Rukiya Curvey Johnson, MBA, has been appointed vice president of community health equity and engagement at RUSH.
As vice president, Curvey Johnson will continue leading RUSH’s efforts to dismantle barriers to longer, healthier lives in the communities RUSH serves through economic, educational, structural and health-related initiatives and community partnerships.
She has been serving as interim vice president since early 2022 while also leading the RUSH Education and Career Hub (REACH) as its executive director.
Curvey Johnson previously was director of community health and engagement, a role she assumed in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic while also leading REACH. She oversaw the launch of COVID-19 contact tracing and the Community Health Worker Hub, food security initiatives and community partnerships.
Curvey Johnson joined RUSH in 2017 to establish and lead REACH — the continuation and transformation of RUSH’s Science and Math Education Network — which provides Black, Latino and other underrepresented young people with innovative, hands-on STEM learning opportunities to open doors to careers in health care and science, technology, engineering and math.
Curvey Johnson previously served as executive director of STEM and strategic initiatives at Chicago Public Schools, where she led the development and execution of the school district’s K-12 STEM strategy.
She earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and Spanish from the University of Virginia.
In 2022 Crain’s Chicago Business included her on its list of notable leaders in community development and was listed on Crain’s Chicago Business notable leaders in DEI for 2023.
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