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Experience. Insight. Practice.
“Systems should never forget the people they serve.”
“Systems should never forget the people they serve.”
Donna Harvin-Graham, MBA, PMP
Advisor | Practitioner | Architect of Accountability™
I believe the work of health equity is a promise we make to one another. For that promise to hold, it has to move beyond statements and show up in the way systems actually operate.
As the Architect of Accountability™, I work where human behavior meets the realities of how organizations function. My perspective comes from years of seeing how people navigate their roles, how the systems respond, and what happens when those patterns don’t align. That understanding is shaped by a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from the College of William & Mary.
I bring the discipline of PMP‑certified project management to see how work moves, where it breaks down, and what helps structures hold over time. This approach guides my leadership as Strategic Director for the National Alliance on Ending Health Disparities (NAEHD) and supports my advisory work with Johns Hopkins Medicine and Inova Health System, with a focus on strengthening the everyday work of care.
Advocacy In Action
Equity requires evidence. Below are recent contributions to the public discourse—from op-eds to major initiatives—that demonstrate how we move from conversation to impact.
The Invisible Patient: A Strategic Gap Analysis of Rural Health Equity (2025) National Alliance on Ending Health Disparities (NAEHD) A strategic gap analysis investigating systemic barriers to rural healthcare access. Using mixed-methods triangulation, this report identifies critical "Invisible Barriers"—including the Digital Wall and the Transit Trap—and introduces the "Rural Access Check," a proprietary toolkit for health leaders to diagnose and remediate accessibility gaps.
Read the Rural Health Equity Report via OSF
A Tale of 2 Virginias: Celebrating Progress While Remembering Our Rural Neighbors (December 2025) Richmond Times-Dispatch (Syndicated Statewide) An op-ed exploring the healthcare infrastructure gap between metropolitan hubs and rural counties. This piece advocates for creative solutions—such as medical-grade transportation networks—to ensure that geography does not function as a pre-existing condition for rural residents. Syndicated in The Roanoke Times, The Daily Progress, and others.
Read the Op-Ed in the Richmond Times-Dispatch
Upcoming Manuscript: Open Source Digital Health Tools for Rare Disease (Under Peer Review) Co-Author with 4YouandMe (Chan Zuckerberg Initiative “Rare as One”) Contributed strategic guidance to a multi-partner study designing open-source digital health tools for rare disease communities. Project outcomes included the co-design of app development, pilot testing, and an open-source manual for future research into conditions like Long COVID and sarcoidosis.
When the Personal Becomes the Project: Applying the PMBOK Guide to Your Own Healthcare (Accepted for Publication) Project Management Institute (PMI) Personal care should never function like a project where the patient is only “informed.” This reflection brings professional methodology into the reality of a medical crisis, showing families how to claim agency and step into the accountable roles they deserve.
The Silent Variance: Why 2026 Healthcare Financial Plans Are Already Failing (Accepted for Publication) KevinMD A financial and operational analysis that explains how patient friction creates unmeasured risk inside 2026 healthcare budgets. The piece outlines how missed appointments, access delays, digital barriers, and clinical trial attrition function as revenue leakage. It also describes practical steps for auditing access pathways and treating navigation as a core financial safeguard.
Full Research Portfolio: ORCID is a global, non-profit registry that provides a persistent digital identifier, ensuring that my research and scholarly contributions are permanently linked and verified across the scientific community.
Meet the Team
Teddi, Chief Happiness Officer
Teddi, Chief Happiness Officer
While I’m busy building the architecture of your accountability, Teddi is busy managing the architecture of our office morale. As my Chief Happiness Officer, she takes her job very seriously.
She is a passionate advocate for balance, often voicing her 'expert' opinions with a few enthusiastic barks whenever she thinks I’ve been at the desk too long. Teddi is a constant reminder that even the most focused work needs a little heart—and that sometimes, the best way to stay on track is to take a quick 'paws' for a tail wag.
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