Office of Minority Health and Health Equity hires new Health Workforce Program Manager

Keisha L. Smith joined the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) in January 2011 as the Health Workforce Program Manager in the Office of Minority Health and Health Equity. In this role, she is responsible for the oversight and coordination of health workforce recruitment and retention initiatives and incentive programs, while promoting health equity and social justice. She brings over twelve years of experience in marketing, strategic planning and leadership that will continue to enable her to target untapped and underserved demographics across the state. This, along with passion, drive, and determination to impact vulnerable populations, will allow her to be in service in both legislative and grass roots level initiatives to improve access to quality healthcare and promote sustainable change.

Previous to her employment with VDH, Keisha accepted a fellowship with the National Urban Fellows program to cultivate her leadership capacity as she planned to transition into the public sector. Prior to that, she functioned as a Marketing Manager for Genworth Financial where she developed marketing communications strategies, materials and budgets to effectively promote products and services. She spent the previous five years with SunTrust Bank, functioning in various capacities. During which time she successfully completed the nationally-acclaimed Manager Trainee program and received numerous promotions within a two-year timeframe. She functioned as Branch Manager and soon advanced to Assistant Vice President and Marketing Manager of the Division of Marine and RV Finance.

Keisha received a B.S. in Human Services Counseling from Old Dominion University and a Master’s of Public Administration from CUNY Baruch College through the National Urban Fellows program. This highly competitive fellowship is a rigorous leadership development program comprised of academic course work and a nine-month mentorship assignment. As a part of the program, she was selected to work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with a focus on health equity, community based participatory research approaches in partnership with faith based community organizations, and assisting with priority policy initiatives pertaining to nutrition, physical activity and obesity.

Keisha is an innovative and courageous leader who is determined to utilize her expertise to provide effective and efficient management of OMHHE health workforce recruitment and retention initiatives.