Newark, where she kept arguing the same point to juries: if her client had had
access to healthcare, none of them would be in that courtroom. That insight has
shaped a career spanning law, government, and now national health equity.
In this episode of Inspiring Women, host Laurie McGraw sits down with Michellene
Davis, Esq., President and CEO of National Medical Fellowships (NMF). Founded in
1946, NMF is one of America's oldest diversity organizations and works to close
the physician shortage by building a more representative healthcare workforce.
ABOUT MICHELLENE DAVIS
Michellene describes her career as "chutes and ladders," but the through line is
consistent: integrity, systems thinking, and a refusal to set policy through a
privileged lens. Her path includes:
- Trial litigator and public defender in Newark, New Jersey
- Senior policy advisor in the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services
- Youngest CEO of the New Jersey State Lottery, a $2.4 billion entity and one of
the state's largest revenue producers
- First African American and only the second woman to serve as New Jersey State
Treasurer, overseeing a multi-billion dollar budget and pension portfolio
- First African American to serve as Chief Policy Counsel to the Governor
- Co-author of "Changing Missions, Changing Lives" (ForbesBooks, 2020)
WHAT NMF DOES
Over its history, NMF has awarded more than $50 million to over 35,000 alumni,
training not only physicians but physician leaders who reflect the communities
they serve. Michellene explains why this is a problem that touches everyone, not
just under-resourced communities: a six-month wait to see a specialist is becoming
the norm, with roughly one physician for every 1,000 people in LA County and one
for every 3,000 in parts of Mississippi and Georgia. She also unpacks the "curb
cut effect" and the research showing that diverse clinical teams produce better
outcomes for every patient.
A PERSONAL CONVERSATION ON CAREGIVING
The conversation then turns personal. Michellene opens up about caring for her
mother through advanced Alzheimer's for the past 13 years, the disproportionate
caregiving burden carried by women leaders, and the friends she has lost to that
invisible weight. She closes with the question she believes every high-achieving
woman should sit with: when you are lowered into the ground, what do you want to
have truly done?
A wide-ranging conversation on systems change, health equity, leadership, and legacy.
IN THIS EPISODE
- The patient the system failed
- Why "universal healthcare" kept appearing in her courtroom arguments
- The accidental path into government leadership
- Becoming the youngest CEO of the NJ State Lottery
- First African American and second woman NJ State Treasurer
- Holding the purse vs. deciding where to place the coins
- Inside NMF and the fight against the physician shortage
- The curb cut effect and why representation improves outcomes
- 13 years of caregiving and what it taught her about leadership
- The caregiving burden on women, and the friends she lost
- Her advice on legacy for mid-career women leaders
Hosted by Laurie McGraw.