Spelman College Graduate Neshe’ Conley Awarded Over $300K From UnitedHealthcare For An AI-Driven Storytelling And Data Platform
Neshe’ Conley is using AI to improve health outcomes for Black women.
The Philadelphia native was raised by a teenage mother, and, as she grew older, she realized that she no longer wanted to live in the city due to its “culture of violence and poverty,” she told AFROTECH™. She also wanted to improve disparities for others, which led her to Spelman College, where she earned a bachelor of science in 2013, initially aspiring to become a cardiothoracic plastic surgeon.
However, her career trajectory shifted two weeks after graduating, following her grandmother’s passing.
“She was financially supporting my mom … since my mom was a single mother,” Conley explained.
“So I put a pause on going to medical school and just really started to work in the healthcare space,” she added.
The Pivot
Conley began working in healthcare administration at a trauma center, behavioral health emergency room, and labor and delivery unit. While speaking with patients, she observed a disconnect between the services offered and what was needed to support them, leading to a feeling of discomfort, she explained.
“Sometimes we think the work that we’re doing is making change, but it’s really not if we’re not really understanding the needs and assessing the community … I always had that feeling that I wanted to do something different. I wanted to change how the healthcare space or how the resources in the community look for the community of color,” she told AFROTECH™.
Maternal Health Journey
Conley became laser-focused on maternal health, with her journey as a mother serving as a catalyst. She lost her first child as a result of a miscarriage and wasn’t offered mental health resources by her OBGYN. When she was seven months pregnant with her second child, she began seeing floaters and experienced “bad migraines.” On some days, she couldn’t open her eyes while at work.
However, her doctor affirmed, “You’re young. You’re healthy. You’re good. Don’t worry about it. It’s just because you’re working on your feet.”
When she delivered the baby, after nine minutes, Conley’s blood pressure rose to 180 over 79, she estimated, leading her to be put on a magnesium drip to avoid experiencing a seizure. She was hospitalized for four days, and believes it would have been prevented if her OBGYN had investigated her symptoms.
“Because she didn’t do that, I could have potentially lost my life or even lost the life of my second baby at that point, because of her ignoring me,” she recalled.
Her third child was born in the wake of COVID-19, and again, Conley experienced challenges. Her husband was not able to join her in the room until she was in labor due to the pandemic. She struggled to breathe while wearing a mask, experienced chest pains, and her son had difficulty descending.
She reached her breaking point.
“I was having chest pains. [The white OBGYN] made the comment, ‘Well, if a Black woman says they have chest pains, you can’t ignore them.’ But I never saw her after that … At that moment, I realized that I can’t continue to live in a world where I’m experiencing these things and I know others are experiencing these things and not do something about it,” Conley said.
Ebony Women Health Corp.
Conley went on to have a fourth child and moved to Charlotte, NC, to be closer to family after earning a master’s degree in public health from Baylor University. From there, she went on to launch the Ebony Women Health Corp. (EWHC) in April 2024 to ensure health organizations have equitable systems for women of color. EWHC offers resources such as equity consulting and strategy, culturally responsive training, curriculum, and resource development, according to its website.
EchoHer
Alongside EWHC, Conley also launched EchoHer, an AI-powered story-informed data solution that will officially launch as an app for iOS and Android in November. It examines the “holistic experience for women and birthing individuals of color,” Conley said.
Users can take surveys and culturally grounded assessments and share stories. EchoHer will gather quantitative data and personal narratives, and AI will “identify patterns, amplify voices, and translate lived experiences into actionable insights,” according to information on the EWHC website.
Conley explained to AFROTECH™ that the trends gathered from EchoHer can identify gaps in Black maternal and mental health for research and program development, inform the creation of new resources for partners and her organization, and train healthcare providers, advocates, and health systems.
Organizations that are clients of EWHC can access the EchoHer corporate dashboard to collect data from the EchoHer community.
Conley shared one trend extracted by the app’s AI: more Black women over 40 are starting to have babies. Through the creation of EchoHer, she’s learned even more about the experiences of birthing individuals. She noted that one mother experienced separation anxiety after she had to remain in the hospital while her baby was discharged earlier.
“These are real stories. These are real things that are happening. And when it comes down to data storytelling, the big crucial part about EchoHer is that we’re able to allow the birthing individual to reflect what their experience was,” Conley said.
“And that gets missed in research because it’s all focused on numbers … It don’t tell the full picture. So when we’re able to take all that information, summarize it here using AI, not only will it allow us to not miss anything, but also allow us to get data faster,” she added.
“In public health, data doesn’t come out for at least two to three years after research … So we’re waiting two, three years for information about what’s happening in Black maternal health. By now, there’s new things happening. There’s new things that we need to focus on. So we’re always going to be behind. Using AI and EchoHer allows us to do this right then and there once we get a survey,” Conley continued.
Additional Resources
EchoHer also includes a community chat where users can ask questions, explore articles that keep them abreast of overlooked mental health stories, and join support groups led by experts.
“We do not provide medical information, and we make that really clear that you need to see your provider or whoever is a part of your birthing team,” Conley warned.
“But this is just a space where you can bring awareness, ask those questions that you may feel like got dismissed or ignored,” she added.
Join The Community
Conley encourages birthing individuals to join EchoHer, which soft-launched in September. Users can opt in to a free trial to explore the app, and Conley hopes to provide access to the app for mothers free of charge through investments from partners.
At the time of this writing, EchoHer was awarded $329,000 in funding from UnitedHealthcare, according to Kiss 95.1 FM.
