Syrretta Martin is a fibromyalgia warrior, runner, wanderlust(er), social entrepreneur, and founder of Collective Healing. She received her Master’s in Social Work with a clinical focus from Fordham University. Her interest in health equity began at Stony Brook University where she studied health sciences. Syrretta’s professional career in health and human services led to an increased awareness of the inequities in our system impacting vulnerable communities and underserved populations. Her various roles prior to completing her master’s included serving as a case manager, counselor, health educator, and advocate, while providing trauma-informed psychotherapy, linkage to community resources, and culturally responsive programming in support of the health and well-being of the diverse communities in which she served.
As a woman of color who has lived with a chronic illness for over 20 years, Syrretta experienced firsthand the ebbs and flows of disability and disease impacting her quality of life. Out of her own desire to heal herself her way, she founded Collective Healing, a health and wellness community for Women of Color (WOC) journeying toward healing.
Guided by her personal and professional expertise, Collective Healing supports, moves, and inspires through the power of sisterhood and shared experiences. It promotes healing through kinship by curating affordable and accessible healing spaces centered on traditional healing practices of WOC. We address the socioeconomic and interpersonal impact that WOC face while navigating life with a chronic illness or disability through partnerships and collaborations.
Syrretta aspires to create discourse in the health and wellness industry by removing the structural and socio-economic barriers to holistic health care for women of color living with a chronic illness or disability. Her work centers on her commitment to improving the health outcomes of women of color by curating safe spaces that embody empathy, promotes autonomy, and fosters kinship. Syrretta hopes that her experience with the Culture of Health Leadership Institute for Racial Healing will deepen her knowledge of best practices and frameworks to grow the Collective Healing community. She’s looking forward to working collaboratively with fellow change makers and community builders to create a more equitable society, one in which everyone has access to high quality, culturally responsive, and affordable health care.
Post-Institute: Transformative Action Plans
Syrretta is dedicated to bridging gaps in holistic health, particularly for women of color, using trauma-informed programming, advocacy, empowerment, autonomy, grief processing, storytelling, indigenous healing circles, and trauma-informed approaches. Her overarching objective is to bring about a transformation in healthcare for women of color. Syrretta is initiating a program to empower healthcare providers to adopt a holistic approach that enhances the effectiveness of chronic disease management, reduces complications and mortality rates, mitigates implicit and explicit biases, and improves the patient-provider relationship. Findings from this program will be used to develop a transformative curriculum to improve the patient-provider relationship, promoting providers to reaffirm their commitment to do no harm while centering empathetic care.
