money, more positions, it was more about that internal desire to accomplish more and show not only myself but show my kids they could do more,” he said. “My words to them have been, ‘don’t be like your daddy; be better.’ I always wanted to do something so they could look up to me. I felt like if I kept moving the bar, they would continue themselves and try to pursue.” Moving on Up the Career Ladder Wardlaw began his career as a medical professional as a social work supervisor in corrections in Florence, South Carolina, at the recommendation of his Howard University mentor and licensed social worker, Marjorie Hammock. “I had no idea that would be my path,” he said of his time providing social work counseling at the Palmer Pre-release Center in Florence, South Carolina. “The inmates really taught me a lot about life, about how to protect myself and the struggles that inmates go through. Every one that is incarcerated is not a bad person. People just fall into bad situations. That plays a part in
what I do now. Some folks have different circumstances that lead them down a path, and they’re going to do whatever they’re going to do to survive.” He then worked with city and county departments of public health and environment in South Carolina and Texas and later became the Ryan White Program Coordinator at the Richland Community Health Care Association, Inc. It was there where he managed staff, created 30 policies and procedures, analyzed HIV patient satisfaction surveys, conducted psychosocial assessments and served on the agency’s Continuous Quality Improvement committee to improve services. He also increased the program’s patient population from 100 to 780 in three years. “That started my passion,” said Wardlaw. “Working with the homeless, people living with HIV and seeing the need in communities molded me into staying into community health work.”
collaborate with and looking at how we can help our community sustain. When I see that people each and every day are losing insurance and can’t pay for healthcare, I know I have more work to do.” Black people account for only 5.9% of CEOs, while 85.7% of white people are CEOs, according to 2021 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Ironically, about 93% of Black CEOs had advanced degrees, compared to 53% of white executives, according to a University of Georgia and Stevens Institute of Technology study. In fact, Black executives had 1.6 more years of education than their white counterparts. “Tuskegee, Howard and Virginia University’s philosophy and priority was taking care of Black people,” said Wardlaw. “Being a Black CEO, all of that plays a part because you understand a lot – not all – about the plight of Black people. You understand the struggles, when you’ve been hungry, homeless, when your mother couldn’t afford medical care, waiting in the emergency
Heeding the Call to CEO Status, Despite the Odds Soon after, Wardlaw accepted leadership positions as CEO and COO of Sandhills Medical Foundation, Inc, followed by CEO of Shawnee Christian Healthcare Center Inc, in Kentucky. He now serves as CEO for the Family Health Center in Orangeburg, South Carolina, where he has spent the last year looking at sustainability models, assessing this year’s infamous budget cuts and engaging with the community to understand client needs and partnership opportunities. Wardlaw’s center hosts a food-to- medicine program encouraging healthy eating habits and tips, provides a mobile farmers’ market that provides produce to families for a fraction of the grocery store costs, and he is working on funding a women’s mobile health unit and prioritizing Black men and women’s health programs, including cancer prevention. “I’ve been out in the community trying to meet others, collaborate more, get Family Health Center back to the table with several organizations that we used to
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