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National Minority Quality Forum to Honor U.S. Senator Cory Booker with Lifetime Achievement Award at 2026 Leadership Summit on Health Disparities

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 27, 2026) — Today, the National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF) announced that U.S. Senator Cory Booker will receive the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2026 NMQF Leadership Summit on Health Disparities and Health Braintrust on April 27-28th in Washington, D.C. at the Conrad Hotel in Washington, D.C., convening national leaders to advance solutions that improve access, equity, and outcomes in healthcare.

The 2026 Summit, themed “ACCESS: Advancing Community-Centered Care through Environment Sensitive Standards” grounded in NMQF’s Physical Laws Framework (PLF), will bring together policymakers, healthcare executives, researchers, advocates, and community leaders to examine how data-driven, biologically aligned care models can address persistent disparities and strengthen health systems serving underserved populations.

Senator Booker has built a national reputation as a leading voice for healthcare as a fundamental human right and has consistently advanced policies to expand coverage, lower costs, and address systemic inequities in the American healthcare system. Throughout his tenure in the U.S. Senate, he has been a strong defender of the Affordable Care Act and has supported efforts to strengthen and expand it to ensure more Americans have access to affordable, high-quality care.

“It is a profound and humbling honor to receive the National Minority Quality Forum’s Bernard J. Tyson Lifetime Achievement Award, especially from an organization whose mission is a moral mandate—to reduce patient risk, confront disparities with unflinching truth, and ensure that every community, from the city of Newark that molded me to neighborhoods across this nation, receives the quality care that dignity demands,” said Senator Booker. “The National Minority Quality Forum declares that inequity will not have the final word. And let me be clear: this award is not a finish line; it is a fire. It is a call to keep marching, keep fighting, keep pushing forward with NMQF and all who believe in justice, equity, and the sacred worth of every human life. Together, we will keep bending that arc toward a future where health equity is not a dream deferred but a promise delivered for all.”

A longtime advocate for universal coverage, Senator Booker has co-sponsored major legislation to move the nation toward a more equitable healthcare system, including proposals to establish a “Medicare for All” framework and expand public insurance options. His legislative portfolio also reflects a sustained focus on reducing healthcare disparities and addressing the social and structural drivers of health inequities. Senator Booker has led efforts to advance targeted, equity-driven policies, including the introduction of the Health Equity and Access under Law (HEAL) for Immigrant Families Act to remove barriers to care for immigrant populations, and the reintroduction of the John Lewis Equality in Medicare and Medicaid Treatment Act to ensure federal health programs

better account for disparities in care and outcomes. He has also supported initiatives to expand preventive services, improve maternal and community health, and integrate social determinants into healthcare delivery models. Senator Booker has supported broader legislative efforts such as the Equal Health Care for All Act, which seeks to address systemic inequities in access, quality, and outcomes across the healthcare system.

“I am so excited that Senator Booker is being awarded the NMQF Lifetime Achievement Award for his leadership in the Senate to reduce health disparities and champion the Equal Healthcare for All Act,” said Congresswoman Robin Kelly, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust. “Across the two chambers, Senator Booker and I have worked closely on health equity, especially maternal care and extending Medicaid postpartum care. I’m grateful for his leadership, partnership, and his friendship.”

In recent years, Senator Booker has been at the forefront of federal efforts to address sickle cell disease, a condition that disproportionately impacts Black Americans and has historically been underfunded and underserved. He has championed legislation such as the Sickle Cell Disease Comprehensive Care Act, which aims to expand access to comprehensive, multidisciplinary care, improve care coordination, and strengthen the national infrastructure for treating individuals living with sickle cell disease. His leadership has helped elevate sickle cell disease as a national health equity priority, advancing policies that support earlier diagnosis, better treatment access, and improved quality of life for patients.

“Senator Booker’s career reflects a deep and unwavering commitment to justice in healthcare,” said Gary A. Puckrein, MD, President and CEO of the National Minority Quality Forum. “His leadership has consistently centered the needs of the most vulnerable, advancing policies that recognize health equity not as an aspiration, but as a national imperative.”

Senator Booker has also supported broader efforts to invest in research, workforce development, and community-based care models for sickle cell disease, recognizing the urgent need to close longstanding gaps in care and outcomes. His work reflects a sustained commitment to addressing conditions that disproportionately affect communities of color and to ensuring that innovation in healthcare reaches those who need it most.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is one of NMQF’s highest honors, recognizing leaders whose work has made a lasting impact on improving health outcomes and advancing equity across populations. Senator Booker joins a distinguished group of recipients whose leadership has shaped the national dialogue on health disparities and access to care. The award will be presented during the 2026 NMQF Leadership Summit on Health Disparities, the nation’s premier gathering of healthcare leaders, policymakers, industry executives, and community advocates working to advance equitable health outcomes.

The full Summit agenda is now available and can be viewed here: https://summit.nmqf.org/access2026agenda

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ About National Minority Quality Forum The National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit research and advocacy organization based in Washington, DC. The mission of NMQF is to reduce patient risk by assuring optimal care for all. NMQF’s vision is an American health services research, delivery and financing system whose operating principle is to reduce patient risk for amenable morbidity and mortality while improving quality of life. For more information, please visit www.nmqf.org.