Jenné Johns, MPH is the mother of a micropreemie, author, speaker, advocate, and national senior health equity leader. As an advocate for reducing healthcare disparities, Jenné found herself advocating for the needs of her son, as his survival depended on it. She also learned the power of reading to her son daily. Jenné wrote, “Once Upon a Preemie,” which is the first of its kind children’s book written for the parents of preemies while they are in the NICU. This bedside companion seeks to motivate, encourage, and inspire preemie babies and families until they go home.
Her preemie parent contributions include consulting and blogging for fortune 500 companies on preemie parent needs from a cultural lens and reading as a tool for growth, development, and bonding. She served on numerous advisory committees advocating for preemie babies and eliminating health disparities, including the NICU Parent Network, The National Coalition on Infant Health, and the March of Dimes Prematurity Prevention Collaborative.” She has presented at numerous conferences as a preemie parent, including the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference, the National Neonatal Nurses Association Conference, the National Perinatal Social Workers Congressional Briefing, the National Perinatal Association Annual Conference, and the California Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative. Jenné was also featured in the WildFlower Health Value Based Care for Maternity Care Playbook, Baltimore Healthy Start Association Podcast, Prolacta Bio Science Speaking of Human Milk Podcast, Baby First Blog, Preemie World, Heart and Soul Magazine, iHeart Radio, and CBS Philly News Radio.
Jenné served as Director of Quality Improvement and Health Equity at Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Illinois, where she was responsible for leading strategies to improve health outcomes, reduce cost, and reduce racial and ethnic healthcare disparities with a focus on maternal and child health innovations. She also co-chaired the enterprise-wide Equity Steering Committee. Prior to Blue Cross and Blue Shield Illinois, Jenné served as Director of Health Disparities at AmeriHealth Caritas. She led innovations to reduce healthcare inequities for 5 million lives in 19 states in the areas of maternal and child health, pediatric asthma, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
Jenné has over a decade of experience advocating for policy, business, and community changes to improve health outcomes for low-income communities through her work with Policy Link, Summit Health Institute for Research and Education, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the National Nursing Centers Consortium. Jenné holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, a Master’s Degree in Public Health from Temple University, and is a graduate of the Disparities Leadership Program led by Harvard Medical School.
Her advisory appointments included: Pennsylvania Office of Health Equity (Advisor); Mid-Atlantic Regional Health Equity Council (Co-Chair); Regional Cancer Disparities Initiative at Thomas Jefferson Hospital (Co-Chair); Board Member, Pebbles of Hope. Her awards include Certificate of Recognition from the Honorable Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-IL), Chair Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust; 40 Under Forty 2018 Achievement Award (The Network Journal); Top 100 Diverse Leaders Under 50 (Diversity MBA Magazine); Certificate of Recognition for the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships Program (Regional Finalist); Certificate of Commendation-HHS Office of Minority Health, and Philadelphia Leader on the Move-Philadelphia Business Journal.