My name is Rachel "Rae" Crowder, and I'm the founder of Black Health Lit® . I was born in Dayton, Ohio, into a large family full of plenty of cousins, aunts, and uncles and I'm the oldest of my mother's two girls. In high school, I participated in track and played the violin. I'm an alumna of Ohio University in Athens, Ohio (Go Bobcats!). I graduated with a B.S. in Health Administration. After graduating, I immediately began pursuing my Masters in Public Health, which I achieved at twenty-three years old with a 3.9. I learned early on the importance of work and how success comes from perseverance, effort, and determination. I've taken this mindset and used it to spur my endeavors in spreading health awareness in the Black community.

Black Health Lit® spawned from visits I made to my mother's workplace as a child. She was a nurse, and I often got a chance to share her day-to-day experiences: the good and bad smells within the nursing homes, the sights ranging from medical uniforms and equipment to medicine carts and various interactions. I also saw how illnesses affected the patients. At a young age, I developed a great deal of empathy for the many people I saw my mother help. 

Years later, when I was fifteen years old, I interned at Planned Parenthood through the Sinclair Community College Upward Bound program. There, I gained valuable healthcare experience by participating in checkups for the women who came for health screenings, birth control, and other issues. I hadn't known it at the time, but the hours I spent in the Upward Bound program cultivated the seeds sown while shadowing my mother at work.

After completing my education, I began working at CareSource, a Medicaid MCO that supplies health insurance plans for the underserved population in Ohio. I started as a Wellness Advocate, learning about disease management. Through my communications and collaborations with other members, I learned firsthand how disparities and a lack of knowledge affected healthcare in marginalized communities. While in this role I created a tobacco cessation program that the State of Ohio approved and earned my department the contract in response to the RFP. 

In 2014, I moved to Polaris, a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, to undertake a new challenge at Quantum Health. There, I ventured into management while continuing my efforts to further health education and provide pregnant women with the appropriate resources to ensure healthy deliveries. Though I outgrew this position quickly, I learned a great deal that allowed me to progress in the healthcare field. I became a licensed health insurance agent at Hylant, where I created strategies for improving the health of employers workforce and containment of medical spending. Soon, I began learning about the infrastructure that supports healthcare from those who made both policies and decisions, the general movers and shakers within the business. I had the opportunity to sit at the table and experience how healthcare worked at a fundamental level, something few people have a chance to see. My time at Hylant became a valuable source of knowledge and further nurtured the seeds planted years prior that became the foundation of Black Health Lit®. 

I then moved on to become a Senior Consultant at OhioHealth, a not-for-profit system of hospitals and healthcare providers in Columbus, Ohio, and surrounding areas, spanning forty-seven counties. The network includes twelve hospitals, over 200 ambulatory sites, hospices, home health providers, medical equipment providers, and other health-related services. As a Senior Consultant, I directly engaged and collaborated with physicians, nurses, and various department leaders. I supplied support for technology, processes, and programs that ensure smooth interactions between providers and patients, proper documentation, and adherence to regulatory standards, all to certify the needs of our customers are adequately met. After a few years in this role I was promoted to an Advisor where my focused shifted to strategy and innovative programs to improve patient's health outcomes. 

My vision for Black Health Lit® was further refined in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder in police custody on May 31, 2020. That summer, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, I marched shoulder-to-shoulder with Black women who shared my anger and pain, who wanted justice for George Floyd and all victims of police brutality. I spent that entire summer marching, protesting, and engaging with my community. I marched with the young and the old. I marched with women and men, white, Black, Hispanic, and Asian, activists, artists, teenagers, and children. An all-around inspiring breadth of human beings took to the streets and showed support for the surging movement, all shouting to the heavens that Black Lives Matter.

Despite the fierce calls echoing around me, I still felt despair and futility. I prayed to God, asking Him what I could do for my people, for Black people, and how I could use my knowledge and skills to serve my community. I listened as He showed me the path, pointed me to the tree that had sprouted from the seeds I planted as a girl, following my mother through the hospital where she worked. With new insight, I began laying the foundation that would later become BLACK HEALTH LIT® in the Fall of 2020. Though it would take considerable time and effort, I'd already internalized that success comes from the work and efforts we put into realizing our ambitions.

I worked on the platform; I built the structure. Initially, my idea met skepticism from those who couldn't see the value in what I sought. They saw no market for Black Health Lit®, didn't understand its point. I marched on, the memories of that summer still fresh in my mind. The work was demanding and required an incredible amount of research, but I was blessed to be surrounded by wonderful people who'd supported me from day one.

I launched the first episode of Black Health Lit® in January of 2021 with the mission of empowering and inspiring greater health literacy in the Black Community. The purpose of Black Health Lit® is to advocate for Black people, ensure equitable access to quality healthcare, and promote healthy living. A new episode of the BlackHealthLit podcast is released every first and third #SelfCareSunday of each month. As the host, I engage with health experts on topics ranging from maternal mortality to managing stress and other issues directly impacting Black Americans. The BlackHealthLit podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Anchor.

Black Health Lit® is a vital resource in the battle against systemic racism in healthcare and in teaching and promoting healthy lifestyles to Black people. Good health improves one's quality of life, longevity, and capacity to meet life's demands with the energy needed. It also allows one to enjoy time with family and friends and leisure while maintaining positive physical and mental wellbeing. This extends generationally, allowing parents who support their wellbeing to impart that knowledge to their children and cultivate healthy families and communities. I started Black Health Lit® with this primary goal: to foster healthy Black individuals, families, and communities through the work we do.