About the Authors
Glenda F. Newell, M.D.
Glenda F. Newell-Harris, M.D., is a physician, author, speaker and patient advocacy coach. Board-certified in internal medicine, she has devoted her decades-long career to addressing health disparities and advocating for equal access to treatment and quality health care for all.
Dr. Glenda is a native of North Carolina and resides in Oakland, California. She received her medical degree from the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine, and her Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Tufts University in Massachusetts. She is also certified in Physician Leadership and Managing Ambulatory Care from the Harvard School of Public Health.
Each professional and personal role that graces her life fuels the commitment she has to be a trusted voice for her family and friends, her patients and community abroad.
Dr. Glenda has spent most of her professional career providing community and international service and health advocacy to underserved populations in the United States, Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean.
She is a practicing physician serving as regional medical director for YesCare (formerly Corizon Health)—one of the foremost providers of correctional health care in the United States—where she is licensed and leads a team of physicians and other medical providers in seven states.
Dr. Glenda is a former Lieutenant in the National Health Service Corps. She has served as a physician for Kaiser Permanente, Planned Parenthood and Alameda Health System in the San Francisco Bay area. Prior to that, she held private practice for half a dozen years, and served as a medical consultant in various health care settings. Dr. Glenda also has served as a vice chair of the Health Commission for the City of Oakland.
She is the recipient of the National Medical Association’s highest honor, the Scroll of Merit. In 2016, she was awarded the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Legacy Award for Leadership and Global Community Service by Ambassadors to the United States and other members of the MLK, Jr. International Salute Committee. She is also the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the National Medical Fellowship, an organization that provides scholarships to medical students. And she is recognized with awards and honors from many organizations, including the NAACP, John Hale Medical Society, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Jack and Jill of America, and many others.
Dr. Glenda is a longstanding member of the National Medical Association and has served as its regional officer. In addition, she is an active member of the Sinkler Miller Medical Association, the Advisory Board for Mentoring in Medicine & Science, and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland.
She is a valued medical expert frequently invited to participate on national and regional panels about complicated medical issues, health topics and patient navigation; and is a sought-after speaker and spokesperson who shares her expertise and provides strategic leadership to youth and faith-based groups; non-profit organizations for women’s health, preventive care and patient advocacy; professional and medical organizations; and corporations.
She has also served in leadership roles within various local and regional medical societies and organizations, including as former chair of the board at Imani Community Church in Oakland, former trustee at Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, CT, and past chair of the School of St. Leo the Great in Oakland.
In addition to her work inside the health care system, Dr. Glenda is a global leader. She is the 16th National President for The Links, Incorporated and The Links Foundation, one of the nation’s oldest and largest volunteer service organizations. As the first and only medical doctor to serve, Dr. Glenda brought her health and medical expertise to increase awareness and education in health care and prevention. Under her leadership, the organization launched a minority women’s medical scholarship program to increase the number of minorities successfully completing medical schools. The goal of this effort was to reduce the shortage of minority medical doctors in communities nationwide.
Her involvement in a diverse collection of organizations inform her expertise on other related topics, such as leadership development, courage and work-life balance.
Her physician leadership in the public and private sectors for more than 25 years inspired Dr. Glenda to co-author with Brenda B. Spriggs, M.D. the book, Focus On Your Best Health, a smart guide to practical solutions for medical problems facing health care consumers. The book was created to teach health care consumers how to communicate, navigate and advocate for themselves in the health care system.
Brenda B. Spriggs, M.D.
Brenda B. Spriggs, MD, FACP, FACR MPH, MBA, Clinical Professor Emerita at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), is board certified in internal medicine and rheumatology. She has a proven ability to lead physician organizations in achieving competitive advantage and promoting physician/hospital alignment. Her commitment to improving access to timely, quality medical care for health care consumers goes beyond the institutions she has served during her professional clinical and administrative career. She has demonstrated leadership skills and her passion for quality health care by serving as a trustee/member of health care-related boards and organizations, and on an international level as a Citizen Ambassador of the People-to-People Program prototype delegation, which is charged with documenting the status of health care delivery in post-apartheid South Africa.
Dr. Spriggs has served on the medical review board of a leading online health information resource with a readership of over 1,000,000 visitors every day. The reference library is now distributed on over 120 million computers worldwide in 17 languages. She currently serves as a telemedicine rheumatology consultant in underserved areas, and as an asynchronous consultant to an enterprise whose mission is to “democratize medical expertise” and remove barriers to specialty care.
Dr. Spriggs has modeled a consistent commitment to health, environmental and economic justice as evident by her service as a board director of the Women’s Foundation of California and as a founding director of Beneficial State Bank, two organizations that are effectively addressing these issues. She was co-founder of the educational arm of Newell & Spriggs Consulting, LLC, dedicated to closing health literacy gaps and empowering health care consumers by teaching the tools to decode medical jargon, decipher medical information and enhance medical encounters through effective communication, savvy navigation and appropriate advocacy. She is the co-author of Focus on Your Best Health: Smart Guide To The Health Care You Deserve.
She has also co-authored published scientific papers on systemic lupus erythematosus and Reiter’s Syndrome, and has been a highly sought-after lecturer for health and scientific forums. She is the recipient of numerous awards for teaching excellence and has received many notable academic honors, including from Mortar Board, Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Omega Alpha, and Beta Gamma Sigma. Dr. Spriggs has been recognized by Directors and Boards as a Director to Watch. She is also the recipient of U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer’s 2013 Women Making History Award.
Dr. Spriggs graduated summa cum laude from Fisk University, and with highest honors from Meharry Medical College. She received her rheumatology training as an National Institutes of Health Fellow at UCSF, her MPH for health care professionals at UCLA, and her MBA at the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Graduate School of Management. She is an alum of the Women’s Director Development Program at the Kellogg School of Management, and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a founding Fellow of the American College of Rheumatology.