2023 West Michigan

Valissa Armstead is director, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, of Spectrum Health System, a $7.3 billion not-for-profit integrated health system based in West Michigan. Valissa is responsible for ensuring the strategic alignment of DEI to Spectrum Health’s internal (team member focused) and external (patient, member and community focused) strategies. She oversees these efforts through DEI’s five area of focus framework: cultural competency, equity of care, workforce diversity, community engagement, and supplier diversity. She serves as a champion, consultant, bridge builder, strategic leader and partner, empowering leaders across the system to identify and execute initiatives to effective organization transformation. She is a proven innovator, relationship builder, change agent and influencer for diversity, equity and inclusion, bringing firsthand, expert knowledge to Spectrum Health’s DEI efforts. Background Valissa joined Spectrum Health in July 2015. Under her guidance, Spectrum Health’s leadership signed the #123forEquity Pledge, which builds on the efforts of the American Hospital Association’s National Call to Action to Eliminate Health Care Disparities. The #123forEquity Pledge summons West Michigan hospitals and health system leaders to accelerate efforts to collect socio-demographic data to design intentional plans and expand cultural competency training to enhance the diversity lens within leadership and governance structures, and to strengthen community partnerships. Valissa established a cross functional diversity workgroup at Spectrum Health that researches out to hiring managers across the system to promote diversity, equity and inclusion to their direct reports. To achieve this, she created an in-house Cultural Intelligence Facilitators Network that delivers cultural competency training in courses like unconscious bias and cultural intelligence. As a result, almost half of the health system team members have received training in cultural competency. Working towards improving the collection and reliability of patient demographic data (race, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, gender identity), Valissa helped to lead efforts in the expansion of the health systems electronic medical records, thus helping to advance the organizations efforts to better understand the patient population as a first start towards eliminating health care disparities. She helped launch volunteer employee-led inclusion resource groups (IRGs) formed around common demographics, characteristics or shared interests. The IRGs focus on culture, commerce, career and community that led to business results. Currently, there are eight IRGs at Spectrum Health: African American, Asian American, Hispanic and Latinx, LGBTQIA+, individuals with disabilities, veterans, women’s, and young professionals. Most recently, she helped design, development, and deliver a full-day, system-wide initiative called Day of Understanding. This day was used to share, listen and be heard as we continue to move forward together, in addressing systemic racism. A native of Flint, Michigan, Valissa previously worked as an engineer and as a direct result, understands the importance of data as the foundation for strategic recommendations. She also speaks regularly about her lived experience being impacted by the intersectionality of being Black and female. She uses her education and experiences to fuel, inform and guide her work as a leader in the diversity, equity and inclusion space. Valissa earned a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Central State University, and a Master’s in Business Administration from University of Phoenix. She is currently completing doctoral research in organizational leadership at University of Phoenix School of Advanced Studies. She is a Certified Facilitator of Unconscious Bias and Cultural Intelligence. Affiliations Committed to public service, Valissa has been a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. for 28 years. As the country's largest organization for college educated Black women, she has remained dedicated to mobilizing resources and positioning next to the organization’s five-point programmatic thrust of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority: economic development, educational development, international awareness and involvement, physical and mental health, and political awareness and involvement. Her goal continues to focus on structural change to influence the growth and development of our communities and its families, with special interest in addressing systemic health inequities; as well as, degradation of workforce structures limiting the advancement of Black and Brown people. Valissa has earned several awards under her leadership: Diversity Best Practice Inclusion Index Company (2018), Project SEARCH Employment Outcome Award (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019), West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum Social Responsibility Leadership Award (2018), LINC Up Community Spirit Innovation Award (2018), Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce Diversity Visionary Award (2018) and the Michigan Salute to Diversity Award (2019). Valissa personally received the YWCA Tribute Award, in the category of business, management, industry and labor for her work towards eliminating racism and empowering women (2019). Faith, healthy living and improving wellbeing of communities is very important to Valissa. She is a board member of Kingdom Life Ministries Community Development Corporation and assists with grant writing and program development supporting self-sufficiency for families. Her passion as a runner channeled into her board member participation with S.T.A.R.S. Sisters Taking Action Reversing Statistics, a local non-profit which encourages women, particularly women of color, to make fitness and healthy living a priority for themselves. She sets her own example, having completed the New York City Marathon and the Berlin Marathon in Germany.