Shantia Horsford

Healthcare hero: Shantia Horsford

School/College: Barnett College of Public Health
Degree/Year: BS, health professions, 2019
Hometown: Staten Island, New York City
Current Job Title: Program coordinator, quality improvement and equity
Current Employer: National Minority Quality Forum

Most people wouldn’t identify barbershops and hair salons as crucial nodes in America’s vast healthcare system. But that’s what makes Shantia Horsford, CPH ’19, a rising leader advancing health equity nationwide. As a program coordinator for the nonprofit National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF), Shantia supports innovative initiatives like “Health Champions,” which builds trust within underserved communities by meeting people where they feel most comfortable and disseminating crucial health information.

Growing up as a first-generation college student on Staten Island, Shantia frequently interacted with healthcare systems and questioned why they felt so difficult to navigate for families like hers. From an early age, she wanted to be part of the solution.

Choosing Temple. Shantia’s father immigrated from Antigua at 17 without finishing high school, and her mother holds a GED. She chose Temple for its commitment to service and its location in a city as diverse as her hometown. Temple’s urban campus and mission-driven culture made it clear that learning would extend beyond the classroom into real-world impact.

Picking a path. Shantia originally enrolled as a biology student with a passion for patient care. While volunteering in departments across North Philadelphia hospitals, she discovered a deeper passion for systems-level change. Transitioning into the Barnett College of Public Health’s health professions major, combined with a Fox minor in healthcare management, broadened her understanding of how policy, delivery and access intersect. This shift sharpened her purpose and strengthened her commitment to becoming the healthcare leader she aspired to be.

“My biggest reward is the impact we’re able to make—ensuring people in underserved areas are no longer an afterthought in the healthcare system. When someone receives a diagnosis at a free screening, it’s heavy, but it’s also life-changing because without our work, they might never have known.”

—Shantia Horsford
Program coordinator, quality improvement and equity

Taking flight. After Temple, Shantia obtained a master’s degree in biomedical sciences from the Geisinger College of Health Sciences, researching inequities in Black maternal mortality and examining root causes of vaccine hesitancy among Black and Hispanic communities.

Improving outcomes. At NMQF, Shantia managed the implementation of the Alliance for Representative Clinical Trials, a federally funded initiative expanding minority participation in clinical trials. She traveled to cities like Little Rock, Arkansas, to help doctors’ offices launch trials, and helped coordinate rural health fairs to provide free vaccinations and health screenings. She also steered the scaling of the Community Pharmacist Ambassadors program, growing the network to over 300 pharmacists serving as trusted health educators not only in the pharmacy but in their communities. Today, she continues advancing initiatives that expand access to care for underserved populations nationwide.