WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 4, 2020) – The Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity, based at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, today announced that Toyese Oyeyemi, Jr., has been named Director of the Beyond Flexner Alliance program.
Oyeyemi, who started Sept. 1, previously served as a Health Extension Regional Officer and researcher at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center. As a public health practitioner and researcher, Oyeyemi is committed to finding innovative solutions to improve community health and increasing diversity and inclusion in the healthcare workforce. As director of the Beyond Flexner Alliance, Oyeyemi’s primary focus will be to connect leaders in healthcare with one another, encourage new practices of global learning within the alliance, and engage a broader and more inclusive set of social mission stakeholders and programming into the program’s work.
The Beyond Flexner Alliance is a national movement where health professionals and students committed to an equitable health workforce gather to learn new ways to integrate social justice into education and medical practice. The program hosts an annual conference, first held in Oklahoma in 2012, and virtual gatherings for individuals working toward health equity to gather and discuss new methods and ideas.
“I am excited to join the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity and pioneer new avenues for health professionals and students to connect and discuss the future of healthcare,” Oyeyemi said. “It’s never been more important than it is right now to ensure inclusion and diversity in health care, during this pivotal time in the fight for social justice and equity.”
Oyeyemi has led projects to support grassroots organizations with equity-based missions in community health, education, and social welfare. He consults nonprofit organizations on project management and programmatic planning to achieve their social justice goals. At the University of New Mexico, he co-developed and instructed a groundbreaking health equity and social justice course to undergraduate students.
Oyeyemi is also a Senior Fellow in the 2017 cohort of the Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity program, a global leadership program of the Mullan Institute. Funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies, the global program trains early-to-mid career health professionals to address health inequities.
“We are so pleased to have Toyese join us as our inaugural director,” said Candice Chen, MD, Chair of the Beyond Flexner Alliance Board of Directors and an associate professor of health policy and management at Milken Institute SPH. “His demonstrated commitment to health equity, social justice, and community leadership will help to launch the Beyond Flexner Alliance to the next level of impact, in this time where social mission is needed more than ever.”
Oyeyemi received his Master of Public Health degree from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, where he also maintains a faculty appointment in family and community medicine, and his Bachelor’s degree from New Mexico State University. He is currently a Master of Business Administration candidate at the University of Arizona.