OHEV Health, Healing, and Education

Meet the CEO: Tierra Smith

I am a Christian woman, and a registered nurse of 16 years with a Master’s Degree in Nursing Education. While studying for my master’s, I became intrigued with health and wellness in Black and brown communities. I began to study predictors of health and felt driven to affect change in these areas. This passion didn’t start in graduate school, but rather when I found myself pregnant at the age of 18. I was pregnant, uninsured, and needed to receive social services. While I am grateful for the care that I received, I recognized that it wasn’t all-encompassing, and was lacking in many areas. What I needed at the time was social, psychological, economic, and health care. However, there wasn’t one place to provide me with all of those things at once. As someone who experienced firsthand the disjointed care that Black and brown individuals receive, I prayed about what I could do to help change this narrative. I believe the Lord wanted me to provide what is lacking in our healthcare systems. So I chose to do so!