Consulting team

We believe meaningful change happens when people and systems are understood together. Our team brings expertise in organizational behavior, psychology, and systems thinking to uncover the root causes that hinder organizations' progress. Solid foundations ensure culture doesn’t slip back but grows stronger over time. So we focus on pulling up those roots and building a stronger base. By setting clear, achievable goals and guiding teams through practical steps, we help organizations create lasting shifts that strengthen performance, empower employees, and deliver better outcomes for the communities they serve.

Brandy Jones, mPH

Principal Consultant

I founded The Urban Blackwell to address what I have witnessed throughout my career: systems and organizational cultures that too often place greater burdens on the very people they are intended to serve. My career began on the frontlines of skilled nursing, where I cared for elders facing preventable and often terminal outcomes rooted in social and structural inequities. That experience propelled me into program and organizational leadership, where I have guided teams and advanced large-scale change across healthcare and social service organizations.

Over the years, I have built expertise as a Community Health Worker with a focus on community health education, coalition building, and advancing population health strategies. I am nationally trained in trauma-informed care and recognized for applying those practices to strengthen both organizational culture and community engagement. My advocacy has taken me from local neighborhoods to the halls of Congress, where I have stood alongside Tribal leaders to champion sovereignty, aging services, healthcare reform, and safety net programs.

This breadth of perspective, spanning the bedside, the boardroom, and national policy, positions me to help organizations uncover systemic barriers, design people-centered solutions, and build the kind of cultures that create measurable impact for both their workforce and the communities they serve.

I hold a Master of Public Health from California State University, Sacramento, and outside of my professional work, I stay deeply engaged in community life. I remain active in advocacy for diverse aging populations, homelessness prevention, and for health career pipeline programs supporting marginalized youth and aging-out foster youth. I also enjoy connecting with others through multicultural food or music events, and I cherish spending warm beach days with my family.

Jeanita Harris

Principal Data Consultant

I bring more than three decades of senior experience in data analysis across both for-profit and nonprofit health systems and associations. Certified in ArcGIS and proficient in SPSS and Tableau, I use advanced analytics, spatial mapping, and data visualization to illustrate where inequities exist and how interventions create measurable impact. For me, data is more than numbers on a page—it is the most powerful tool we have to visualize stories, reveal patterns, and dismantle faulty structures that perpetuate inequities. Throughout my career, I have led data initiatives that inform system-wide reforms, strengthen organizational decision-making, and drive accountability in healthcare and community health programs.

I work closely with our partners to ensure that every data point reflects real people, real experiences, and leads to meaningful change. Outside of my professional work, I am a skilled custom jewelry creator and design personalized memorial and funeral tribute videos and programs to support families navigating loss. I enjoy bringing creativity, meaning, and care into both my craft and my community.