From Vision to Impact: Fulbright Canada Welcomes the post-COVID Challenge Teams at the Finals

OTTAWA, ON, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Two years ago, the Fulbright Canada post-COVID Challenge was launched to engage youth from underrepresented populations in Canada and the United States. The idea was simple: what ideas do they have to share that would contribute to a healthier, more productive, more prosperous, and more just world in the post-COVID era. The broadly defined themes included health and wellness, social cohesion, economic recovery, and digital transformation. 

We received 500 applications from individuals and groups from nearly every corner of the two countries.

Now, the time has come to shift From Vision to Impact and on June 24, 2022, Fulbright Canada will host all ten finalists in Ottawa to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges. The review process and earlier competitions focused on operationalizing their ideas. Now, their challenge is to address the larger question of social impact, determining how their innovative ideas can contribute to a more equitable, diverse, inclusive, and accessible world. 

The Finalists: Asian Voices Project (Jonathan Kong and Natalie Charette), BIPOC Youth Hub (Hodan Mohamud), Double Impact Initiative (Connor Schoen), Hos-fit-all (Muram Bacare), Immersive Healer (Kaiwen Yang), Initiative on Artificial Intelligence (Mohamed Abdalla, Moustafa Abdalla, Sahar Abdalla and Salwa Abdalla), Our Little Island (Lavanya Virmani and Kishore Daggupati), PillDrop (Naushin Hooda), PriceMedic (Katelynn Salmon and Josh Nakka), and Wiisinin - reclaiming Turtle Island's foods (Taijah Abotossaway, Farah Talaat, Alice Walkus, and Emily Wang).

The post-COVID Challenge was conceived, championed, and supported by Fulbright Canada Board member Ajay Royan. It is the signature program of Fulbright Canada's 30^th Anniversary commitment to encourage, celebrate, and support bright young leaders with diverse perspectives and unique ideas. This would not have been possible without the generous support of our partners and collaborators and, most notably, the remarkable young leaders and innovators that put forward their ideas for a better world. 

Learn more about the post-COVID Challenge and the incredible ideas on our website.

Fulbright Canada is a bi-national, treaty-based, non-governmental, not-for-profit organization with a mandate to identify the best and brightest minds in both countries and engage them in international and residential academic exchange. Fulbright Canada is firmly committed to community development, to diversity, and to the development of mutual understanding.

SOURCE Fulbright Canada