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Kamilah Pickett

Director, Race Matters Institute

Atlanta, GA

Kamilah A. Pickett is Director of the Race Matters Institute at MDC (RMI). Kamilah leads the social entrepreneurial work of RMI, which offers customized training, technical assistance, coaching, and product development to advance concrete actions in both operations and programming that strengthen an organization’s mission performance. RMI focuses specifically on promoting racial equity in organizational strategies, policies, and practices as a complement to the work of others who focus on racial equity at the individual and interpersonal levels.  Kamilah and RMI joined MDC in 2023.

Kamilah has been a trainer and facilitator with RMI since 2016 and served as the core program evaluator and researcher. Her interests include the intersections of health, race, and justice – she has worked as a federal and state policy advocate with Medicaid/Medicare beneficiaries, children and youth with special healthcare needs, and Black and Muslim communities. She specializes in helping community-led efforts and organizations operationalize racial equity and transformative justice goals. Kamilah has extensive experience in program development, implementation and delivery, training development, and community engagement and outreach.

Kamilah received a BA in Psychology and African American Studies from Georgia State University. After completing a Master of Public Health at Morehouse School of Medicine, she was awarded the inaugural Louis Stokes Urban Health Policy Fellowship from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. Kamilah received a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center. She co-led a faith-based mentoring program at DC’s Youth Services Center and designed a health advocate training program for Black Muslim communities. Kamilah served two terms on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Advisory Panel on Outreach and Education.

Kamilah is based in Atlanta, GA where her family has deep roots.