This is a long-term, bidirectional, community-based intervention in Washtenaw County, Michigan for women aged 12+, experiencing personal and systemic barriers to wellbeing. We aim to use resources within the community to help women achieve discrete goals in three arenas: access to healthcare, education for their children, and employment. It is a collaborative project between CORDUSA - Global Network and Corner Health Center, partnering with the Community Action Network of Washtenaw County. We are adapting principles from CORD, based in Himachal Pradesh, India, a community-based organization that has been in place since 1985. The organization is based on 4 pillars: participation, integration, sustainability, and networking. We are adapting these to the local Michigan context by partnering women with resources and volunteers so that they can build programs that fulfill their goals. The 4 Pillar model will be adapted and integrated into the Corner Health Center’s programs with marginalized patients, particularly women receiving Maternal & Infant Health Program services. The overarching goal is for these women to have increased hopefulness, better health, and a greater sense of agency in their lives.

Community engagement is an essential aspect of global learning for health equity yet little is known about community members’ perspectives.  This proposal seeks to use a community power approach to have those most impacted by inequities identify the health equity issue that should be prioritized and explore global learning models to address that inequity in the Midtown Edmondson Community (Baltimore) context. We will work directly with Midtown Edmondson Community to achieve our goal. Implementation strategies include focus group discussions and Google design sprint methodology. At the end of the grant period, we will better understand community perspectives of global learning.  We will also understand the processes that communities may need to start global learning for the health equity process.   We will use the GL4HE model by measuring assets of community, trust, and community perspectives of reciprocity and humility needed for global learning.

The purpose is to explore avenues for reciprocal relationships between the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT) and the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) to improve palliative care services in Tanzania and the United States, specifically in Baltimore. With expertise in community-level palliative, ELCT will share best practices as the largest palliative care provider in Tanzania. UMSON will serve as the epicenter for collaboration with palliative care providers and experts in Baltimore to support the strengthening of ELCT’s programs, clinical guidelines, and clinician training. The ultimate goals are to develop an innovative model of community-based palliative care in Baltimore and strengthen ELCT's existing palliative care services in Tanzania.  We will explore each other’s programs, identify elements that can be adapted to each set, determine how these ideas could become solutions to inequities and challenges in each setting, examine the processes that led to the development of specific programs, and collaborate at each step to support the bidirectional flow of knowledge and ideas.

Partners from the Athens City-County Health Department, Ohio University, and other area organizations have been working towards making Athens, Ohio an Age-Friendly certified community through the World Health Organization and AARP established process. This officially began in 2021 and as the project evolves, we have recognized the value in exploring how other countries support older adults whether that be through an Age-Friendly model or other aging supportive programs. Although the Age-Friendly model has been proven to be successful in many communities, there are other outstanding models of programming that support older adults around the globe as well.  The purpose of this project is to identify innovative solutions through a robust exchange with potential partners to make Athens County a great place to grow old with an exploration of Age-Friendly and age-supportive communities. Ultimately, we plan to incorporate these health equity practices and solutions into the Age-Friendly Athens County programming.

Rural communities in Montana persistently experience disproportionately high rates of adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections compared to other urban areas. In addition, certain ethnic minority groups such as Native American adolescents in rural communities experience poor sexual and reproductive health outcomes compared to their White peers in similar rural settings. In rural Kenya, adolescents experience many similar poor sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes. To address the rising issues of poor sexual and reproductive health outcomes among adolescents in Kenya, Kenya has adopted policies, community activities, and engagement of health sectors to address the issue. Through the grant, we plan to explore global ideas and knowledge from health promoters in Kenya regarding their policy, community, and health sectors to bring innovative ideas to Montana to improve outcomes in sexual and reproductive health. We will facilitate a reciprocal learning experience for partners in Kenya and Montana to explore solutions for rural and indigenous adolescent SRH equity. We will explore successful approaches in rural Kenya with keen attention to culture, context, and policy. In return, we will provide an opportunity for Kenyan partners to travel to Montana to learn about the culture and context of improving rural and indigenous adolescent SRH equity in rural Montana.

The proposed project aims to advance health equity in Cambodian and Southeast Asian immigrant communities in Southern California. The project will be led by The Cambodian Family (TCF) and will propose a culturally sensitive mental health model that incorporates both Western and indigenous practices. The model will prioritize the voices and experiences of Cambodian survivors of the Khmer Rouge and aim to offer innovative methods of assessment and treatment for post-traumatic distress. The project will involve many domains of the Global Learning for Health Equity Framework including , explore, identify, contextualize, examine, collaborate, and impact.  Two potential global ideas  that will be tested include "Calming the Mind: Healing After Mass Atrocity in Cambodia" in partnership with Transcultural Psychosocial Organization Cambodia (TPO Cambodia), and "Participatory Decision-Making" with partner organizations in Cambodia. The project will focus on health equity and collaboration with community and global innovators, the inclusion of communities, health equity promoters, and researchers.

Throughout slavery and Jim Crow, there were explicit efforts to promote the lie of white superiority and Black inferiority. These efforts were so pervasive many began to believe them. That same lie laid the foundation for most of the harmful systems we navigate daily.  Inspired by Angela Davis’ declaration that "radical" means "grasping things at the root,” the Hood Exchange (HE) adopted a radical approach to systems change by seeking to expose, challenge, and correct this underlying lie. We support some of the most under-resourced Black communities in questioning the status quo, gaining a deeper understanding of their endless worth, and recognizing that together we can create healthier options than the ones we have been presented with.  Understanding that when people see something else as possible, they are more likely to reach for it, the HE uses immersive cohort-based trips within the African diaspora to expand the imaginations of Black communities. Such experiences will help us see past the lie of Black inferiority, transform the way we engage with and support one another, better understand our inherent interconnectedness, and increase the effectiveness of our broader collective efforts to demand more of the systems and structures we engage with. Throughout the project, we plan to connect with at least two local community-based organizations in Atlanta.