In this episode, Angela Bannerman Ankoma, MPH, MSW, shares what it looks like to lead despite fear — in crisis, in community, and in systems that don’t always expect public health to be at the table.
This is a conversation about courage under pressure, unapologetic advocacy, public health beyond the clinic walls, Black women’s leadership, and what it means to build power in historically marginalized communities — even when the headwinds are strong.
Meet Angela Bannerman Ankoma, MPH, MSW
Angela Bannerman Ankoma, MPH, MSW, is a strategic leader, equity champion, and community builder whose career spans public health, philanthropy, and social impact. She most recently served as Vice President and Executive Director of the Equity Leadership Initiative at the Rhode Island Foundation, where she led a statewide effort to strengthen a cross sector pipeline of leaders of color. Under her leadership, the Foundation invested 8.5 million dollars in ELI and related initiatives, including a three year capacity building program for Black and Brown led nonprofits.
Angela is the Founder and Principal of The Bannerman Group, a strategy and equity focused consulting practice that partners with nonprofit organizations, philanthropic institutions, and community leaders to advance inclusive leadership, strengthen governance, and design impact driven strategies aligned with measurable community impact.
She previously held senior leadership roles at the United Way of Rhode Island, guiding community investment during the COVID 19 pandemic, and at the Rhode Island Department of Health, where she co directed the Health Equity Institute.
Angela holds master’s degrees in Social Work and Public Health from Columbia University and is working towards completing an Executive Doctoral Program in Health Leadership at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She serves on multiple boards and advisory committees and is a recipient of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Award for Health Equity. She is a proud mother of four and co owner of a family retail business.
Conversation Highlights
- Leading while shaking in your boots — Angela reflects on managing Rhode Island’s 24-hour 2-1-1 call center during the early days of COVID-19—responding to fear, evolving information, and community crisis while homeschooling four children at the same time.
- Public health belongs at every table — When a school principal questioned why public health was present in a graduation initiative, Anglea used it as an opening to explain how education, economics, housing, and health are inseparable.
- Unapologetic about equity — She names her commitment clearly: infant mortality among Black women, graduation rates among marginalized youth, and addressing systemic exclusion must be explicit—not assumed to improve “with the rising tide.”
- Gun violence as a preventable public health issue — Angela speaks candidly about the emotional toll of mass shootings hitting close to home—and the urgency of applying the same public health strategies we’ve used for seatbelts and smoking to gun violence prevention.
- Black women leading from the front — Angela names her conviction that Black women must not only have seats at the table but be leading—because when Black women lead, they lead for community, not self.
“If you’re not scared, your dreams are not big enough” — Angela Bannerman Ankoma, MPH, MSW
Stay in Touch
With Angela Bannerman Ankoma, MPH, MSW
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-bannerman-ankoma/
With Dr. Kristi McClamroch
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristi-mcclamroch/
Website: www.CourageousPublicHealth.com
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Public Health Consulting to Support You
We partner with public health, healthcare, nonprofit, philanthropic, and government organizations to design workshops and facilitated sessions that help women leaders recognize, strengthen, and intentionally use courage as an organizational skill — especially in times of uncertainty, burnout, and systems under strain.
If your organization would benefit from this kind of support, we’d love to connect. Reach out on LinkedIn or through our website.
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