In the US, Women are 7 times less likely to be believed when it comes to pain symptoms than men. Between White and Black female the disparities are even worse. 14% of medical residents think black skins are thicker than whites and research found blacks are forced to "code switch" to "sound white" for better outcomes. On top of that, blacks are 34% less likely to be prescribed proper pain medicine for conditions such as abdominal pain, black women die at 3-4x the rate of white women during childbirth, are 22% more likely to die from heart disease, and 71% more likely to die from cervical cancer. As shocking as these numbers may seem, to hear actual racial bias in a real-life medical emergency is truly heartbreaking.

In the US, Women are 7 times less likely to be believed when it comes to pain symptoms than men. Between White and Black female the disparities are even worse. 14% of medical residents think black skins are thicker than whites and research found blacks are forced to "code switch" to "sound white" for better outcomes. On top of that, blacks are 34% less likely to be prescribed proper pain medicine for conditions such as abdominal pain, black women die at 3-4x the rate of white women during childbirth, are 22% more likely to die from heart disease, and 71% more likely to die from cervical cancer. As shocking as these numbers may seem, to hear actual racial bias in a real-life medical emergency is truly heartbreaking.

Although the disheartening data around unconscious bias is out there - blacks are 34% less likely to be prescribed proper pain medicine for conditions such as abdominal pain, black women die at 3-4x the rate of white women during childbirth, are 22% more likely to die from heart disease, and 71% more likely to die from cervical cancer - it's still really hard for people to believe it. So the idea is really simple: prove in a live experiment unconscious bias is a sad reality and leads to poor healthcare outcomes.

EmpowHer NY gives real women a voice despite the challenges they face. Uniting them in the support of one another from self-love, to career success, and even health. With their relaunch on March 8th - Women International Day- we were challenged with creating a piece to spark a conversation about the unconscious bias in medicine and generate an opportunity for change in an industry often considered stagnant, our healthcare system.

More than 30 calls were made to the 24 hour nurse hotlines across the USA altering between "white names" and "white voices" and "black names" and "black voices". The results were consistent to the data we had from papers about unconscious biases in medicine and fairly illustrated in our experiment. 77% of "Black name" and "Black voice" calls resulted in Urgent Care – protocol for minor injuries or illnesses- instead of the appropriate direction: Emergency Room – protocol for life-threatening conditions. We launched the video on March 8th, International Women's Day through the EmpowHer social media outlets and more than 20 social influencers with and audience of more than 7MM followers in total on launch day.

The video has reached more than 7 million people in the first day alone - International Women's Day - and more than 450 people have taken the unconscious bias training through EmpowHer's platform on the first week alone, potentially leading to countless lives saved in the future. With a total of 630% increase in online bias training and 415% increase in conversation the project had dozens of influencers engaged, from Oscar-winning actresses and female directors to activists and bloggers.