Hello John,

I'm Garnesha Ezediaro, program lead for The Greenwood Initiative -- an effort to increase intergenerational Black wealth and address systemic underinvestment in Black communities, which Mike first outlined during his presidential campaign and officially launched at Bloomberg Philanthropies.

In September, we announced the first major step for Greenwood: A $100 million gift over the next four years to America's four historically Black medical schools, which will begin to increase the number of Black doctors by reducing their student debt burden. This funding will allow the four schools -- Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN, Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, D.C., Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA, and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles, CA -- to provide debt relief of up to $100,000 to students currently enrolled and receiving financial aid.

Today, I wanted to share a video with you about why we're undertaking this work -- and why we started with an initiative to support more Black doctors. My favorite part is that you get to hear inspiring reactions from some of the students whose lives have been changed by this gift. I hope you'll take a moment to watch and share:

Helping historically Black medical schools provide debt relief is a powerful starting point for the overarching economic justice mission of The Greenwood Initiative. That's because it's not just about supporting the next generation of Black doctors. It's also about the difference they'll make for their communities and -- most importantly -- about the lives they'll save.

Watch the video to learn more about Bloomberg Philanthropies' The Greenwood Initiative, its mission, and its intended impact:

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Stay tuned for more on The Greenwood Initiative.

Thank you,

Garnesha Ezediaro
Greenwood Initiative Program Lead
Bloomberg Philanthropies

P.S. -- Last week Mike convened innovators and experts to envision the future of public health at the Bloomberg American Health Summit. Issues like racism as a health risk and environmental inequity were key topics in the discussions. You can learn more here: https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/2020-bloomberg-american-health-summit