Dr. Harry Petaway

Dr. Harry Petaway is a proud Michigan resident working to improve outcomes through interventions aimed at developing and partnering with multiple industries that influence health and wellbeing. He holds a PhD in public health from Walden University and a Master’s in Public Administration from Western Michigan University. He holds both Certified Diversity Professional® and Certified Diversity Executive® credentials from the Institute for Diversity Certification. He hosts the bi-monthly live stream titled Thursday’s Three At Three (Thursday’s 3@Three) on LinkedIn.

Dr. Petaway’s interest in health equity began in middle school in the 1980s were he received congressional recognition for his work to bridge the gaps of racial discrimination. His interest grew while working as an intern for Kalamazoo County’s (Michigan) Worksite Health Promotion Programs and other community-based projects to improve child immunizations, healthcare for children with special needs, heart health awareness and recreational safety among marginalized communities in the mid-1990s. 

His commitment to population health expanded while working as an outreach education specialist for over 30,000 Medicaid recipients in Michigan’s second largest Medicaid plan. There he began studying the impact of education, healthcare access, health literacy, cultural competence, socio-economic status, and bias on patient experiences.

Dr. Petaway has since worked with various solutions and technologies designed to improve population health. Dr. Petaway is a social impact entrepreneur and considers himself a “Social Change Agent”.  He is driven by meaningful work such as his co-chair appointment with the American Cancer Society’s health equity initiative (HERO).

He worked as a volunteer with an international research team for Save The Water™ and co-authored publications highlighting the dangers of emerging chemicals of concern. His doctoral research examined disparities in colorectal cancer screening rates among Medicare patients enrolled in accountable care organizations. In late 2021 he became the Director of Business Development & Community Outreach for the Forum on Workplace Inclusion. He is  also the Co-chair of the Society for Diversity’s Advocacy Community of Practice and built a 90-member virtual community committed to diversity equity and inclusion, for one of the nation’s largest healthcare workforce development companies based in Nashville, TN.

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