Dr. Helene D. Gayle, president of Spelman College, joins “The Monica Pearson Show” this week to tell the story of how a little girl from Buffalo, New York, became a doctor and a prestigious leader in the nonprofit world.
Though her parents were both born in the South, they migrated north to raise their family. Gayle and her siblings were raised to get an education and give back to the community, which is the mindset that influenced her interest in health care.
She worked in pediatrics, then public health for 20 years with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before taking a position with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where she led programs on HIV, AIDS and other global health issues. From there she served as CEO of CARE, an international humanitarian organization that works to empower women and girls, and, just last year, landed at Spelman.
Credit: AJC Staff
Credit: AJC Staff
“I think my job is to enable the brilliance that is around me,” said Gayle, who, in her first year at the private women’s university, brought back intramural sports, along with the school mascot, the jaguar, and has raised over $100 million for scholarships.
“Girls and women are disproportionately impacted by poverty around the world, but they’re also our greatest hope for changing it.”
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