Petrina Martin Cherry

Petrina Martin Cherry is Vice President of Community Engagement and External Affairs at Boston Medical Center Health System where she leads community program development particularly around the hospital’s efforts to increase healthcare equity, diversity and inclusion and address social determinants of health. She has done significant advocacy work creating community-based programs to bring awareness to Sickle Cell Disease, BMC’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout, promote mental health and wellness in inner city communities, reduce recidivism and influence successful reentry and to build equity instead of charity in previously red-lined communities. Petrina’s work has successfully elevated the health equity work of BMC with our State and local government officials, corporate partners and community leaders. She was appointed by Mayor Walsh in 2020 to the City of Boston’s COVID-19 Health Inequities Task Force and was recently appointed to Governor Maura Healey’s council on Black Empowerment. Petrina serves as the Co-Chair of the Women’s Forum for the National Association of Healthcare Executives (NAHSE) and sits on the board of trustees for The Urban League of Eastern MA (Emeritus), The Boys and Girls Club of Boston, the Boston Arts Academy (BAA), and Arts Emerson at Emerson College. She holds an MBA from Georgia State University.