Johnny G. Powell, originally from Greensboro, North Carolina, is an MD candidate and Knight-Hennessy Scholar at Stanford University School of Medicine. The second son of a public school teacher and Army veteran, his family instilled in him the value of bringing people together from a very young age. After success in the classroom and his community as a youth, he became the first in his family to not attend a historically-Black college when he enrolled at Harvard College.
At Harvard, Johnny led youth mentorship programming in Boston and Japan, conducted research in the natural and social sciences, and shadowed hospital physicians in Spain. As President of the Harvard Black Men’s Forum, Johnny implemented new programming to promote public service and inclusion. He graduated cum laude from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a minor in psychology. After graduating, he worked as a business consultant at Bain & Company on healthcare and social impact projects. Passionate about health equity, Johnny also served as Research Coordinator for the All of Us Research Program—a National Institute of Health (NIH) initiative to increase diversity in health care research — at the University of Chicago.
As a medical student, Johnny co-founded Stanford Black Men in Medicine (BMiM) and leads SMS Christian Fellowship, Stanford Internal Medicine Group, and Stanford Health Careers Collaborative (HCC), an afterschool program for aspiring health care professionals. Experiencing and witnessing chronic disease and social disparities firsthand, Johnny aspires to be a physician leader in cardiology or emergency medicine who advocates in support of diverse populations.