2022 Distinguished Alumni Award

ARMENTA WASHINGTON '85

Armenta L. Washington, M.S., is currently a Research Coordinator Senior with Penn Medicine - Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania.  In her role with the Office of Diversity and Outreach, Armenta utilizes her expertise in building community partnerships to raise awareness, educate and innovate approaches to address cancer health disparities and decreases the cancer burden in underserved communities.  In her role with the Office of Diversity and Community Outreach, Ms. Washington has co-developed a Clinical Trial Community Ambassador Program to increase African Americans' participation in cancer clinical trials.  Ms. Washington and her colleagues developed an internationally recognized drive-by colon cancer clinic to mitigate the 90% reduction of colon cancer screening during the height of COVID-19.  She served as an advisor on the President's Cancer Panel report, “Closing Gaps in Cancer Screening: Connecting People, Communities, and Systems to Improve Equity and Access."  Ms. Washington was named the Philadelphia Magazine Be Well Philly 2021 Health Hero.

Prior to her position at Abramson Cancer Center, Ms. Washington served as Program Manager at Fox Chase Cancer Center’s - Office of Community Outreach.  She has served as a Training Manager for the Family Planning Council – TRAINING 3 (now known as AccessMatters). In her role she provided technical assistance and training programs for healthcare providers throughout HHS Region III. Ms. Washington coordinated numerous training and professional development activities for local and regional healthcare provides often working collaboratively through grant projects with the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Office of Population affairs (OPA).   

She currently serves as a member of Penn’s Center for AIDS Research – Community Advisory Board where she is the co-chair of the Black Men’s Health Initiative.

Ms. Washington received her Master of Science in Health Education from Saint Joseph’s University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Millersville University.