On Saturday, December 3, Jacquie Easley McGhee received the inaugural Corporate Citizen of the Year Award during the Des Moines Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) 46th Annual Freedom Fund Banquet. Easley McGhee, Division Director, Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion for MercyOne was recognized for her long-standing commitment to community empowerment in health and wellness, education and economic sustainability. Though her efforts in community outreach began long before health equity became a buzz phrase, this year her achievements included initiatives to bring Covid vaccine and other critical health information to trusted partners in the African American community and awareness of the maternal health disparities of women of color at community events such as Juneteenth and I’ll Make Me a World in Iowa.
Easley McGhee has broken barriers in almost every leadership role she has served from the first African American chair of the Des Moines Metropolitan Transit Authority, (now known as DART) first African American female chair of the City of Des Moines Planning and Zoning Commission, first African American female President of the Des Moines School Board, first and only African American US Bank board member and first African American to head the board of the YWCA of Greater Des Moines.
About NAACP Des Moines
Founded in 1915, The mission of the Des Moines Branch of the NAACP is to achieve equity and social inclusion by advancing policies and practices to expand human and civil rights, eliminate discrimination and accelerate the well-being, education, and economic security of all persons of color in central Iowa.
NAACP DSM is committed to ending racial health disparities. Our aim is not simply disease prevention, but to create an inclusive culture of healthy people and communities. We collaborate through coordinated action to improve the social determinants of health — racism, poverty, exclusion, inferior schools, unsafe housing, poor nutrition, and toxic environments. We disrupt the status quo by working at the intersection of policy and systems change to drive sustainable impact for the sake of our future.
Contact: Victoria Henderson Weber
Des Moines Branch, President