Aminata B. Seydi ’14

Aminata died March 30, 2026, in Dakar.

She was raised in Senegal and educated at the French International School in Bethesda. Drawn to how stories shape power and possibility, she majored in comparative literature and wrote her senior thesis on the colonial roots of African narrative. She served as advocacy chair for the Student Global AIDS Campaign and wellness peer adviser for the Association of Black Women; Aminata summered in places like Sierra Leone, quietly pouring herself and planting a piece of her heart in communities far beyond the campus gates.

Leading a life of extraordinary purpose and deep human warmth, her work with the WHO across Africa and beyond — from Geneva to Nairobi to South Africa to Brazzaville — strengthening health systems, protecting the most vulnerable, and translating complex knowledge into policies reached millions. Her vision for a healthier, more equitable Africa lives on through all whose lives she touched.

She earned an MPH at Yale, was pursuing her DrPH at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and was a certified health and wellness coach. She was equally at home in a boardroom and a village because she never saw those worlds as separate. People who crossed her path, however briefly, felt seen and cared for.

Aminata is survived by her husband Matthias Reichwald; her mother Madina; her father Cheikh Oumar; and her brothers Ousmane and Mamadou.