Healthcare Leadership Conversations16 Des 2025

EP13 - Dr Khadija Owusu: Michelle Obama, Melanin Medics and Ghana Forever

Picture the eldest daughter who carried the family from primary school, shook Michelle Obama’s hand twice as a teenager, and then quietly decided to fix two broken systems at once.

In this inspiring episode of Healthcare Leadership Conversations, I sit down with Dr Khadija Owusu - co-founder of Melanin Medics and founder of the Akaya Foundation. From Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School to building a national charity that’s transformed Black representation in medicine, to delivering menstrual health education and reusable pads to thousands of girls across Ghana, Khadija proves real change begins with lived experience and relentless action.

What You’ll Learn

- Energy as Superpower: How growing up shouldering family responsibility became the foundation for leading national and continental movements.

- Melanin Medics Revolution: Building a community that’s gone from medical-school support group to powerhouse charity lifting the next generation of Black doctors.

- Akaya’s Quiet Miracle: In just three years, turning menstrual shame into school attendance and dignity for thousands of Ghanaian girls - one reusable pad at a time.

Dr Khadija Owusu is living proof that leadership isn’t about titles - it’s about seeing a gap, refusing to accept it, and building the bridge yourself. A luminous, uplifting reminder that the future of healthcare belongs to those bold enough to centre the people it’s meant to serve.

Connect with Khadija Owusu

Episode Resources

Khadija’s United Nations General Assembly Speech

Khadija’s TED Talk

Connect with Healthcare Leadership Conversations

Instagram

LinkedIn (Dr. Mo Akindolie)

Website

Healthcare Leadership Conversations is produced by Urban Podcasts.

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Episoder(27)

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