As the 2018 Equity Fellows near the end of their induction year, they gathered for the week-long Project Accelerator, held at Inle Lake, Myanmar from October 28 to November 4. Project Accelerator gave them opportunities to identify some of the challenges they are likely to encounter as they work on equity-related issues and to practice constructive approaches to respond to those challenges.

The primary goal of Project Accelerator is for Fellows to bring their proposals for equity projects to near-final form. Successful group proposals will receive EI funding, giving teams of Fellows the resources to apply their own expertise and talents in responding to an equity challenge. During working sessions, Fellows benefited from the input of peer mentors – Senior Fellows Beverly Ho, Jeremy Lim, and Natalie Phaholyothin – and from several prominent specialists in health and development. Earlier in the week, Prof. Geok Lin Khor, retired dean of the School of Health Sciences, International Medical University, Malaysia; Dr. Thein Thein Htay, former Deputy Minister for Health in Myanmar; and Dr. Khuat Thu Hong, founder and director of the Institute for Social Development Studies had spoken to Fellows on the topic of “Women in Leadership and Health,” and they too generously provided feedback on the Fellows’ proposals.

Each EI program element emphasizes the importance of bonding among Fellows, and the success of those efforts were clearly displayed over the course of the Project Accelerator week. These supportive relationships will help lay the foundation for building broader communities for health equity in Southeast Asia.