Dr. Carla Featured Expert on Black Girlhood in Health First!: The Black Woman’s Wellness Guide!

Carla Stokes, PhD, MPH, is a pioneering educator and scholar whose work helped lay the foundation for digital girlhood studies and introduced innovative methods for integrating hip hop culture and the internet into health education. Her groundbreaking research helped shape contemporary understanding of adolescence and girlhood in the digital age. Dr. Carla's scholarship has been published in academic books and journals, taught in university courses, and featured in respected media outlets including The New York Times, NBC, CBS, Fast Company, Yahoo! Parenting, Reuters, Woman's Day, and Ebony. As the founder of Teen Girl University™, she prepares ambitious girls and the next generation of women leaders to make healthy choices, lead with purpose, and create meaningful change in an increasingly complex digital world. For 15 years, Dr. Carla also served as the founder and Executive Director of Helping Our Teen Girls In Real Life Situations, Inc. (HOTGIRLS)®, an award-winning 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the health and lives of underserved Black young women and girls. She also founded the A Heart for Girls™ Business Academy, where she advised educators, entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, mental health professionals, and other women committed to improving the lives of girls around the globe. Through leadership development, capacity building, strategic business education, and mentoring, Dr. Carla helped participants strengthen their organizations, programs, services, and facilitation and speaking skills to expand their expertise, influence, and impact.