Global Health Corps (GHC) provides leadership opportunities for young professionals from diverse backgrounds to work on the frontlines of the fight for global health equity. Global Health Corps responds to real-time demand from the field of global health to address systems challenges and gaps. Global Health Corps harnesses the enthusiasm, talent, and passion among this generation’s youth. The most powerful lever for change in global health is great leadership. Global Health Corps invests in the diverse leaders to build and strengthen health systems.
Global health leaders are rarely representative of the populations they serve, nor diverse in academic or professional discipline, creating a top-down power structure that falls short at the systems level.
GHC’s unique ‘co-fellow’ model pairs a national and international fellow in each country to promote cross-cultural collaboration to advance health equity around the world.
Barbara Pierce Bush launched Global Health Corps after working at the South African Red Cross hospital and with UNICEF in Botswana.
95 percent of Global Health Corps alumni continue to work in global health or related fields, and 83 percent hold mid- or senior-level positions.
GHC’s ultimate goal is health system transformation through a tightly networked, collaborative, and diverse community of leaders with the systems and design thinking skills needed to achieve global health equity. Global health challenges are complex—solving them requires exceptional leadership.
Since 2009, GHC has built a diverse talent pipeline and trained 1,150, emerging leaders. As they advance in their careers, this tight-knit community harnesses the power of collective leadership to collaborate across borders and boundaries, amplifying their impact and influence.
CEO and Co-Founder, Global Health Corps
Barbara Pierce Bush traveled to East Africa in 2003 with her parents and was confronted with the overwhelming human toll of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In Uganda, she witnessed thousands waiting for anti-retroviral treatments that were readily available in other parts of the world. She returned home determined to focus on global health and soon after graduating college, she worked at the South African Red Cross hospital and with UNICEF in Botswana. Barbara founded Global Health Corps with her sister and four friends in 2009, driven by the belief that health is a human right and that we need a new generation of leaders to make that right a reality. Barbara is now Board Chair of GHC, having served as CEO until January 2018. Barbara is a Draper Richards Kaplan Social Entrepreneur and an Echoing Green Fellow. She has been named one of Goldman Sachs’ 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs and one of Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business. Her book Sisters First, co-authored with her sister Jenna Bush Hager, was number one on the New York Times best seller list.
In early 2018, Barbara was succeeded by Daniela Terminel as CEO. Before joining GHC, she served on the executive team at Endeavor, where she led the organization through a period of expansion across five continents and multiple industries. She was responsible for launching offices in Europe and Africa and managing operations in 10+ markets..
Working to increase the proportion of female, African, and non-clinical leaders in global health leadership, 68 percent of GHC leaders are women, 45 percent are African, and 54 percent of applicants in the most recent cohort had never studied or worked in public health. GHC boosts the retention of talented young leaders in global health, with 82 percent of leaders remaining in the fields of global health or human development, and 85 percent of African alumni continuing to work on the continent post-fellowship. GHC leaders influence global health through public engagement, with 70 percent undertaking one or more influencing activities (public speaking, writing, advocacy) to improve health outcomes in the last year.
