Jamila Headley (she/her) has spent the past 18 years advancing health care and other social justice campaigns with movements and movement leaders on five continents. Her work has spanned health systems research and policy analysis, organizing, advocacy, organizational development and philanthropy. She thrives at the intersections of strategy and implementation, blue-sky thinking and planning for the here and now. A Caribbean immigrant from Barbados, Jamila holds a PhD in public health and a masters in global health from the University of Oxford, where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar. She is disabled and lives with the neurological disorder Transverse myelitis. Jamila joined the Be A Hero team as Co-Executive Director in September 2021.
Prior to Be A Hero, Jamila served as the Chief of Staff for the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) and CPD Action – a national network organization dedicated to advancing racial justice, economic justice, and a pro-immigrant, pro-worker agenda in partnership with high-impact-base building organizations in 35 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. At CPD/A, Jamila led the organization’s external communications and oversaw the team working on equity and racial justice. Before CPD/A, Jamila served as co-leader and Managing Director of the Health Global Access Project – a global health justice movement-building organization. There she worked with social justice leaders, activists, and organizations in more than 15 countries to advance access to HIV/AIDS treatment and quality healthcare more broadly. Jamila also worked at Open Society Foundations as a program officer on global health financing and accountability and transparency in the health sector.
