Winner Story

Born to Jamaican immigrants, Suzette was raised in Brooklyn, where her mom founded a preschool that educated thousands of Black and Brown children. Inspired by their mom’s commitment to the community, Suzette and her twin sister, Nicole, both became pediatricians to continue the family legacy.
Suzette founded Strong Children Wellness alongside two co-founders, her sister Dr. Nicole Brown, and friend Dr. Omolara Uwemedimo. Strong Children Wellness is a for-profit clinic that embeds socially responsive healthcare services within trusted community-based organizations.
Piggybacking on the array of support services and programs on offer, SCW is uniquely positioned to coordinate care to address the social determinants of health. Through SCW, Suzette is not only offering a new kind of support to families in NYC but also pioneering a value-based payment model for pediatric care.
Strong Children Wellness is growing and evolving. The pandemic necessitated a pivot to telehealth services, which now make up a significant portion of their care for the families they serve. To date, Strong Children Wellness has built three brick-and-mortar sites and developed partnerships with organizations to provide holistic and tailored care for complex patients.