CMB’s inaugural cohort of Equity Initiative fellows gathered in Thailand August 13-20 to embark on the Asia Trek (3rd) component of their fellowship program. Asia Trek 2016 focused on the theme of vulnerable populations, especially urban and ethnic migrants, and through field visits and dialogue with senior health leaders, it gave Fellows an experiential immersion in the region and sparked ideas and actions to address health inequities.

On the morning of September 10, China Medical Board opened the doors and welcomed guests to its new Beijing office, located in the Qing Dynasty courtyard on the campus of Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH). Education Vice Minister Lin Huiqing and PUMCH Zhao Yupei hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony, joined by CMB President Lincoln Chen and CMB Trustees Wendy O’Neill and Fred Hu.

The first cohort of 15 Inaugural Fellows of CMB’s Equity Initiative convened for the program’s opening retreat in Hue, Vietnam, on April 21-26. Held in a natural environment, the retreat aimed to promote bonding among the Fellows, who bring diverse health-related experience from government agencies, NGOs, communications, consulting, and other sectors. The Fellows, eight men and seven women, come from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malayasia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and China.

At the Prince Mahidol Award Conference in Bangkok on January 29, CMB announced an unprecedented partnership with the Atlantic Philanthropies to launch an ambitious program to nurture an entire generation of health leaders and a community of fellows and partners to advance health equity in Southeast Asia. The Transformative Leaders for Health Equity Initiative, supported by a pooled fund of $50 million (AP $40m; CMB $10m) and operating out of new CMB offices in Bangkok and Hanoi, aims to develop 500 leaders over the next two decades through peer, experiential, and online learning on health equity and leadership.