey; ROI-NJ Top 150
Business Leaders; The Greenleaf Center Hall of Fame Servant-Leader; The New
Jersey Public Health Association Dr. Ezra Mundy Hunt Award for distinctive
leadership in the field; an NJBiz Best 50 Women in Business Award; a ROI-NJ
Women in Business Influencer; The American College of Preventive Medicine
(ACPM) Ron Davis Special Recognition Award; an NJBiz Public Health Hero Award;
and the NAACP NJ State Conference 100 Black People Who Changed the World
Honoree.

Dr. Pernell has advanced issues such as criminal justice reform, care for justiceimpacted populations, evidence-based wellness programs, civic health, and high-
quality education. Known for her community work in Greater Newark, New
Jersey, she served as a medical expert on the Essex County Civilian Task Force. On
Juneteenth 2023, she was tapped to join the New Jersey Reparations Council’s
health equity committee. Dr. Pernell is a frequent contributor across television,
radio, and print media, leveraging her lived experiences and insights as a public
health physician and health equity champion. She regularly speaks at professional
symposia and social forums and advises community, state, regional, and national
leaders on health equity, racial justice, population health, community wellbeing,
and faith-based initiatives.

Dr. Chris graduated cum laude from Princeton University before attending Duke
University School of Medicine. She received her Master of Public Health from the
Columbia Mailman School of Public Health and completed the General Preventive
Medicine Residency at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr.
Pernell is a fellow and Regent-at-Large for the American College of Preventive
Medicine. She holds an appointment as a Clinical Assistant Professor at Rutgers
New Jersey Medical School. Previously, she served as an adjunct associate
professor at NYU College of Global Public Health. She works as a faith leader in a
groundbreaking assembly, BET HaSHEM YHWH Worldwide Ministries, and travels
domestically and internationally, helping to transform lives through love, truth,
creativity, and inspiration.