Matthew McCurdy Wins the 2024-2025 Matthew Lee Girvin Award

For Matthew McCurdy, a 2016 alum, bold ideas, cross-sector collaboration, and community-driven leadership are key to advancing health care for all. His career—from federal service to nonprofit innovation—reflects a deep and ongoing commitment to this principle.

Nearly a decade after graduating from Rollins, McCurdy still reflects fondly on his time at the school, describing it as a pivotal foundation for his professional journey.

“Whenever I talk to people considering a career in public health, I tell them that getting my MPH from Rollins exponentially changed my earnings and career trajectory,” he says. “It gave me incredible access to people, places, and organizations. I was able to gain diverse experiences, even though I didn’t come in with a wealth of prior public health experience.”

McCurdy earned his MPH from the Department of Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences in 2016. He began his post-graduate career as a health scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before being selected for the prestigious Presidential Management Fellows program. As a fellow and later as senior advisor for strategic management at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, he supported agency-wide collaborations and helped develop strategic plans addressing public health and health services.

Today, McCurdy serves as the executive director of BLKHLTH, a nonprofit he co-founded with three fellow Rollins alumni. The organization is dedicated to advancing the health and well-being of Black communities through education, advocacy, and action. 

BLKHLTH’s work spans a wide array of initiatives: promoting COVID-19 vaccine equity for Black Georgians; providing maternal health resources for Black birthing people; facilitating community health events in South Africa; and training the next generation of public health, medical, and nursing professionals.

Under McCurdy’s leadership, the organization has forged powerful partnerships with companies like Advil, Cottonelle, and Planet Fitness. These collaborations support efforts to address pain equity, reduce stigma around colorectal cancer, and promote inclusive fitness within Black communities. By uniting faith-based groups, nonprofits, and corporate partners, BLKHLTH is strategically addressing barriers that harm health.

In fall 2024, BLKHLTH launched the Community Advocacy for Racial Equity School Fellows program, aimed at empowering undergraduate and graduate students on health career tracks. The program equips fellows with the knowledge, skills, and hands-on experience needed to become effective advocates for racial health equity in their communities—particularly in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and at HBCUs across Georgia.

In addition to his role at BLKHLTH, McCurdy also serves as director of programs at Health DesignED: The Acute Care Design + Innovation Center within Emory University’s School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine. There, he leads efforts to integrate technology into health care in ways that respect and reflect patients’ social, economic, and cultural diversity.

McCurdy is deeply committed blending critical social science, narrative change, and participatory design to build evidence-based, culturally grounded solutions with Black communities. And he’s continuing to build on that commitment: In June 2025, he began his pursuit of a Doctor of Public Health, the next chapter in an already noteworthy public health journey.

We are delighted to recognize McCurdy as the 2024–2025 recipient of our Matthew Lee Girvin Award. His unwavering commitment to equity, his leadership in the field, and his passion for transforming systems of care truly embody the spirit and values of this honor.