Roslyn M. Brock

Roslyn M. Brock is a nationally recognized health equity and policy advocate, social justice change agent, noted public speaker and youth leadership mentor. She holds the distinct honor in 2010 of being the youngest person unanimously elected to the role of Board Chairman for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in its history.

As NAACP National Board Chairman, Brock championed the board’s policy engagement in health care reform and access; The Black Church and HIV: The Social Justice Imperative; marriage equality; the proliferation of Charter schools and environmental justice. In 2003, she founded the NAACP Leadership 500 Summit, a recruitment and training initiative to cultivate a new generation of civil rights leaders. Leadership 500 contributed nearly $2M to support to the organization’s civil rights programs. In 1989 as a youth Board member, Brock was responsible for the National Board’s inclusion of Health in its Constitution as a standing committee and developed the national strategic health program focus. She currently serves as its Chairman Emeritus.

Brock is Chief Global Equity Officer for Abt Associates, a social impact research firm that uses data and bold thinking to improve the quality of people’s lives worldwide. Prior to Abt, Brock was Founder and CEO, Equity Partnership Strategies, LLC a racial equity consulting firm that provided strategic consultation on community engagement, investments and risk mitigation. Brock has also served as Chief Advocacy Officer for Bon Secours Mercy Health, a top 20 health care delivery system where she advanced health equity, health policy reform and social justice initiatives for vulnerable and under resourced populations. Brock’s social impact extends globally, as she built cross-cultural understanding and professional networks with young leaders in China as a Young Leaders Fellow with the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations.

Recognized for her leadership skills by several national organizations and publications, Brock received the 2018 Distinguished Health Care Leader Award from the National Association of Health Services Executive (NAHSE); 2018 Schaffner Award for Social Impact from Northwestern University; 2017 Humanitarian Award from Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., Coretta Scott King Award from Alpha Kappa Alpha, Sorority, Inc.; National Newspaper Publisher’s Leadership Award; Women of Power Award from the National Urban League; Essence magazine’s list of “40 Fierce and Fabulous Women Who Are Changing the World” and Black Entertainment Television’s (BET) inaugural “Black Girls Rock” broadcast.

Brock graduated magna cum laude from Virginia Union University, earned a master’s degree in health services administration from The George Washington University, MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and a master’s degree in divinity from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University. She holds four honorary doctorate degrees.

Brock is a Board Trustee at The George Washington University and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility; Chairman, International Connection/Social Action Committee, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Sorority, Inc.; Chairman, Women’s Caucus, Comcast NBCUniversal Joint Diversity Advisory Council; former Chair, Board of Advisors, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University; former Trustee, Catholic Health Association of the United States of America; Life member, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (AKA) and NAACP; and member of the LINKS, Inc.

Brock’s personal philosophy is embodied in an African proverb: “Care more than others think is wise, risk more than others think is safe, dream more than others think is practical, and expect more than others think is possible.” She serves as Associate Minister at the historic Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia. Her favorite passage of scripture is Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you saith the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. To give you hope and a future.”

Her trademark mantra is “Courage will not skip this generation! ®”