In this engaging conversation, Bronwyn Lucas, MPH shares her journey in public health, emphasizing the importance of courage, personal growth, and advocacy for racial equity. She discusses her experiences as a woman of color in leadership roles, the challenges faced in public health, and her vision for the future, highlighting the need for community engagement and empowerment. Bronwyn also reflects on her personal growth through art and the significance of confidence and authenticity in her life.

Meet Bronwyn Lucas, MPH

Bronwyn Lucas, MPH, is the Deputy Director of Programs and Services at the Center for Black Health and Equity, a national nonprofit dedicated to eliminating health disparities. In this role, she collaborates closely with the Executive Director to shape the organization’s strategic vision, develop programmatic policies, and oversee the implementation of all initiatives.

Lucas holds a MPH in Maternal and Child Health from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. With over 20 years of experience advancing public health equity, she has worked across local, state, national, and international levels on critical issues such as women’s health, economic justice, youth empowerment, policy and systems change, leadership development, and food justice. She has also held various leadership roles in the nonprofit sector, including founder, Executive Director, Board Chair, and consultant.

Recently embracing life as an “empty nester,” Lucas has taken on a new role as a certified Guardian Ad Litem Court Advocate in the 10th Judicial District Court of Wake County, advocating for the best interests of children in the legal system. In her free time, she enjoys painting, traveling, visiting the beach, and spending time with family and friends.

Listen To This Episode of The Courageous Public Health Podcast

Conversation Highlights

• Dr. McClamroch welcomes Bronwyn Lucas — a public health strategist, advocate, and visionary leader who brings deep expertise and lived experience to her work.
• Bronwyn reflects on courage — what it means to lead courageously through fear, grief, uncertainty, and hope, and how courage has shown up again and again throughout her career and life.
• Grief, loss, and professional identity — Bronwyn shares how personal loss impacted her career path, her leadership style, and her commitment to authenticity and community healing.
• Courage in collective spaces — a powerful discussion on the importance of leading collaboratively, centering community voices, and resisting systems that pit leaders against one another.
• Why leading with humanity matters — Bronwyn shares why vulnerability, care, and integrity are non-negotiables in her leadership and in building public health systems that serve everyone.
• Visionary leadership — Bronwyn talks about public health leadership rooted in equity, justice, and real relationships, and the urgent need to disrupt the status quo in public health practice.
• The importance of taking up space — Bronwyn speaks powerfully about refusing to shrink, especially as a woman of color leader, and how claiming space is a radical and necessary act.
• Sustaining courage over time — reflections on what it takes to keep going, to nurture joy, and to build communities of support when doing transformational work.
• Vision for the future — Bronwyn envisions a future where public health leaders are fully human, fully present, and radically committed to justice, compassion, and sustainable impact.

"Every act of courage, every moment of healing, ripples outward. None of this work happens alone." - Bronwyn Lucas, MPH

Stay In Touch:

Brownyn Lucas on LinkedIn

Email Dr. Kristi McClamroch

Dr. Kristi McClamroch on LinkedIn

www.CourageousPublicHealth.com

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At Courageous Public Health, we are turning up the volume on courage within women, particularly Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color who are doing the work of public health. We support public health organizations through workshop design and facilitation, and speaking engagements. Interested in working with us? Reach out on email, LinkedIn, or our website!