Richmond Memorial Health Foundation (RMHF) is honored to feature Richmond Mayor Danny Avula for our first Voices From the Region entry of 2026!
Dr. Danny Avula took office as the 81st Mayor of Richmond on January 1, 2025. Before his election, Avula served as Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Social Services and, before that, the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts for 12 years, including 6 years as its Director. He is also a pediatrician and works as a hospitalist at Chippenham Hospital.
Read our full Voices from the Region Q&A with Mayor Avula below.
Q: How do you define health and racial/ethnic equity? What does it look like in practice?
A: “As a pediatrician and public health physician, health and racial/ethnic equity is the work of ensuring that every person—regardless of race, zip code, income, or background—has a fair and just opportunity to live a healthy, thriving life. That means removing the structural barriers that prevent some communities from accessing the resources others take for granted.
Decades of evidence—and lived experience—tell us that health is shaped far more by where and how people live than by what happens in a doctor’s office alone. Housing stability, education, transportation, food access, economic opportunity, and safety all matter. And in Richmond, as in much of the country, those factors have been shaped by policies and practices that disproportionately harmed communities of color.
In practice, equity means designing systems that intentionally close those gaps. When I led the Richmond and Henrico Health District, that meant expanding access to health education and services by establishing clinics in our most under-resourced neighborhoods, and hiring residents of those neighborhoods as Community Health Workers. During COVID, it meant partnering with trusted community leaders, faith institutions, and neighborhood organizations to ensure vaccines and accurate information reached communities that had every reason to be skeptical of government systems. We brought care to people—through mobile clinics, trusted messengers, and convenient locations—rather than expecting people to navigate barriers alone.
As Mayor, equity means building a city that works for everyone, not just those with power or proximity. A thriving Richmond is one where no one is left behind.”
Q: In your role, how do you identify opportunities to pursue or support health and racial/ethnic equity efforts?
A: “Health equity isn’t a silo—it runs through housing, education, public safety, economic development, and how government shows up day to day. Many of today’s disparities are the predictable result of yesterday’s policies, and addressing them requires intentional, coordinated action both upstream and downstream.
My approach has long been guided by a simple framework: look for it, find it, fix it. That starts with listening. Whether during my time as a public health leader or now as Mayor, I spend time in neighborhoods hearing directly from residents. I hear about families being priced out of the communities they helped build, about loved ones lost to gun violence, about struggles with addiction or mental health.
Those stories are painful—but they are also clarifying. They tell us where systems are failing and where action is needed. And this work emanates from the remarkable team of people we have assembled here at the City— a team that values data, elevates the voice of lived experience, knows the importance of community voice, and is driven by a deep commitment to equity.”
Q: In your community, what would you identify as the biggest challenge that impedes progress towards this goal?
A: “Housing stability is foundational to health. Without a stable home, it’s difficult to manage chronic illness, recover from injury, maintain employment, or build strong family and community connections. For too long, rising housing costs have displaced long-time residents—particularly low-income residents and communities of color.
That’s why we released a comprehensive affordable housing plan focused on preventing displacement, expanding deeply affordable housing, and ensuring residents of public housing communities can thrive. Richmond is growing, and growth brings opportunity—but only if it is inclusive. Our responsibility is to ensure that people who have called this city home can continue to be a part of this community and benefit from its success.”
Q: What example(s) of progress have you seen in your community as it relates to health or racial/ethnic equity?
A: “I have seen remarkable progress over the 25 years I’ve lived here. The poverty rate has reduced from 26.7% to 18.2%. We’re in the process of redeveloping significant swaths of public housing. We’ve seen growth of the Black employment rate over time. We’ve made huge, equity-driven investments in education over the last decade, and last year Richmond Public Schools reported the highest graduation rates for both black students and economically disadvantaged students in 20 years!”
Q: If you could change one thing in your community to improve health and racial/ethnic equity outcomes, what would it be?
A: “For me, the moral imperative to pursue equity is rooted in my fundamental belief in the humanity and dignity of every person—that every human being has value and should be cherished. However, this has not been a shared value in our society historically. I think if we could collectively agree on this foundational truth, it would significantly shift our policies and practices to prioritize racial/ethnic equity.”
Voices From the Region is our ongoing series that poses the same five questions to leaders from across the region, capturing a thought-provoking array of perspectives on the central role health and racial/ethnic equity play in our community.