President & CEO, National Medical Fellowships, Inc.
Named among the Top 25 Most Influential Minority Leaders in Healthcare in the nation by Modern Healthcare Magazine, Becker’s Hospital Review Top 50 and Top 65 and Top 70 African American’s to Know in Healthcare for her public health centered track record of health equity policy successes, Michellene Davis has been hailed as a top influencer in business, healthcare and government. Previously ranked as the State of New Jersey’s top lobbyist in the healthcare industry and as one of the Top 25 Most Influential Black Women in Business by The Network Journal, Michellene Davis is the new President and Chief Executive Officer of National Medical Fellowships, Inc.
Founded in 1946, NMF was one of America’s first diversity organizations. Today, NMF remains the only national organization solely dedicated to providing scholarships to medical and health professions students in all groups underrepresented in healthcare. Ms. Davis comes to NMF from RWJBarnabas Health, the largest academic medical center system in New Jersey, where she served as Executive Vice President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer. Ms. Davis created and led Social Impact and Community Investment, an equity-centered, policy-led community health practice dedicated to addressing the social and political determinants of health. During her tenure there, her
portfolio consisted of: Policy Development and Government Affairs, Healthy Living and
Community Engagement, Employee Wellness, Marketing, Communications, External and Corporate Affairs and Global Health. She is the creator of the RWJBarnabas Health Women’s Leadership Alliance, the Young Professional Advisory Council and the Corporate Institute for Internship.
The Social Impact and Community Investment Practice was created to leverage the system’s range of assets to advance a culture of health and lift the quality of life in New Jersey communities. With a programmatic emphasis on ensuring health equity, the practice spearheads innovative social impact and external affairs initiatives that address the social, economic, and environmental conditions that have a significant impact on health outcomes. The policy arm leads the practice as it seeks to change systems, structures, and policies to create a more equitable future for all New Jerseyans.
Before joining RWJBarnabas Health, Ms. Davis served as Chief Policy Counsel to former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, where she was the first African American to serve in this position in state history. She was the first African American and only the second women to serve as Acting New Jersey State Treasurer responsible for a state budget of over $30 billion dollars. She was the youngest person to serve as Executive Director of the New Jersey Lottery in state history and served as a senior policy advisor in the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services.
Ms. Davis has a proven record of supporting the equitable building of community wealth and health throughout her career and, while Acting State Treasurer of New Jersey, founded the New Jersey Department of the Treasury’s Office of Supplier Diversity and Division of Minority and Women Owned Businesses.
She is also active in civic engagement in the local and the global community. Nationally, she serves on the Boards of The Democracy Collaborative, Health Anchor Network, CMC Energy and Building Healthy Places Network Advisory Council. Globally, is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Black Women’s Public Policy Institute.
She is the President Emeritus of Executive Women of New Jersey, the state’s premier organization for senior level executive women in business and Chair of the Rutgers – Rowan University Joint Board of Governors.