Kizanne James-McCarthy
Dr Kizanne James-McCarthy (BSc, BMedSci, MBBS, MSc, MPH, FRSPH) is a Trinidadian Scottish physician, public health specialist, leadership consultant and speaker on a mission to build a world where everyone, whatever their starting point, has the care, power and opportunity to thrive.
Over 15 years working across the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and the UK, she has built expertise spanning women’s health, sexual and reproductive health and rights, co-produced public health interventions with marginalised communities, programme evaluation for the NHS, equity training, and decolonised leadership development.
As a Senior Public Health Specialist in local government, she has worked with Inclusion Health populations, managed grants and built capacity within communities. She was the first Black trainee on the NHS Scotland Graduate Management Training Scheme. There, she led a financial recovery that saved £5.3 million and founded a network supporting 50 women. As a consultant, she has led Gates Institute-funded initiatives and designed reproductive health campaigns reaching over 30,000 people across Latin America and the Caribbean.
Kizanne founded Health Equity Solutions, a feminist health and leadership consultancy helping universities, healthcare systems and NGOs build inclusive cultures. She is a former Co-Director of KWISA and teaches with the NHS.
A Chevening Scholar, she holds an MSc in Leadership and Management in Health and Social Care. She was named a Gates Institute 120 Under 40 Global Family Planning Champion and is a Women Deliver Young Leader alumna. She has been honoured by the University of Southampton, the University of the Southern Caribbean and the University of the West Indies.
A TEDx speaker, she has been published in BMJ Leader and Marie Claire UK and contributed to ‘Building a Feminist Future: Scotland in an Era of Polycrisis’. She hosts ‘The Undercurrent’ on Jambo Radio, a show about women’s health and the issues that impact it.