Black Nurses Coalition Founder Discusses Healthcare System Inequity

February 3, 2023

Program opens HVCC’s Voices: A Library Lecture Series on Tuesday, Feb. 7

Dr. Brenda Robinson, CEO and founder of the Albany-based Black Nurses Coalition, Inc., presents Injustice in Healthcare: The Power of One, The Power of Many, to open the Spring 2023 Voices: A Library Lecture Series on Tuesday, Feb. 7 at Hudson Valley Community College. The talk is 11 to 11:50 a.m. in the Bulmer Telecommunications Center Auditorium on the Troy campus. All four lectures in the series are free to the public.

The mission of the Black Nurses Coalition is to eliminate healthcare disparities among minorities and low-income individuals. Dr. Robinson and the BNC are the primary applicant and organization approved for a nursing-focused charter school slated to open in Albany in 2023. During the pandemic, she created the BNC Vax Team, made up of African American vaccinators that brought people of color into vaccine clinics, and greatly improved access to COVID-19 vaccines.

Dr. Robinson’s nearly 30-year career has been devoted to freedom, justice, equity, and optimal healthcare for the underserved. She chaired the City of Albany Human Rights Commission from 2013 to 2021, was a member of Albany’s Police Reform Collaborative (2020-21) and served five years as a medical ethics consultant at the Albany Stratton VA Medical Center.

An alumna of HVCC’s Nursing Program, Dr. Robinson earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from SUNY Polytechnic Institute, and both a master’s and doctorate in nursing at Walden University. She also holds advanced certification in Family Nurse Practice from SUNY Polytechnic, and a second doctorate in public service from Russell Sage College.

Dr. Robinson’s Feb. 7 talk is the Voices’ series annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Lecture and part of the college’s Black History Month celebration. The college also welcomes civil rights activist Bobby Seale, founding chairman of the Black Panther Party in 1966, on Thursday, Feb. 9 for a 6 p.m. program in the BTC Auditorium. A free film series features “Selma” on Thursday, Feb. 2, “Do The Right Thing” on Thursday, Feb. 9, “The Help” on Thursday, Feb. 16 and “Black Panther” on Thursday, Feb. 23. All showings are from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Siek Campus Center, room 202. All events are free to the public.

The remaining Voices lectures, all in the BTC Auditorium and free to the public, are:

• Public Art Inspires Conversation
  Tony Iadicicco, curator, #CapitalWalls
  Thursday, March 23, noon to 12:50 p.m.
• From Poverty to Sustainability: Building Lives, Leaders and Communities
  Michael Saccocio, executive director/CEO, City Mission of Schenectady
  Tuesday, April 4, 1 to 1:50 p.m.
• Rescuing Racehorses, Healing Humans
  Madeline Levin, program manager, Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga
  Wednesday, April 19, noon to 12:50 p.m.