This story is part of a series celebrating the recipients of the 2024 Chancellor Awards for Diversity, given to faculty, staff and learners for their leadership advancing diversity, equity and inclusion on campus and in our communities.
Jada Williams, MS3, was in and out of hospitals as a young kid, dealing with a health condition.
While in treatment, she spent a lot of time with doctors and took an interest in eventually pursuing a medical career. “I always thought medicine was this amazing place where they help improve and take care of people,” Williams said.
Williams’ health care experiences sharpened her focus to improve the care that all communities receive.
That path led her to the UCSF School of Medicine in 2022.
Now a third-year medical student on track to graduate in 2026, Williams has been volunteering with the UCSF Black Health Initiative (BHI) and started the student-run UCSF BHI/Booker T. Washington Community Clinic in San Francisco. Both pursuits put her passion for addressing health disparities into action at the local level.
“Community is about people coming together for a collective purpose,” she said. “When we see injustice, it really drives us to want to create something better for our community.”
UCSF’s Black Health Initiative was created after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to bring COVID resources to San Francisco’s Black community. The initiative is still going strong today.
Williams and other UCSF medical students and clinicians have helped administer vaccinations, including ones for COVID-19, and conducted diabetes and blood pressure screenings. They’ve also led preventative health trainings to build relationships between the community and health care providers.
As part of her work at BHI, Williams has worked alongside Malcolm John, MD, MPH, professor of medicine, UCSF Division of Infectious Diseases in the UCSF School of Medicine’s Department of Medicine, and co-chair of the UCSF Health Equity Council, and Jonathan Butler, PhD, associate director of the Black Health Institute in the UCSF School of Medicine’s Department of Family and Community Medicine.
“The most rewarding part of developing this clinic has been becoming part of the Booker T. community and knowing that what I’m doing is helping my community,” Williams said.
For her outstanding efforts, Williams is the student winner of the 2024 Chancellor Award for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership. The award honors Williams’ commitment to community service far beyond her academic role in building bridges, dismantling barriers and creating space for innovation and connection.
Honoring Our Community
We salute members of our UCSF community for their leadership advancing diversity, equity and inclusion on campus and in our communities.