In partnership with others committed to equity, GHC hosts a range of webinars, salons, town halls, and other events open to the public to promote connection, learning, and inspiration. We welcome you to catch up on past conversations and join us for upcoming events!
On November 28th, GHC alumnus Steven Miti led a conversation with a panel of GHC alums working in community health. Throughout the panel, alumni discussed community-centered approaches to public health, the role they play in solving public health challenges, and the gaps and solutions to implementing community-centered approaches.
Moderated by: 2022-2023 Zambian fellow Steven Miti, Project Officer, On Call Africa
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In the U.S., Black women are three times more likely to die from childbirth than white women. Outcomes for AAPI, Indigenous, and Latina women are similarly as low.
On June 27th, GHC’s U.S. Community Impact Senior Coordinator Dr. Ariel Arguelles led a conversation with a panel of GHC alums working in maternal health. Throughout the conversation, they discussed effective ways to create a more inclusive healthcare system and reduce maternal mortality for Black women and women of color.
Moderated by: Dr. Ariel Arguelles, U.S. Community Impact Senior Coordinator, Global Health Corps
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New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern caught the attention of millions around the world for her rare leadership approach — combining boldness with empathy and decisiveness with humility. She was just 37 when she was elected to the job, and she was only the second world leader ever to give birth while in office. During her term, she faced unprecedented misogyny and recently announced her resignation, driven by burnout.
In global health as in politics, women — and especially women of color — are vastly underrepresented in top levels of leadership. They also face similar gendered challenges as they rise in their careers, including burnout and persistent stereotypes. Yet we urgently need their expertise, their strengths, and their leadership to achieve health equity. How can we create a more inclusive environment to ensure that women can succeed and thrive as they work to transform health systems? And how can we invest in a new generation of global health leaders of all genders who are equipped to lead with humanity?
Pictured above — moderator and speakers, from left to right:
Lola Adedokun, Executive Director, Aspen Global Innovators Group and co-Chair of the Aspen Institute Forum on Women and Girls
Sherry Hakimi, Founder and Executive Director of genEquality
Jacqueline Musiitwa, Nonresident fellow, Atlantic Council’s Africa Center; Aspen New Voices Fellow; Senior Climate Advisor, USAID
Dr. Tanya Jones, Managing Director at Results for Development
Heather Anderson, CEO of Global Health Corps
Thank you to all who were able to join Global Health Corps and Aspen Global Innovators Group virtually and in-person for this important conversation. Missed the conversation? Want to dive more deeply into women’s leadership and the gender gap in global health and development?
On December 9th, GHC alumnus Brian Ahimbisibwe moderated a conversation on what it will take to finally end the AIDS pandemic. As an Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation Ambassador, Brian works to reduce stigma and increase access to HIV care. As a husband, dad, and friend, his personal experiences motivate him to work for an AIDS-free generation.
Four decades into the HIV/AIDS response, inequities still persist for basic services like testing, treatment, and prevention, and even more so for new technologies. In the wake of COVID-19, these inequities are getting worse — UNAIDS reports that progress in addressing the HIV pandemic has faltered, resources have shrunk, and millions of lives are at risk as a result. Where do we go from here?
Moderated by: Brian Ahimbisibwe, 2019-2020 fellow, Ambassador, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Uganda
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Telehealth is the delivery of health care services by healthcare professionals through using information and communication technologies (ICT) for the exchange of valid and correct information. Telehealth became a basic need for the general population, health care providers, and patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially when people are in quarantine, enabling patients in real-time through contact with a health care provider for advice on their health problems.
There are various benefits to using the technology of telehealth, especially in non-emergency / routine care and in cases where services do not require direct patient-provider interaction. However, there are barriers to implementing these programs. In this discussion, we will talk about: what is the role of telehealth services in preventing, diagnosing, treating, and controlling diseases? How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the adoption of telehealth? What are the barriers to accessing telehealth? What are the ways to bridge these gaps?
Moderated by: Jonathan Mtaula, 2012-2013 fellow, Manager; ICT & eHealth, Clinton Health Access Initiative, Malawi
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As the world navigates year three of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have a fleeting chance to proactively strengthen health systems by building more diverse, collaborative health leadership. What kind of leadership traits are needed to meet today’s challenges and create a more equitable future? How can health leaders amplify their impact by working together across lines of difference?
Come hear from rising health leaders from Malawi, Uganda, and the U.S. on how they’re engaging in the inside-out process of cultivating professional growth and catalyzing collective, sustainable change in their communities. The conversation will be moderated by Lauren Rengel, Vice President and Secretary, Adtalem Global Education Foundation and Director of Sustainability & Government External Relations for Adtalem Global Education.
Moderated by: Lauren Rengel, Vice President and Secretary, Adtalem Global Education Foundation and Director of Sustainability & Government External Relations for Adtalem Global Education
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During this installment of Shift Happen’s, alumni and leaders in the fight against climate change discussed the social, moral, ethical, and economic effects of climate change, how these effects disproportionately affect vulnerable groups, and the measures that should be taken for more inclusive and just climate mitigation and adaptation efforts.
Moderated by: Shaban Senyange, 2016-2017 fellow; Wildlife Health and Conservation Media Specialist
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From Ebola to COVID, history has shown that a powerful tool for systems change is cultivating the individual and collective potential of proximate leaders. This panel, featuring global leaders in health and education, highlighted how proximate leaders exercised their agency and mobilized their communities in moments of crisis to address systems gaps. Hear their views on what it will take to strengthen health and education systems for pandemic preparedness and gain insights into how leadership development functions as a transformative lever for sustainable development.
Moderated by: The Honorable Dr. Mark Dybul, Co-Director of the Center for Global Health Practice and Impact, and Professor in the Department of Medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center
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“Imposter syndrome puts the blame on individuals, without accounting for the historical and cultural contexts that are foundational to how it manifests in both women of color and white women. Imposter syndrome directs our view toward fixing women at work instead of fixing the places where women work.” – Stop Telling Women They Have Imposter Syndrome by Ruchika Tulshyan and Jodi-Ann Burey, Harvard Business Review (February 2021)
While women make up the majority of frontline healthcare workers and caregivers, they remain vastly underrepresented in decision making roles in global health. Cultivating individual women’s skills and confidence to overcome imposter syndrome matters, but a singular focus on these efforts hasn’t yielded enough progress. It’s past time for a more systemic, networked approach.
In honor of International Women’s Day & Women’s History Month, Global Health Corps (GHC) and Jamia Wilson, Executive Editor of Random House, and GHC alumni explored how an imposter syndrome reframe is key to advancing gender equity in global health leadership.
Moderated by: Jamia Wilson, Activist, Author, and Executive Editor of Random House
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COVID-19 has threatened women’s rights and health in unprecedented ways. At the same time, women remain vastly underrepresented in global health leadership. Centering the perspectives of rising women leaders is key to building a more equitable world as we respond to and rebuild from the pandemic.
Global Health Corps and African Feminism’s Lead Editor Rosebell Kagumire led a story salon featuring young women from East Africa, Southern Africa, and the U.S. who are redefining leadership — not only fighting for a seat at the table, but building an entirely new table.
How did they discover the power of storytelling and hone their own stories to catalyze change? What is their vision for a more equitable future? In what ways are they challenging the status quo to make that vision reality? Come listen, learn, and be inspired.
Moderated by: Rosebell Kagumire, award-winning writer, activist, curator, and Editor of African Feminism
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In this edition of Shift Happens, our expert panelists weigh in: What is causing the gaps in the vaccine supply and distribution? How can we bridge the gap between high-income and low- & middle-income countries’ access? How do we prevent the recurrence of such inequities in the future?
Moderated by: Mwelwa Chasaya, 2020-2021 GHC fellow, Public Health Analyst and Biomedical Scientist
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A discussion with Nairobi-based Advocacy Accelerator on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on advocacy in Africa.
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Systems leaders are not born — they’re intentionally developed at every level of their careers through skill building, mentorship, reflection, and being part of a collaborative network. Yet in global health, these kinds of intensive, sustained leadership development opportunities are few and far between.
Global Health Corps and The Skoll Foundation teamed up for a conversation on the possibilities and challenges in embracing the power of leadership development to advance health equity. Attendees and speakers examine the structural obstacles and assumptions that inhibit talent investment and share advice for leaders and funders alike to better understand and communicate the value of doing so.
Moderated by: Jimmie Briggs, Principal, Skoll Foundation
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In this conversation, Dr. Senait reflected on her personal journey and shared advice for next gen global health leaders in navigating a post-COVID world. The discussion explored the how and why of working at the intersection of various inequities, health issue areas, and sectors, especially in these tumultuous times.
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Medical interventions have transformed the progress, health and wellbeing, economic prosperity, and longevity of societies around the world. However, we have seen how the most marginalized and vulnerable populations can be at risk from and lose faith in the promise of public health.
How do we understand the fear, concern, and generations of mistrust built into medical intervention uptake? How do we as public health practitioners learn from communities on how to support their health and progress? What are the best practices to work together for healthy societies and to address barriers – access, fear, mistrust – so that all communities can thrive?
With the promise of curbing the deadly coronavirus pandemic with a vaccine administration, this webinar featured public health, community, and behavior change practitioners and specialists on how we can work to ensure vaccine uptake and adherence, while understanding and respecting issues of complacency, confidence, and convenience that can create barriers to uptake for the most vulnerable communities.
Moderated by: Tracy Kobukindo, Technical Coordinator, East & Southern African, Community Health Academy, Last Mile Health & GHC Alumna, Uganda
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This conversation explored what it will take to create lasting impact and shift the determinants of a healthy life. With greater numbers of people of color contracting and dying of COVID-19 and women and girls impacted by domestic violence as a result of lockdowns, to women and people of color holding higher percentages of roles as at-risk caregivers, nurses, and health workers, yet occupying fewer seats at the leadership and decision-making tables, where do we go from here? How do we progress so that gender nor race nor the intersection of both serve as a social determinant of one’s health?
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The cascading crises of 2020 revealed long-standing inequities in health systems around the world. With the world at a crossroads in 2021, how can we navigate COVID-19 as a transformative bridge to a more equitable post-pandemic world? Global Health Corps’ next gen leaders from the U.S., Zambia, and Rwanda participated in an inspiring conversation on challenges, opportunities, and the kind of leadership it will take to accelerate global health progress in this new era.
Moderated by: Julie Bernstein, Deputy Director for Program Advocacy and Communications within Global Policy and Advocacy, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
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Government lockdowns, physical distancing policies, and personal protective equipment have lessened the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in many areas, but the novel coronavirus still threatens too many individuals and resurgence remains concerning. As COVID-19 cases have risen, a vaccine has served as a hopeful, yet elusive, panacea to the crisis. What does it truly take to develop, test, supply, deliver, and ensure safe uptake of a vaccine? Will a vaccine be effective at flattening the curve or effectively eliminating the virus? What challenges can we expect?
This webinar featured GHC alumni and vaccine experts working in the U.S. and East and Southern Africa. Panelists and participants discussed the challenges of vaccine research for COVID-19, strategies to address the barriers to distribution and uptake of a vaccine, and how COVID-19 has shifted the landscape for vaccine development.
Moderated by:Cassidy Howell, Senior Associate, Influenza Vaccine Innovation, Sabin Vaccine Institute & GHC Alumna, Malawi
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As COVID-19 has commanded global attention, long-standing challenges to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) have been seriously exacerbated even as SRH needs have multiplied. Government lockdowns, physical distancing policies, and economic pressure have driven up rates of sexual violence and unwanted pregnancies and hindered access to contraception, including safe abortion.
In this webinar, GHC CEO Heather Anderson moderated a conversation with GHC alumni and sexual health activists in the U.S. and East and Southern Africa. Panelists and participants explored strategies for protecting the full spectrum of contraception as essential care during the pandemic and beyond.
Moderated by: Heather Anderson, CEO of Global Health Corps
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In honor of Juneteenth, GHC partnered with artist and activist Aisha Fukushima, founder of RAPtivism to hold our first-ever commemoration. Aisha performed original songs, delivered a keynote address, and facilitated a guided meditation and freedom poem activity.
2014-2015 Zambia alumna Nicole Maddox shared a powerful essay about her nephew growing up Black in America. “As we are all caught in Covid-19, I am caught in a society that is compounded by harm to black people. Since I saw the image of George Floyd’s face beneath the cop’s knee, my joy has been tainted by the reality of racism. That’s systemic racism to me. That’s the health crisis that I am experiencing but not talking about.”
CEO Heather Anderson shared reflections and remarks on deepening GHC’s commitment to anti-racism.
The ripples of COVID-19 impacted our daily lives in myriad ways, from uncertainty at work and disrupted social lives to instability in our finances and heightened fears about our health. Each of these factors alone has the potential to unleash serious mental health challenges, and their collective force reverberated throughout communities. GHC hosted this webinar featuring mental health experts to explore challenges and opportunities for improving mental health on the individual and policy levels.
Moderated by: Maganizo Kruger Nyasulu, PhD Research, Stockholm Resilience Center & GHC Alumnus, Zambia
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In this inaugural edition of our Shift Happens Speaker Series, panelists explored the importance of timely responses from trusted local leadership, the costs of under- or over-sharing COVID-19 news, the power of stories and social media platforms, and the role of fear in spreading misinformation.
Moderated by:Brittany Cesarini, Director of Communications, Global Health Corps
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We’ll send periodic updates from our leaders working on the frontlines of global health around the world and share opportunities to get involved in the movement.
Global Health Corps is a leadership accelerator mobilizing a powerful network of health equity changemakers, 1200+ strong and growing.
