Tekisha Dwan Everette, PhD, MPA, MPH, CPH

Trust for America’s Health
Tekisha Everette

Tekisha Dwan Everette is executive vice president at Trust for America’s Health (TFAH). She partners with TFAH’s president and CEO to chart and implement the organization’s strategic direction and priorities; provides counsel on current and emerging policy issues; and engages with key organizations, policymakers, and other partners to advance policy priorities to improve public health and promote equity.

A successful executive leader and public policy strategist with a passion for health justice, Everette has served in the nonprofit, state, and private sectors. Most recently, she was inaugural executive director of Health Equity Solutions, a statewide nonprofit dedicated to advancing health equity through policy and advocacy in Connecticut. Prior to Health Equity Solutions, she was managing director of federal government affairs with the American Diabetes Association, where she provided strategic leadership on policy and advocacy initiatives with the White House, federal agencies, and Congress. Everette also worked as a government relations consultant with Drinker, Biddle, and Reath, LLP, where she represented the interests of several nonprofit health care organizations on issues related to health reform, Medicare, Medicaid, and federal appropriations. She has also worked for the Service Employees International Union and the State of Maryland.

Recognized for her achievements in health policy and advocacy, Everette is an alumna of the National Urban Fellows’ America’s Leaders of Change program and is a member of the Association of Black Sociologists.

Everette earned her doctorate in sociology from American University with a concentration in race, gender, and social justice as it relates to social policy. She holds a master’s degree in public administration as well as two bachelor of arts degrees in political science and interdisciplinary studies — all from Virginia Tech. She also earned a master’s degree in public health from Yale University.