As part of the University of Global Health Equity’s ongoing commitment to knowledge sharing, the Center for Gender Equity launched UGHE’s Mentorship Program: a pioneering program aiming to provide the tools, resources, and expertise to empower the next generation of equitable leaders and, in turn, develop into mentors themselves.

“Senior global health experts have a responsibility to guide and mentor the next generation of global health leaders; and UGHE is pleased to see the commitment of our partners and mentors for this initiative. This is a program which showed us how much individual contributions matter. ”

– Tsion Yohannes Waka, Chair for the Center for Gender Equity, UGHE

The one-year mentorship program is one of the activities that came out of the 2019 Women Leaders in Global Health Conference (WLGH19) hosted by UGHE. During a leadership training that took place alongside the conference, 100 young participants received training on career management and people and leadership skills and expressed the need for a program that provides vital guidance beyond that of short-term training.

“Our one hour a month is something I’m always looking forward to.”

– Dr. Rewan Youssif, 2nd Cohort Mentor

“It’s a safe space.”

– Leila Dusaba, 2nd Cohort Mentee 

Take a look at the profile books of all three cohorts here.

APPLY TO BE PART OF OUR FOURTH COHORT HERE 

APPLICATIONS CLOSE OCT. 20TH, 2023

Mentorship FAQs 

1. Which country nationals can apply? 

The mentorship program’s main focus is supporting early-mid career global health (GH) professionals from Africa and the Global South as they are often at the intersectionality of several factors that increase their barriers to career progression (Downs, J. (2014); Farkas, A.H. (2019); Kwamie, A. (2020)). That said, we welcome applicants from everywhere in the world. 

Our two cohorts altogether represent 27 countries – 19 from Africa – from 5 different continents. 

2. Are male applicants eligible? 

Absolutely, people who identify as men make up 36% of our mentees and 20% of our mentors. The reason for this women-focused program, in the words of our Vice Chancellor, Prof. Agnes Binagwaho: 

“Although this program mostly targets young women in Africa – at the early stage of their career because it is more difficult for them to progress in this field that is seriously gender imbalanced – it also includes young men because we cannot change global mindsets and conditions against women without everyone’s contribution.”

– Prof. Agnes Binagwaho, Retired Vice Chancellor, University of Global Health Equity (UGHE)

3. What educational/professional background do I need to apply for the program? 

Applicants who would like to be mentors in this program must have a minimum of 5 years of leadership experience in GH and/or gender equity in Africa or elsewhere. 

Mentee applicants must have a background or strong interest in GH, and/or gender equity in Africa or elsewhere. 

4. If I’m still a student, is this program for me? 

We are currently only taking applications from early to mid-career professionals and not applicants in their undergraduate or graduate studies. Along with leadership skills, mentees in the program benefit from guidance from their mentors on how to navigate work-life balance and the challenges of entering or progressing in the GH field. 

5. What is the format of this mentorship? 

This is a virtual program with mentees and mentors meeting on a mutually pre-agreed basis, using a variety of platforms from Zoom to WhatsApp and Phone calls to Google Meet. 

6. How do I apply? 

To be a mentee, please follow the instructions in the link below to learn how to apply for the mentorship program. 

To be a mentor, please send your CV and expression of interest to genderequity@157.245.250.106, if you are eligible. 

Webinars 

You can also watch the various webinars organized for the mentors and mentees below:

Effective Mentoring (Moderated by Tsion Yohannes, Introduction by Prof. Agnes Binagwaho and Presentations by: Dr. Peter Drobac, Prof. Lisa Hirschhorn, Eric Kacou, Dr. Katherine Klein) 

Development of Learning Objectives in a Mentorship Program (Moderated by Tsion Yohannes, Introduction by Prof. Agnes Binagwaho and Presentations by: Dr. Assan Jaye, Dr. Claire Bayntun, Dr. Paul Kadetz, Dr. Ayoade Alakija) 

Leadership in Mentoring Programs: How to coach and grow into the leader you want to be (Moderated by Tsion Yohannes, Introduction by Prof. Agnes Binagwaho and Presentations by: Dr. Melany Rabideau, Nathalie Munyampenda, Ahadu Gebreamlak, Dr. Joannie Marlene Bewa) 

Compassionate Leadership in Mentorship (Moderated by Tsion Yohannes, Introduction by Prof. Agnes Binagwaho and Presentations by: April Budd) 

Compassionate Leadership in Mentorship (Moderated by Tsion Yohannes, Introduction by Prof. Agnes Binagwaho and Presentations by: Kidest Nadew) 

“The mentorship program is one of UGHE’s best programs outside of the academic programs”

– Dr. Jolly Mazimhaka, 1st Cohort Mentor 

Click here to learn more from the experience of one of our pairs. 

References 

1. Downs, J. A., Reif, L. K., Hokororo A., Fitzgerald, D. Increasing Women in Leadership in Global Health Academic Medicine, 89(8), pp 1103-1107 (2014). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4167801/ 

2. Farkas, A.H., Bonifacino, E., Turner, R. et al. Mentorship of Women in Academic Medicine: a Systematic Review. J GEN INTERN MED 34, 1322–1329 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-019-04955-2 

3. Kwamie, A., Jalaghonia, N. Supporting early-career mentorship for women in Health Policy and Systems Research: a vital input to building the field. Health Policy and Planning, 35(1), pp i4-i6 (2020).