Tambra Raye Stevenson, MPH, MA, is an acclaimed community health innovator, patent holder, author, and policymaker. As the founder of WANDA: Women Advancing Nutrition, Dietetics, and Agriculture, Tambra is on a mission to silo smash generations, geographies, and sectors to change the narrative and build a pipeline of Black women and girls leading healthier communities through sustainable food systems in Africa and the diaspora. Additionally, she established NATIVSOL Kitchen, providing crucial Pan-African nutrition education to promote the use of culturally significant foods as a pathway to improved health and well-being. 

She celebrates the intersection of food, culture, and identity. This year she served as the guest editor of Eating Well, producing a breakout piece with a talented team of chefs, dietitians, and scholars entitled: “African Heritage Diet as Medicine: How Black Food Can Heal the Community.” And in 2022, Tambra graced the renowned TEDx stage with her inspiring message on how Black women are reclaiming their food as medicine. Her bilingual children's WANDA book series encourages the reclamation of African foodways as medicine across Africa and the diaspora and inspires young readers to embrace their cultural heritage. Tambra's contributions to a forthcoming UK-based food-inspired anthology, "Serving Up: Essays on Food, Identity, and Culture," further exemplify her dedication to promoting a more inclusive narrative surrounding food and its impact on communities.  

She holds esteemed food board positions that shape government, industry, and academic policy agendas.  As an executive board member of the USDA's National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board, she contributes her insights to advance agricultural research and education for improved nutrition outcomes. She serves on the D.C. Food Policy Council, where she co-chairs the nutrition and health working group, driving initiatives that promote access to healthy and culturally appropriate food for all residents. Furthermore, her involvement with the Tufts University Food and Nutrition Innovation Council and the Milken Institute's Food as Medicine Advisory Board underscores her dedication to nutrition security.

As a Ph.D. candidate at the American University School of Communication, she researches the intersection of media, technology, and health. Her involvement as a communication researcher on the Wasted Food Research Network, a National Science Foundation-funded initiative. She also holds a B.S. in Human Nutrition with a minor in Spanish from Oklahoma State University. She studied community health in the Dominican Republic as a recipient of the prestigious David L. Boren National Security Scholarship. Tambra earned her MPH in Health Communication from Tufts University School of Medicine and pursued MBA coursework in entrepreneurship and healthcare marketing at Boston University Graduate School of Management.

Gaining experience in the social determinants of health, Tambra began her public service career serving in the Secretary's office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency, the Executive Office of the D.C. Mayor on Women's Policy and Initiatives, D.C. Victim Services, and at the University of the District of Columbia's Center for Nutrition, Diet, and Health.