2006 VISION AWARD RECIPIENT

Lorraine Cole, Ph.D
President and CEO, National Black Women’s Health Imperative
(formerly the National Black Women’s Health Project)

Second Row L to R: Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, Dr. Maupin, Lorraine Cole First Row: Dorothy Height

Lorraine Cole, Ph.D. is nationally recognized as a tenacious health advocate, advancing the health needs of minority and underserved populations. She has dedicated her career to promoting policies and building programs toward the elimination of health disparities through organizations that represent health care providers, academic/research institutions and health care consumers. 

Dr. Cole is the President and, Chief Executive Officer of the Black Women’s Health Imperative (formerly the National Black Women’s Health Project ), the only national organization solely dedicated to ensuring optimum health for Black women across their life span. She is the former executive director of the National Medical Association, the oldest national organization representing African-American physicians. Previously, she served as the executive director of the Minority Health Professions Foundation, supporting biomedical research in schools of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and veterinary medicine in historically Black institutions. She was also Minority Concerns Director for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and is credited with establishing the organization’s national reputation for leadership in multicultural programs and diversity management.

She has been the recipient of numerous professional honors and awards throughout her career.  She recently was awarded an honorary doctorate from Southern Connecticut State University in the area of public service. EBONY magazine has recognized Dr. Cole as one of the “Women on the Cutting Edge of Health Care and Research.”

2005 Recipient: Vivian W. Pinn, M.D.

2007 Recipient: Deborah Prothrow-Stith, M.D.

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