Mission of Global HEED, a 501(C)3 Non-Profit Organization
Our mission is to create a self-propelling cycle of social change by fostering the development of servant-leaders and social entrepreneurs who can empower and engage others, either within their own community or other communities throughout the world, to holistically address poverty and multifaceted social issues in a manner that promotes: (1) multidisciplinary collaboration and solidarity, (2) scholarly work and innovation, and (3) equality and respect.
Global HEED has raised nearly $150,000 in revenues over the past three years. We have no overhead & only a small amount of administrative costs, because all of us are unpaid. We are thus an unique NGO which is able to use the vast majority of our funding (over 90%) on our projects for sustainable physical and social infrastructure.
If you are interested in donating funding to any of the projects listed below, please contact us at contactus@globalheed.org – your funding will be put to great use by our team members, and you’ll be kept apprised every step of the way.
Focus #1: The Guatemala Project
As an organization, HEED’s origin stems from a vision formed by former students from Emory University (Atlanta, GA) after visiting a remote, mountainous area in northwestern Guatemala. The area, which consists of 26 municipalities and over 10,000 residents, is morbidly referred to as the “Triangle of Death” because it has the highest child/infant mortality rate in Guatemala. Global HEED currently works in Calhuitz village, one of the municipalities mentioned above.
To date, we have contributed a large amount of funding to build a school, a community healthcare worker training center, a village pharmacy, and a Center for Women’s Education. We have currently completed phase 1 of the construction of the long-awaited clinic in Calhuitz, which will serve the many healthcare needs of the surrounding municipalities.
Global HEED has also been instrumental in the creation and sustaining of health education programs in nutrition and hygiene within Calhuitz Village, working directly with the Maternal Healthcare House (“Casa Materna”) to disseminate the teachings of these programs throughout the village and into other nearby communities.
We have sent many Project Interns down to Calhuitz over the past three years, who hail from such schools as the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, Brown, Northwestern, Berkeley, Emory, Cornell, the University of Southern California, the University of Connecticut, Johns Hopkins, Stanford and many more to conduct literature, best practice, and field research in the areas of health, education, and economic development. The interns first receive training in the basic principles, theories and tools used in community building, social change, servant leadership, and previous initiatives that have addressed multi-faceted issues in developing nations. The interns then work together to complete tasks as determined by our partner NGO in Guatemala and the Global HEED committee of Guatemalan residents. Since one of our main missions is to directly engage students, interns are encouraged to attend all of the meetings between local residents and the Global HEED board, as well as to assist in the execution of our various initiatives.
We hope that our program will propel talented students like you to develop the skills and desire to produce a change in the world, and that your experiences with HEED will lay the foundation for you, and the other interns, to become one of the many successful servant-leaders of tomorrow. We are honored that you are considering attending our service trip. We look forward to working with you to directly and comprehensively address the multi-faceted issues that are prevalent in Calhuitz. We are confident that with hard work and passion in addressing these issues, we will make a great impact in the community of Calhuitz; your efforts will resonate in the area for many years to come.
Focus #2: Global Health & Humanitarian Summit
We co-hosted the Global Health & Humanitarian Conference at Emory University, during the weekend of April 1-3, 2011. Major topics of the conference included global health, international medical volunteerism, clean watewr initiatives, and social entrepreneurship. Over a 3 day span, we received nearly 1,500 attendees and hosted nearly 300 speakers and exhibitors.
We are currently promoting the Global Health & Humanitarian Summit as a conference which can be hosted in any city, in any country. We hope that the Summit will be a source of inspiration for attendees throughout the world, and kick-start their aspirations to become leaders in the humanitarian movement.
If you would like to host a Global Health & Humanitarian Summit in your own city, please contact us for more details – we’re here to help.
Focus #3: mHealth Strategy
mHealth stands for “mobile health” – the practice of using a smartphone to bridge the gap in healthcare access throughout the world.
Global HEED has composed of a team that is dedicated to bringing mHealth sustainability to NGO’s throughout the world. We have partnered with a world-class mHealth software developer to work with us as we design an implementation strategy for non-profit organizations seeking to bring healthcare access and an efficient medical records system to their area of the world.
If you are interested in seeking our help, please contact us – if we decide to partner with your organization for our next project, it’s completely free. The only cost that you would have to bear would be for hosting servers for the project.
Focus #4: University Chapters
We are creating University Chapters on various campuses throughout the United States. Chapters will focus on creating sustainable, long-term project in the surrounding areas around university campuses – examples are creating a project with the local Latin American Organization where the Chapter would be giving free blood-pressure screenings, be involved in a literacy program for undeserved kids at a local high school, or creating an initiative which brings the issue of homelessness around campus to the forefront.
Focus #5: Social Investments
We are creating a new initiative which will provide capital for catalytic impact projects. The projects that we provide funding for must be low-risk & low-cost ($500 – $1,000), but the perceived outcome must be high impact. The projects will be anywhere in the world, and not be limited to the United States or Guatemala.
We do not expect any financial return from these projects – however, we do expect a high “social return” which means that the project will provide a necessity for a large number of people and will be sustainable beyond our initial investment.
Focus #6: Publication of the “Journal for Global Development”
Global development is a concept that encompasses a wide spectrum of issues ranging from health to the environment. Most research journals concerning global development tend to focus on an aspect of development in the context of a specific field. While this is helpful for people who require detailed information or data in that particular discipline, Global HEED feels that it is equally important not to lose sight of the bigger picture. Development is not a one-dimensional field, but rather a complex field that requires a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach to address multidimensional issues prevelant in all corners of the world. Hence, Global HEED has developed the Interdisciplinary Journal of Global Development to promote awareness of developmental issues through scholarly research by using an integrative approach of consolidating articles that address different areas of development from a variety of disciplines into an online and print publication. By doing so, the Interdisciplinary Journal of Global Development can give its readers a more holistic view of the progress that is being made in our society and throughout the world, while fostering the development of future servant leaders and social advocates who can adopt a more comprehensive and scholarly approach to address these multifaceted issues.