Malikah Garner is a passionate leader and advocate in maternal child health, deeply committed to reducing racial inequities in health outcomes for Black moms, babies, and families in the City of Detroit. In April 2021, she assumed the role of Project Manager at Henry Ford Health (HFH) for the Hope Starts Here, Imperative #1 Team, a collective impact birth equity project. In Malikah’s role at HFH she also supports the work of the Office of Community Health, Equity, Wellness & Diversity at HFH including the Triple Crown Project awarded through the Office of Minority Health, The Trauma and Resiliency Informed Community Healthcare Initiative, and supporting the Women Inspired Neighborhood Network Detroit. Her focus involves developing thriving collective networks, driving systems change, and coordinating the expansion of evidence-based programs to increase positive health outcomes for pregnant women, children, and families in Detroit. With a BA from Saginaw Valley State University, MBA from Northwood University, and a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion certificate from the University of South Florida, Malikah possesses a robust educational background.

She recently joined the Birth & Breastfeeding Leadership Institute at Black Mothers’ Breastfeeding Association (BMBFA) as a cohort 4 Promising Institute Leader. Malikah actively participates in various initiatives such as staffing and managing the Detroit Regional Infant Mortality Reduction Task Force, an inaugural member of the Detroit Community Based Doula Task Force, and a member of the Southeastern Michigan Perinatal Quality Improvement Coalition Advisory Council. In 2023, she joined the Healthcare Anchor Network’s (HAN) National Community Advisory Committee, aiming to support the development of community engagement metrics that can be used by HAN’s member health systems and community engagement practitioners, to assess the relationships between health systems and the organizations they collaborate with.

Malikah is a co-founder of the Mommy Ambassador Program, Board Member, and Lead Mommy Ambassador at BMBFA. She is dedicated not only to community support but also to elevating community voices and integrating lived experience into institutional, policy, and systems change. Her involvement in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Better Maternal Outcomes initiative in 2019 resulted in positive policy changes at Henry Ford Health, including the inclusion of doulas as complementary to the healthcare team and HFH amending their visitor policy to allow doulas to accompany mothers during birth without counting as a visitor. Additionally, Malikah actively advocated for community-based doulas to receive Medicaid reimbursement and provide policy input & support alongside BMBFA colleagues.

With eight years as a Mommy Ambassador and advocate at BMBFA, Malikah's 4.5 year breastfeeding journey, lived experience, and advocacy have garnered recognition in published articles and on national platforms like Good Morning America. Beyond maternal child health, she extends her skills and contributions to equity as a centering community leader and lived experience expert in collaboration with Full Frame Initiative (FFI). Malikah significantly contributed to the inaugural Community Bill of Rights, guiding government, systems, philanthropy, and nonprofits to center wellbeing and uplift communities to shift power and heal systemic harms. Recently, she was consulted to design a nationally utilized curriculum for FFI for "centering community," and began facilitation of the training in the Fall of 2023. A native Detroiter, proud mother of two amazing boys, and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Malikah embodies a multifaceted commitment to community, equity, justice and transformative change.