Leanne Brady
Leanne Brady is a health systems activist, medical doctor, and documentary filmmaker embedded in the public ambulance service in the Western Cape, South Africa. Her work combines storytelling and activism to grapple with the complex socio-political consequences of apartheid on public infrastructure, and the ongoing impact on health (in)equity.
Over the last 15 years she has designed and implemented a series of projects that seek to disrupt patterns of spatial apartheid and reimagine the role the public health system can play as a mechanism for restorative justice. Her praxis is located at the intersection of public health and the built environment where she works with community organizing and action research collectives to create spaces that invite bottom-up problem solving of health system issues.
In 2023 Leanne received the Public Health Innovation and Lifetime Achievement award for extraordinary contributions to public health in South Africa and a Public Service Excellence Award for the Vaxi Taxi, a mobile Covid-19 vaccination unit. She was also a 2018 Emerging Voice in Global Health, and received the Ebola Medal for Service in West Africa in 2015.