On International Women’s Day, my colleagues and I celebrate the many contributions that women make in support of the mission of the China Medical Board. Their commitment to advancing health, equity, and the quality of care is evident in every area of CMB’s work in China, Southeast Asia, and globally. It is especially rewarding to see the number of young women professionals who are engaged in these efforts, including those who are our Clinical Education Fellows, Global Health Leadership Development Fellows, principal investigators of Open Competition grants, and Equity Initiative Fellows. What a source of inspiration they are!

At the Equity Initiative’s Community Organizing Workshop, facilitators from the Leading Change Network shared their definition of organizing: “Organizing is finding leadership that enables people to turn the resources they have into the power they need to make the change they want.” That definition gave the 25 Fellows participating in the workshop, held January 30 – February 1 in Chiang Rai, Thailand, a fresh perspective on ways to mobilize people to take action to advance health equity.

The Equity Initiative’s Annual Forum, held February 1-4 in Chiang Rai, Thailand, was an opportunity for Fellows to exchange ideas across cohorts and to hear from leaders with deep experience in global health, international collaboration, and mobilizing resources for health equity. This was the first in-person Annual Forum held since February 2020, and the Equity Initiative’s Equity Community was well-represented with more than 80 Fellows, and over 100 participants overall.