Empowering the next generation of healthcare professionals from underrepresented backgrounds

Ashley Kyalwazi ’18

Medical and Health Policy Student, Harvard Medical School & Harvard Kennedy School 

Major: NEUROSCIENCE AND BEHAVIOR

Minor: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND VALUES

Possessing a zeal for learning and passion for advancing social justice, Ashley Kyalwazi ’18 has made it her mission to use her platform to mentor the next generation of healthcare professionals from underrepresented backgrounds.

A first-generation African American student, Kyalwazi fostered her commitment to educational equity and mentorship during her time as an undergraduate at Notre Dame. Understanding what it meant to overcome structural barriers to education, she served as both a Building Bridges and Balfour mentor, programs that seek to assist historically underserved first-year students with their transition to college. Taking her dedication to this mission a step further, Kyalwazi founded Notre Dame’s first chapter of Matriculate Advising Fellows, a nonprofit organization that uses a virtual platform to connect low-income high school students with current college students. 

As a current dual medical and masters in public policy student at Harvard, Kyalwazi leads national studies as a Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Fellow that explore the intersection of health policy, health equity, and cardiovascular health outcomes for historically marginalized populations. While excelling in the classroom, she has managed to also found the MV3 Foundation, a nonprofit whose mission is to build and empower a community of Black scholars poised to positively impact the future of health and biomedical sciences through mentorship, scholarships, academic support, and leadership development.

For her exceptional leadership and commitment to advancing health equity, Kyalwazi was named a Gleitsman Leadership Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government through the Center for Public Leadership. Currently, she plans to apply for an internal medicine residency in the fall of 2023, eager to build a career as a physician, policymaker, and social entrepreneur, where she will continue advocating for the development of innovative and equitable opportunities for marginalized populations to achieve optimal health.