Mika Moaney

In her final year at Barnard College of Columbia University, Mika is a Medical Anthropology major studying at the intersection of sociocultural anthropology, public health, as well as race and ethnicity. Her unwavering commitment to the lives of Black and brown people and education touches near every corner of her life.

Mika is Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow with plans to earn a doctorate in Medical Anthropology and pursue a career in the professoriate. At the College, Mika serves as a peer-educator for campus health and wellness program, The Wellness Spot and is a member of the Zora Neale Hurston '28 Centennial Committee which is charged with developing a dynamic plan to mark 100 years of Black women and nonbinary students at Barnard. Off campus, she wields her academic foundation and her sensibilities of radical community care in the fields of Reproductive Justice and Birth Equity, with professional experience in global public health, critical qualitative research and writing, and health education and programming.

Although she has truly enjoyed New York City for the past 3 years, Mika is devoted to aiding the multinational, multilingual scholars in her very own backyard as they harness their voices—voices which have the validity and strength to define the world as we know it. As a descendant of the Maryland Eastern Shore’s Moaney family and a TCPS ‘20 graduate, Mika remains grounded by experiences learning, loving, and growing on the Shore.  The Academy is both an enduring commitment and love letter to the young Black and brown scholars in her region.