As a core member of the BEC Huddle Leadership team at the Black Equity Coalition (BEC), Dr. Méndez brings brilliance, compassion, and a relentless drive to dismantle structural inequities in health. She is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Associate Director of the Center for Health Equity at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health.

Méndez completed her postdoctoral training as a Kellogg Health Scholar and earned her MPH and Ph.D. in Maternal and Child Health with a focus in Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and BA in Sociology/Anthropology pre-med at Spelman College. Dr. Méndez applies a variety of methods and approaches in her work related to the complex intersections between racism, multiple forms of oppression, stress, and place in understanding Black maternal and infant health as well as racial/ethnic equity in pregnancy, birth, and women’s health. She works closely with community-based and governmental agencies including serving on the BEST Allegheny Initiative, a former member of the Pennsylvania Maternal Mortality Review Committee on the Board of Health for Allegheny County. In 2024, Dr. Méndez was honored with the University of Pittsburgh’s Ascending Star Award — a well-deserved recognition of her groundbreaking work and visionary leadership.