Durham, NC

Executive Director, NC Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities, NC Department of Health and Human Services

Represented: Policy Makers

Cornell P. Wright, MPA, is a subject-matter expert in health equity and disparities, minority health, and community engagement. Wright serves as Executive Director of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities.

Wright serves on various groups, organizations, and boards within the healthcare community. He is Chair of the Patient-Centered Outcome Research Institute (PCORI) Advisory Panel on Clinical Effectiveness and Decision Science, and serves on the Southeastern Health Equity Council (SHEC) as part of the National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities (NPA), serving as the Co-Chair to the Social Determinants of Health Committee.

Wright has received awards and recognitions from the National Institutes of Health, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, North Carolina Central University, and National Minority Quality Forum.

Wright has various speaking roles, including keynote addresses, conferences, panels, and presentations in national and local platforms. Wright served as the closing keynote speaker for the first annual North Carolina Sexual Health Conference, where his presentation, “From the Color Purple to Purple Rain: Exploring the Historical Context of Sexual Violence, Sexual Expression, and Sexual Health Equity”, provided a unique and innovative approach to public health messaging through the use of interactive media, including music, poetry, and visuals to intimately connect with his audience. This presentation was recently turned into a TEDxTalk, “#ColorPurpleRain: Sexual Health Equity in Context” at TEDxUNC.

Wright was named the Spectacular Magazine 2017 Man of the Year in Health and was awarded the Sexual Health Equity Champion Award at the 2017 North Carolina Sexual Health Conference.

Wright served as a member of the Advisory Panel on Clinical Effectiveness Decision Science from August 2017 to August 2020. He was also a CEDS Panel Chair.