Our Founder – Equity & Impact Solutions

Raniyah Copeland
CEO & Founder of Equity & Impact Solutions

“I am the dream and the hope of the slave.”

Raniyah M. Copeland, MPH was raised with the core values of equity and community and was also taught the importance of creating them in spaces where they did not exist. In her nearly two-decade career, first at the nation’s only HIV advocacy organization focused on Black Americans, and now as the founder of a successful equity-focused consulting practice, Raniyah continues to align her personal calling with her professional vision. Today, she is a premier public health and racial justice expert and a sought-after public speaker.

Starting her career at Planned Parenthood, Raniyah first observed how equity and community health were entwined. Witnessing Black patients receive an HIV diagnosis with a sense of defeat and inevitability heightened her desire to do more. When the Black AIDS Institute opened a position to grow its programs, Raniyah knew it was a turning point in her life.

In a generation where most build their careers by moving from one organization to another, Raniyah created her own trajectory at BAI over 14 years. After a decade of building and co-leading programs for health access, community advocacy, and leadership development, she became BAI’s first Black woman CEO. Two years of her remarkable leadership acumen resulted in the strongest revenue generation, program expansions, and team growth in the organization’s history.

After leaving BAI, Raniyah stayed rooted in her commitment to advance equity on a wider canvas by establishing her consulting practice, Equity and Impact Solutions. Her unique blend of business strategy, community engagement, client service, and focus on advancing equity have resulted in a growing portfolio of clients from Fortune 500s, government, and social justice organizations.

Raniyah attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied Public Health and African American Studies and became a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She is a proud HBCU alum from Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science where she earned a Master’s in Urban Public Health.

Raniyah is living and loving life in her hometown of Los Angeles, along with her husband and three young sons who are a constant source of joy, inspiration, and love.