Dr. Zerita C. Buchanan is a fourth-generation dentist and a proud HBCU graduate. Her commitment to health equity led her to be recognized as a "Healthcare Hero" by her alma mater Spelman College.With a dynamic career spanning both public and private sectors, Dr. Buchanan is celebrated for her expertise in workforce diversity, health policy, and healthcare innovation. As a Harvard-trained public health expert, she has established herself as a leading cosmetic dentist, and a prominent oral health thought leader. Dr. Buchanan utilizes her influential platform to address oral health inequities and to mentor the next generation of culturally competent and diverse dentists. She is a sought-after speaker & consultant, offering valuable insights on health justice, HBCU pipeline development, and diversity, equity, & inclusion initiatives. Dr. Buchanan received her DDS from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Dentistry and her MPH in Health Policy from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where she was awarded the prestigious Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in honor of Dr. Joseph L. Henry, the first African American Interim Dean at Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Her public health research is focused on the enduring impact racism has on the American healthcare system and how it relates to current-day oral health disparities. Dr. Buchanan's private practice, Dental Dreams, LLC, serves as a vocational training school and innovation hub for HBCU students interested in the STEM sciences. Troubled by the statistic that African-Americans make up 13.6% of the U.S. population but only 3.8% of the dental workforce, she launched the "Dental Dreams, LLC - Dental Assisting School" to further diversify the dental workforce. In 2023, Dr. Buchanan formalized a groundbreaking national partnership with Listerine to diversify the dental workforce. Dr. Buchanan also serves as the Assistant Director of The Increasing Diversity in Dentistry (IDID) pipeline program, a 501(c)(3) organization that provides a solution to the racial disparity in the dental workforce by mentoring underrepresented minority pre-dental students. Her role at IDID includes managing a growing portfolio of corporate donors, where she successfully raised $315,000 for the nonprofit within 12 months. Dr. Buchanan is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc, and The Dogwood City (G.A.) Chapter of The Links, Inc. She also serves on the board of Harvard School of Dental Medicine and is an adjunct professor at Morehouse School of Medicine in the Department of Medical Education.