Associate Professor and Blue Cross Endowed Professor of Health and Racial Equity Rachel Hardeman was honored with the Courage Award presented by Planned Parenthood – North Central States during its virtual celebration on Oct. 26. The Courage Award is given to a person or group of people who boldly advance the values of Planned Parenthood’s mission.

The organization selected Hardeman for her ground-breaking work in drawing attention to systemic racism in healthcare and her commitment to reproductive healthcare for all people. Hardeman is also a member of Planned Parenthood – North Central States board of directors.

“Reproductive justice — the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities — is at risk,” says Hardeman. “My daughter, Leila, gives me the courage to say the hard things and to write the hard words to challenge the systems that keep so many from optimal health and well-being. It is her future, and especially that of so many Black and Brown girls, that I fight for.”

Hardeman is a reproductive health equity researcher whose program of research applies the tools of population health science and health services research to reveal a critical and complex determinant of health inequity: racism. In 2020, Hardeman was named the first Blue Cross Endowed Professor of Health and Racial Equity.