ElevateMeD Awards 2025 Breaking Barriers Award to Dr. Victor Waters
2025 Breaking Barriers Award presented to Dr. Victor Waters at Explosion of a Dream 2025
PHOENIX, AZ - ElevateMeD is proud to announce its fifth Breaking Barriers Award recipient, Dr. Victor Waters. The ElevateMeD Breaking Barriers Award was established in 2020 to recognize physician leaders whose work addressing healthcare disparities is positively and innovatively impacting diversity within medicine. Dr. Waters will be presented with the ElevateMeD Breaking Barriers Award at its upcoming Explosion of a Dream event on Saturday, September 20, 2025, at The Camby. Celebrate Dr. Waters’ bold leadership and lifelong commitment to health equity and access in medicine.
Recognized for his visionary leadership as a physician executive, Dr. Waters has championed groundbreaking efforts to expand access to care, mentor the next generation of medical leaders, and advance equity across healthcare systems.
“I am humbled and honored to receive the ElevateMeD award. To me, this award is more than recognition - it’s a call to action. As a child of affirmative action in the 70s, I remain dedicated to mentoring and empowering tomorrow’s diverse leaders to confront the enduring challenge of health inequities.”
About Dr. Victor Waters
Victor Waters, MD, JD, FCLM
2025 ElevateMeD Break Barriers Award Honoree
2025 Paradise Valley MLK Diversity Award Honoree
Dr. Victor Waters grew up in New York City, where he witnessed firsthand the struggles and resilience of people from diverse backgrounds. As a first-generation college graduate, he turned those experiences into a lifelong commitment to advancing healthcare access and equity. His academic journey includes Brown University, Temple University School of Medicine, and Rutgers University Law School, providing a unique foundation at the intersection of medicine, law, and advocacy.
Dr. Waters is a board-certified physician in both Internal Medicine and Legal Medicine and has served as a senior C-suite executive and academic faculty member for more than four decades. He is a National Spokesperson for the American Lung Association, a Distinguished Health Care Leadership Award recipient from NAHSE, and an advisor to BlackDoctorsUSA. His outreach work includes the creation of the “Race is Not a Factor” chronic kidney disease campaign and leading the American Lung Association’s national virtual tour, where he completed 23 media interviews on cancer screening guidelines that reached more than 7 million viewers.
Alongside his wife, Dr. JoAnn Yanez, a naturopathic physician and nonprofit executive, Dr. Waters has made service to humanity a guiding principle of their lives. Together, they are proud parents of a 12-year-old son. In his personal time, he enjoys swimming, basketball, running, golf, and playing the cello.
About the event
This year’s Explosion of a Dream weekend (September 19-21, 2025) also features the annual ElevateMeD Scholars Summit, where medical students who have received scholarships and support from ElevateMeD, experience a weekend of workshops tailored toward their professional development to enhance the programming throughout the academic year. Dr. Waters will join the Scholars Summit to share his wisdom and journey to medicine with the ElevateMeD Scholars as a guest speaker.
ElevateMeD will formally present the award during its dinner program at its Explosion of Dream event at The Camby on Saturday, September 20, 2025. The event features a dynamic dinner program featuring live entertainment, an exciting live auction, award presentations, and the keynote address delivered by ElevateMeD Scholar Dr. Kenneth Clark. Learn more in the official event press release.
Limited tickets and tables are available for purchase at dream.elevatemed.org through September 12.
ABOUT ELEVATEMED:
ElevateMeD is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to elevating medicine by providing scholarships, mentorship, leadership training, and financial literacy education to the next generation of physician leaders. Through the Scholars Program, the organization will increase representation in medicine and improve cultural competence among physicians to reduce health disparities. Learn more about the mission and vision by visiting elevatemed.org and connecting on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @elevatemedinc.
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