Equity Initiative Fellowship Program – Apply Now!

The Equity Initiative Fellowship is a lifelong journey that begins with an inspiring and rigorous Induction Year, followed by a longer-term practice-based commitment to health equity through collective leadership for social change. The Fellowship program experience goes beyond traditional academic coursework, through various modalities of experiential, peer, and blended online learning organized around two themes: Health Equity and Leadership.

They have invited Fellows to join this program on the basis of their demonstrated commitment, dedication, and enthusiasm for leading change for health equity. Fellows are the transformative leaders who will work to reform policies and systems, tackle social determinants, and address health inequities within and beyond the health sector.

About Fellowship Program 

• The Fellowship program seeks to inspire and deepen the Fellows’ commitment to advance social justice in health. The experience goes beyond traditional academic coursework with peer, experiential, and blended online learning organized around two themes: Health Equity and Leadership.
• The Induction Year of the Fellowship program is structured around 6 learning events: Opening Retreat, Global Learning I & II, Asia Trek, Project Accelerator, and Annual Forum. The learning events are delivered by leading experts and practitioners from a range of fields including government policy makers, academic professors, and founders of NGOs, and leaders of social entrepreneurship program, and social activists. Competencies are developed through core readings, interactive sessions with peers, guest speakers, and faculties, panel discussions and debates, field visits, skill-building workshops, and project development. In the second year, Fellows receive seed funding to conduct collaborative health equity projects.

Why Equity and Leadership?

• Serious health inequities exist within and between the countries of Southeast Asia and it goes beyond health. This is due to many factors, but chiefly imbalance of power; inequitable policies and laws; unequal economic conditions and opportunities; and historical and contemporary prejudices, including ethnical and religious intolerance. At the Equity Initiative, they define health equity quite broadly as a multidimensional concept that considers fairness in health and social determinants of health and it goes beyond health; it is not just an issue for medical professionals or the health sector alone.
• They believe that leaders in society can either perpetuate or worsen inequities, or effect change for the better. Leadership and a community of practitioners are critically important to not only bring regional attention to health equity but also to motivate, innovate, and craft solutions. The Equity Initiative’s goal is that the Fellows will become transformational leaders who can guide, direct, and influence others to bring about fundamental changes for health equity.

Benefits

• During the one-year fellowship term, Fellows will participate in 7 in-person learning events totaling about 6 weeks, in which they will interact with world-class faculty and key actors in health equity and development, globally and regionally. The Fellows will gain knowledge, expert and peer support, and an opportunity to develop and implement an individual or collaborative equity action project with seed funding.

Eligibility Criteria

• The Equity Initiative Fellowship is seeking outstanding mid-career professionals from Southeast Asia and China from any sector (public, private, non-profit, academia, business) who have demonstrated leadership in their field, who have shown a commitment to equity and social justice, and are interested in a lifelong engagement with the equity community.
• To apply for the Fellowship, the applicant must:
  • Have a track record of demonstrated leadership and commitment to social justice.
  • Have a clear long-term vision to promote systems change for health equity.
  • Have at least 6 years of professional working experience.
  • Be a resident citizen of one of the Southeast Asian countries or China.
  • Be proficient in spoken and written English.

For more information, visit The Atlantic Philanthropies (Atlantic).