Honoring Dr. Toya Ellis: Drs. Ruth & C. Henry Kempe Horizons in Healing and Medical Research Award
On September 25, 2025, Wings proudly presented the Drs. Ruth & C. Henry Kempe Horizons in Healing and Medical Research Award to Dr. Toya Ellis during our Champions of Healing Launch Celebration.
This award, established in 2014, recognizes leaders who elevate childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in the healthcare arena. It is named in honor of Drs. Ruth and C. Henry Kempe, groundbreaking leaders whose research and advocacy brought child abuse out of the shadows and into public health conversations in the pediatric space. Their work transformed the perception of child abuse from a hidden “family problem” into a recognized medical and societal issue requiring protection, prevention, and care.
Decades later, we are still challenged as a culture to fully bring the recognition of CSA trauma as an adult health issue into the light and into systems of care that can support adult survivors in healing from it. It still takes the leadership of those in positions of influence to help guide that way.
That’s why Wings was proud to recognize Dr. Toya Ellis, who embodies the spirit of courageous, determined and principled leadership as a health provider. Her commitment to acknowledging the needs of adult survivors of CSA and working to ensure they are seen, heard, honored, and cared for within her health network are the type of actions we need to see more of, by our healthcare providers.
Wings first connected with Dr. Ellis in 2016, when she was invited by fellow physician and Champion of Healing ™, Dr. Josh Blum, to join our Provider Advisory Committee for the One Voice Project. This collaborative effort with the Colorado School of Public Health examined access-to-care issues for adult survivors across Colorado, and Dr. Ellis’s expertise and dedication have been invaluable ever since.
As an OB/GYN and Former Director of Chronic Pelvic Pain at Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Dr. Ellis witnessed the high prevalence of CSA trauma firsthand in the lives of her patients and has consistently championed efforts to improve care for survivors. She has:
- Secured Wings-facilitated training on CSA screening for her OB/GYN peers at Kaiser
- Participated in Wings’ mission videos, including our Champions of Healing™ series; and
- Helped champion a new research project that continues to advance this critical work (highlighted here)
In the face of systemic denial and invisibility of CSA trauma within many of the systems in our world today, it takes courage and persistence to stand up for the truth of what adult survivors have endured—and to be a leader dedicated to changing them. For the past ten years—and counting—Dr. Ellis has done exactly that.
We were deeply honored to recognize Dr. Ellis for her unwavering dedication and commitment to adult survivors with the Drs. Ruth & C. Henry Kempe Horizons in Healing and Medical Research Award. We hope her example inspires more leaders in the healthcare arena to recognize CSA trauma as a pressing health equity need and priority—and to support increasing access to healing services that adult survivors need and deserve.
To learn more about ways you can be a Champion of Healing in your organization, consider taking our Champions of Healing for Allies e-learning course and tell us how you’d like to take action to support adult survivors.