A Louisville, KY native, Dr. Mary E. Fleming, completed her undergraduate degree at Xavier University of Louisiana, medical degree at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Meharry Medical College. Due to her interests in eradicating health inequities and improving healthcare for the underserved, she matriculated to Harvard Medical School as a Commonwealth Fellow in Minority Health Policy where she obtained a Master in Public Health from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. She practiced as a generalist in a Norristown, PA community hospital for four years before deciding to transition to be a full-time locum tenens physician. In this capacity, she has worked in several states across the country. This practice model also allowed her to travel to Kenya for six months to volunteer with Our Lady of Lourdes Mission Hospital in Mutomo.
Currently, she works clinically in Baltimore, MD, Louisville, KY, Norway, ME and for Cayaba Care, a maternal health start-up, in Philadelphia, PA. In addition to her clinical work, she consults as a medical expert reviewer, physician editor and leads a non-profit, Reede Scholars. As President of the Reede Scholars, she develops strategies for collective action among the Scholars to address health equity and social justice. In 2021 she became Director of the Leadership Development to Advance Equity in Health Care Program in the Executive and Continuing Professional Education department at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. As an ardent champion of health equity, she continues to explore avenues to grow her skill set in order to serve the vulnerable populations of this country and globally.