Toyin Ajayi | |
|---|---|
 Toyin Ajayi at TechCrunch Disrupt 2022 | |
| Born | |
| Education | |
| Occupation(s) | Physician,CEO |
| Known for | Co-founder and CEO of Cityblock Health |
Toyin Ajayi is a Nigerian physician, co-founder, and CEO of Cityblock Health, a primaryhealth care provider that focuses on underserved populations who rely onMedicare andMedicaid in the United States.
Born to Nigerian parents, Ajayi grew up inNairobi, Kenya. Her father was a physician during theAIDS epidemic who worked to improve maternal health.[1]
Ajayi earned herbachelor's degree inhuman biology fromStanford University. She earned hermaster's from theUniversity of Cambridge, and was later awarded hermedical degree fromKing's College London School of Medicine.[2] In 2009, Ajayi started a non-profit focusing on improving health care conditions inFreetown, the capital city ofSierra Leone, one of only 50 doctors in a county of 7 million people. Ajayi was able to improve relationships between the community and the hospital and says she realized where her ambitions really lay: "I wanted to build systems to... train dozens of doctors." She turned her focus to family medicine, "believing it would provide her with the most varied tool set". She completed hermedical residency at theBoston Medical Center.[1]
Ajayi was theChief Medical Officer at Commonwealth Care Alliance, a health and service provider.[3] In this role, Ajayi oversaw clinical services and delivery while continuing to see patients as a practicing physician.[4]
In 2017, Ajayi co-founded Cityblock Health with Iyah Romm, with Ajayi serving as company president and Romm as the CEO.[5] Cityblock Health was spun out ofSidewalk Labs, aGoogle backedbusiness incubator.[6] In 2022, Ajayi took over as CEO when Romm stepped down. Ajayi was cited for helping Cityblock grow from a startup company to being valued close to $6 billion.[7]
Ajayi references theCOVID-19 pandemic as a driver for the need for community-based healthcare: “It’s unacceptable in 2022 that we’re looking at exactly the same data that we were looking at 15 years ago abouthealthcare disparities, healthcare outcomes, all exacerbated by COVID."[8]
Ajayi cites patient interaction as providing key insight into developing the best procedures to help with patient problems.[9] Ajayi also cites trust-building as important when working with disadvantaged communities: "[Trust] is disproportionately lower amongst communities of color, low-income folks, folks with mental health needs. We knew that we had to start with building trust, because that's the only way you get people to engage with you in order to change behaviors."[6]
Ajayi was a board member for the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC) from 2017 through 2019.[10]