About Us

Black Health Matters African Americans have poor health outcomes on nearly every disease index; we're either at higher risk for developing an illness or we die from it in greater numbers. While access to health insurance and socioeconomic status play a significant part in these health disparities, we also lack awareness about a lot of preventive steps we could take to better our health, and we're in denial, too. Black Health Matters will provide information about health and well-being from a service-oriented perspective–with lots of upbeat, positive solutions and tips.

The site will feature the following departments:

  • Our Health: Articles on health and wellness and the latest health and medical news, particularly as it impacts African American and Afro-Latin audiences
  • Beauty: Beauty and lifestyle stories, including tips on skin care, hair care, nail care; detailed pieces about the plastic surgery industry and reconstructive surgery following illness
  • Mind & Body: Using the mind and soul in healing to promote wellness, this channel explores the role spirituality and inspirational techniques play in overall well-being
  • Nutrition & Fitness: Healthy takes on cultural favorites, ways to lighten up dessert and snack foods; in-depth stories about why some populations have difficulty following healthy eating directives; nutrition news; fitness; ways to avoid illness through diet and exercise

Black Health Matters does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
About Us: Black Health Matters Multi-Channel Communications, LLC

Roslyn Y. Daniels

Founder and President

Roslyn Y. Daniels is the visionary force behind Black Health Matters, a preeminent online health promotion and disease management platform dedicated to serving the diverse needs of consumers, patients, and healthcare professionals. As the President and Founder of this groundbreaking organization, she is unwavering in her commitment to combat health disparities by elevating the health literacy of African American individuals and patients.

With a distinguished career spanning senior executive roles in broadcast and publishing, Daniels is nationally recognized as a dynamic health strategist, boasting over two decades of experience in designing and executing cross-cultural health education programs and initiatives. Her brainchild, Black Health Matters, was launched in 2012, a year before the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement and in response to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Daniels seeks to “radicalize” her audiences about Black health because the color of one’s skin determines quality of life and mortality in this society.

Daniels has set her sights on revolutionizing healthcare education for African American patients. Her mission is to meet patients where they are, effectively dismantling the influence of social determinants of health. To this end, she has created a powerful and distinctive ecosystem to raise awareness about chronic illnesses and connect individuals to positive health outcomes through a multifaceted approach. The anchor of the ecosystem is the Black Health Matters website, bolstered by Centers of Excellence for digital content, social media, digital newsletters and relationship/patient engagement within communities in partnership with leading Black institutions.

Over the past five years, Black Health Matters has achieved remarkable growth, with user numbers surging by 75% and sessions and pageviews increasing by 105%. Her tireless advocacy for reaching underserved populations beyond traditional channels led to the inception of the BHM Custom Newsletter program, a strategic partnership with historically Black fraternities, sororities, and civic organizations. Through this program, co-branded health newsletters are curated, aligning with the specific therapeutic focus of each organization thereby amplifying BHM’s evidence-based content and videos.

Even with such an impressive resume, Roslyn’s crowning achievement is the Black Health Matters Summits & Expos, launched in 2018. These hybrid experiential events feature live Ted Talk-inspired presentations from a world-class faculty of clinicians, patients, and health advocates. They have quickly become the nation’s largest forums on Black health. Held in key metropolitan cities and offering a day of clinical presentations on the chronic diseases disproportionately affecting people of color, these events have taken the BHM mission to another level. More than 80% of attendees report that they learned something new and 72% will follow-up with a physician on something presented at a BHM Summit.

The accompanying exhibit area at these Summits provides a wealth of resources from local and national organizations, catering to attendees seeking tools, resources, and funding for managing their conditions. To date, more than 10,000 individuals have attended these events, with over 60,000 views of sessions, both in-person and virtual.

Recognizing the stark disparities in life expectancy and mortality rates among African American men, Daniels launched Precision Oncology in partnership with Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. This initiative aims to empower Kappa Alpha Psi chapters in promoting health and wellness among their members and communities, initially focusing on oncology and later expanding to cardiovascular disease. This strategic partnership allows Black Health Matters to reach over 100,000+ Black men and their families.

Daniels’s numerous accolades include receiving the Digital Diversity Network’s Social Entrepreneur Award, recognition from the Whole Woman organization, the New Jersey Health Heroes Award, and the service award from Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated. She is the recipient of the Community Impact Award as bestowed by Women of Color in Pharma. Furthermore, Black Health Matters has been honored with the Medical Media & Marketing Award for its impactful social media efforts. The organization received a Proclamation from the City of New York on April 29, 2022, designating it as Black Health Matters Day. Proclamations have also been bestowed upon Black Health Matters by the Pan Hellenic Council of Washington, DC, and the Links, Incorporated, of Greater Hudson Valley, as well as the City of Newark, NJ.

Outside of her professional endeavors, Daniels is an active member of the Links, Inc. and an Associate Member of Jack and Jill of America. She is an honorary member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated and is a member of Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York. Her insightful op-ed, “Black Health: COVID-19 Has Shown It Matters More Than Ever,” was published in USA Today, and she has been featured in interviews by various news outlets.

A graduate of Boston University, Daniels further honed her skills through participation in the Tuck Diversity Business Program and the BEAM Program of Boston Scientific. She currently resides in Ringwood, New Jersey, and is the proud mother of two sons.


Leslie C. Garcia-Fontenot

VP, Managing Director

Leslie Fontenot is an award-winning communications and marketing executive with 20+ years of corporate and agency experience. Fontenot is presently the managing director for Black Health Matters (BHM), an 11-year-old, woman owned, integrated media and communications company dedicated to improving health outcomes in the African American community.

Fontenot oversees marketing strategies and operations across BHM’s digital and social platforms working with BHM’s pharmaceutical and biotech clients, health care practitioners and community partners to help create authentic and impactful connections with BIPOC communities. With support from BHM’s account, event and engagement teams, Fontenot leads local efforts to inspire and educate communities about health, wellness and chronic illness through the company’s forums and virtual summits.

Fontenot honed her expertise as a corporate and agency brand marketer, leading marketing teams at Fortune 500 companies and global ad agencies across multiple product categories including health, hospitality, beauty, consumer package goods and financial services. Fontenot is known for her business mind as a small business consultant, her keen insight and attention to detail, making her a go-to market leader in managing multi-cultural campaigns.

A graduate of Boston University’s School of Communications, Fontenot resides in Atlanta, Georgia, enjoys tennis, investing in both real estate and trading, travel and is a supporter of the arts. She is the proud mother of two young adults and is honored to serve as a member of the Psi Omega Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. in Peachtree Corners, GA.


Dedra N. Tate

Executive Producer & Director of Special Events

Dedra N. Tate, a proud Howard University graduate, has been a thriving contributor to the entertainment industry for almost four decades. After thirteen years as the president and general manager of Queen Latifah’s Flavor Unit Entertainment, Tate stepped into the entrepreneurial arena with her company Unlimited Contacts, Inc. Under the UCI banner, Tate successfully leveraged her years of experience and contacts to segue into TV and Film production, live and virtual event planning, talent management, marketing and branding consulting, public speaking, and she pens a lifestyle and entertainment column, in the New York Beacon newspaper, titled #HotOffThePress. In 2019, Tate joined the team at Black Health Matters (BHM) as Executive Producer & Director of Event Production, helping them grow from virtual health summits during the pandemic, to award-winning international summits and health expos, held both in person and virtually. 

Tate’s career started at MTV Networks, Inc. followed by tenures in executive positions at UNI Records, MCA Records, Motown
Records, BIV 10 Records & Flavor Unit Entertainment. The list of artists Tate has worked with includes Queen Latifah, Boyz II
Men, New Edition, Bobby Brown, Johnny Gill, Stephanie Mills, Patti Labelle, GUY, Naughty By Nature and Eric B. & Rakim, to
name a few. Tate was the Supervising Producer of the VIBE Awards – a joint venture between CBS, Vibe Magazine and Flavor
Unit that aired on the UPN Network. She also served as Supervising Producer of WWOR-TV/Channel 9’s scripted reality show
series the Come Back Kings, starring Ed Lover, Treach, Mr. Cheeks, Black Rob. Tate was the producer, music/script supervisor
for musical stage plays Sister’s Keeper and The Day Before Heaven. Her feature film producer credits include Blackout, starring
Jeffrey Wright, Zoe Saldana and Michael B. Jordan; Life Love Soul, starring Jamie Hector, Chad Coleman, Terri J. Vaughn and
Robbie Tate-Brickle and Zoo, starring Jermaine Hopkins, Tobias Truvillion, Treach and Dupre “DoitAll” Kelly. In addition,
she’s produced several short films including The Tombs, Attempted Burglary and Two Days In Harlem.

Tate worked with GlobalHue advertising agency’s entertainment and music production subsidiary, Brand Influence, where she
was instrumental in securing and overseeing the celebrity talent and judges, including Hezekiah Walker and Marvin Sapp, for
the groundbreaking eleven (11) city Verizon “How Sweet the Sound” gospel choir competition and tour. Her industry contacts,
work ethic and reputation have allowed her to build long-term business relationships with clients including Odyssey Media, Miles
Ahead Entertainment & Broadcasting, Harlem Fine Arts Show, NAACP New York Conference, The Studio Museum in Harlem,
The Whole Woman and MOBE (Marketing Opportunities in Business & Entertainment).

In 2019, Tate was honored by the Living Legends Foundation, and received their prestigious “Executive of the Year” Award. A
former jury member for the International Emmy Awards, Tate’s honors also include Ebony Magazine’s”#Outstanding Women In
Marketing & Communications,” National Action Network’s “Women of Excellence Award,” the National Urban League “Building
Brick Award”, 98.7 KISS-FM’s”#Phenomenal Woman Award” and she was amongst the inaugural group of distinguished honorees
to receive The Network Journal’s”#40 Under 40 Achievement Award.”

Tate currently serves as an Advisory Board member for the The Hip Hop Museum, whose mission is to preserve the history of
local and global hip hop, art and culture. Scheduled to open in 2025, the museum will be a 60,000 square foot brick and mortar
location in the Bronx, just south of Yankee Stadium. She is also a proud member of The Links, Incorporated, and thrived as a
member of Jack and Jill of America, Inc.’s Bergen-Passaic Chapter, serving in several executive positions. Tate was voted
“Distinguished Mother of the Year” by her chapter during each of her last four years in the organization. Tate then joined the
Jack and Jill Associate Group, serving as chair in 2018, and was voted “Distinguished Associate of the Year,” by its members.
Anyone who knows Tate, knows that she is all about FAMILY!!! She attributes her success to the love, strength and support she
gets from her family, each specializing in their own area of expertise for her development. Ambition, comedic style and vivacity
from her father Bob, business savvy and hard work from her mother Sandy, attitude and spirit from her “lil” Big sis Jeanine,
youthful exuberance from nephew Robbie and her love of life from her son Jian, a Rutgers University graduate.


For additional information, email us at info@blackhealthmatters.com.

Copyright © BLACK HEALTH MATTERS. All Rights Reserved. Important Disclaimer: The information contained on Black Health Matters is intended for general informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to constitute medical advice, probable diagnosis or recommended treatments. Please consult a health-care practitioner before making medical decisions.

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