Program Coordinator

Leadership Spotlight: Wilma J. Ruffin

Wilma J. Ruffin is deeply committed to community-based initiatives, with a focus on youth mentorship and faith-based health education programs that improve health equity and outcomes. She believes in meeting people and students where they are and giving them meaningful opportunities to succeed.

Her philosophy is that everyone can achieve academic and health-improvement goals through effective instructional strategies. When education is delivered well, learners are motivated to believe they can succeed.

Wilma J. Ruffin, M.Ed., BSBA, serves as a Consultant for DEIJ Community Outreach and Faith-Based Initiatives and as Program Coordinator for the Department of Surgery High School Mentorship Program at Henry Ford Health. She was born in Welch, West Virginia, and later moved with her family to Detroit, Michigan. She graduated from Cass Technical High School, earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Detroit Mercy, and received a Master of Education in Instructional Technology from Wayne State University.

Mrs. Ruffin also served for 15 years as Manager of Research Administration for the Department of Surgery and Clinical Trial Research at Henry Ford Health. In that role, she and her team expanded federal, state, corporate, and clinical trial funding and developed staff training focused on patient consent and retention.

She developed the instructional tool Your Pathway to Healthy Living, a faith-based and corporate kiosk program created with T Butler Graphics. The program was placed in four churches, 16 K-12 schools in Detroit and Lansing, and one location at the University of Akron.

Related publication: Dulchavsky SA, Ruffin WJ, Johnson DA, Cogan C, Joseph CL. “Use of an Interactive, Faith-Based Kiosk by Congregants of Four Predominantly African American Churches in a Metropolitan Area.” Frontiers in Public Health. August 2014;2:106.