Building on the broad worldview she gained from her Branksome IB diploma, Black developed an interest in the “social determinants” of health during her undergraduate studies at Cornell University. 

Black’s volunteer work as an advocate for sexually assaulted women, and an internship as a foster-care caseworker in New York City, sparked her outrage and compassion that people experienced such immense trauma with so little support. 

Black turned those emotions toward medical school at Duke University. It was a course of study she interrupted, to earn a Master’s of Public Administration in Health Policy and Management at New York University. While working toward the MPA in New York City, she created a not-for-profit organization, ReStory, that provides group therapy for women who have suffered sexual assault.

“When I moved to New York City, I wanted to get back into sexual assault advocacy,” Black says. “I did some research and found fewer than five free resources for women who’d been sexually assaulted. In Canada, there’s much more emphasis on mental health, so I decided to help fill the void by starting something myself.”

Black met with a number of agencies and joined forces with a pair of social workers from Columbia University. They helped her create a curriculum for a 10-week group therapy program addressing the mental health needs of sexual-assault survivors. Each session focused on an emotion experienced or a coping strategy employed: resilience, shame, self-care and anger, for example.

“We would play a podcast or read a story aloud relating to this theme and have the participants talk about what they found compelling about it,” Black says.

The program was a hit, and Black incorporated ReStory as a not-for-profit so she could obtain funding to keep it going, create a formal curriculum and potentially conduct research on its efficacy down the line. Today, although she is no longer living in New York, the program is thriving.

Now, medical degree in hand, Black is preparing to undertake a five-year child psychiatry residency at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital through Harvard University. It’s an interest that grew out of her work in foster care and with Duke’s Child Abuse & Neglect Medical Evaluation Clinic.

“There aren’t enough psychiatrists to work with children who are dealing with trauma,” Black says. “I would like to spend half my career as a clinician and half working on policy to bolster the mental health system.

“Until we address the causes and treatments for childhood trauma, so many things in the healthcare system are just Band-Aids on a larger problem.”

Her interest in children doesn’t mean Black has forgotten the victims of sexual violence, however. Another branch of ReStory will be popping up in the Boston area within the next five years.

Expect Black to score a bull’s eye with her work. Those in need couldn’t have a more passionate champion.