University of North Texas at Dallas

Dallas, TX (Southern Sector – Oak Cliff Community)
United States.

The University of North Texas at Dallas (UNTD) is the only public, accredited 4-year university in the city of Dallas, serving the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. UNTD is classified as a Hispanic-serving institution and has served as a pathway to social mobility since its establishment in 2010. UNTD is a collaborative, partnerships-focused institution that also serves under-resourced areas in North Texas. The University of North Texas at Dallas is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral degrees.

Global Grassroots

New Hampshire, United States.

Field of Action: Social change. Women’s Justice. Ecological Belonging.

Ecosystem Network

Since 2006, Global Grassroots has trained more than 700 emerging change agents across East Africa who have designed nearly 200 civil society organizations reaching 198,000 people.

Their inner-driven approach, called Conscious Social Change, results in powerful impacts on our change agents and them, in turn, upon their communities.

When applied to the water sector, this results in significant shifts in health, violence, and education indicators, recording an unprecedented sustainability rate of 96% among water ventures they have funded since 2008, which are serving nearly 78,000 people with access to clean water and hygiene supplies, a critical need during COVID-19. Women belonging to Global Grassroots groups and programs understand systemic change and use their water solutions as sustainable hubs to target a range of other priority local issues affecting women.

When women lead, communities succeed.

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Women are the fabric of society, but in impoverished areas, they lack the tools to solve local social issues.”

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Reports & Research

Women, Water & Wisdom: Mapping Ripple Effects of Conscious Social Change in
Rural Rwanda

Have you ever thought about the link between wellbeing and water?

The benefits of clean water go well beyond physical health. In communities where clean water is scarce and has to be fetched on a daily basis, its availability reduced stress and increased safety: 

“According to participants, the incidents of injury, violence, and abuse related to fetching water dropped since the new water sites launched, particularly improving the safety of women, girls, and other community members for whom the journey had been dangerous.”

Read the full report to learn more about the power of water and community-led change

Related Posts

Silvia Haba de Merlo

Regional Summit & Network Senior Manager at The Wellbeing Project

Panama

Silvia is a deep believer in the power of community, connection, and inner growth as the paths for social transformation. She has spent over a decade working in NGOs and social enterprises, leading social and emotional learning programs for children, young adults, and change-makers. In the midst of the pandemic and experiencing [what she later came to understand as] symptoms of burnout, she understood the importance of taking care of oneself in order to keep taking care of others and promoting social impact. She founded Coimpacta, an online community for Spanish-speaking changemakers to cultivate their wellbeing and self-development by accessing international experts and peer-support spaces. You will often find her out in nature (especially the ocean), dancing or learning something new. She was born and raised in Madrid, Spain, and has lived in France, China, and Belgium before moving to Panama in 2014. She is thrilled to be a part of The Wellbeing Project movement and community. In collaboration with The Wellbeing Summit and the Networks Teams, her work enables expanding the messages and experiences of inner wellbeing for social change to a regional and local level.

What does inner wellbeing mean to you?

Feeling at peace, with yourself and with others, while striving to keep evolving and contributing.

How would you define wellbeing in one word?

Love.

Are there any rituals or practices you use to enhance your wellbeing?

Meditation, stretching, Qi gong, yoga, playing music (piano, guitar, singing), walking in nature, and spending time with loved ones. Watching sunrise and/or sunset.

Why is it important that we prioritize individual, organizational and societal wellbeing?

“We cannot practice compassion with other people if we do not treat ourselves kindly.” – Brené Brown

“Peace between countries must rest on the solid foundation of love between individuals.” – Mahatma Gandhi

Do you have any favorite books, podcasts, or articles that you believe support, promote or educate on wellbeing and related themes?

Online course: The Power of Awareness – Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach

App: Richard Davidson’s “Healthy Minds”

Book: “The Gift: 12 Lessons to Save your Life” – Edith Eger

Connect with SILVA HABA DE MERLO on social media :

Alana Chávez

Senior Manager of Digital Marketing at The Wellbeing Project

Mexico City,

Mexico

Connect with Alana Chávez on social media :

Alana Chávez is a Digital Marketing and Content professional hailing from Mexico. With over eight years of experience in the industry, Alana has honed her skills in creating compelling content and crafting effective marketing strategies for a wide range of mass consumer goods, government agencies, technology companies, fintech startups, and more.

Alana is a true storyteller at heart. She has a passion for anything that tells a story, whether it’s a captivating novel, a thought-provoking film, or a great conversation. She firmly believes that human beings connect best through stories and that storytelling is the key to creating content that resonates with audiences. This enthusiasm for storytelling is reflected in her work, where she creates content that not only informs but also entertains and engages her audience.

As the Senior Manager of Digital Marketing for the Storytelling team, Alana is dedicated to creating a captivating and inspiring narrative that motivates others to embark on their own wellbeing journey.

What does inner wellbeing mean to you?

Feeling at ease with being a work in progress.

How would you define wellbeing in one word?

Awareness.

Are there any rituals or practices you use to enhance your wellbeing?

Long walks in nature.

Why is it important that we prioritize individual, organizational and societal wellbeing?

Because well-being inspires well-doing.

Do you have any favorite books, podcasts, or articles that you believe support, promote or educate on wellbeing and related themes?

Brené Brown’s podcast “Unlocking Us” taught me everything I know about self-awareness, the key to inner wellbeing.

Matilde Siman Kim

Mental Health Specialist

Glasswing International

Miami, FL,
United States

Licensed mental health clinician with 10+ years of experience, focused on helping democratize mental health access in Latin America. Leverages clinical expertise to partner with private and public organizations to build programs. Passionate about strengthening the intersection between practice and policy. Matilde currently serves as a Mental Health Specialist for Glasswing’s Strategic Partnership team, working to align industry standards, research, and services in the mental health sector that are relevant to Glasswing’s work. At the beginning of her career, Matilde focused on Latino and migrant mental health by providing clinical psychotherapy to Spanish-speaking youth and families. Matilde holds a masters degree in Counseling Psychology from Boston College, a Foundations in Mental Health Certification from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, a Psychological First Aid Certification from John Hopkins University, and a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Certification from the PESI Institute.

Connect with Matilde Siman Kim on social media :

Co.act Detroit

Detroit, Michigan,
United States.

Co.act Detroit is a hub that accelerates transformative impact with nonprofit and community organizations in southeast Michigan through collaborative idea generation, cross-sector resources, and equitable access to world-class programming and learning opportunities.

Co.act Detroit is the home of the Nonprofit Wellbeing series, which celebrates the vital connection between self and community care and pushes for a culture shift around wellbeing at the organization and sector level. Through a quarterly series of workshops, activities, and conversations, we provide access to virtual resources and best practices that equip nonprofit professionals with strategies to support their teams and wellbeing.

Nonprofit mental health and wellbeing is also a frequent topic of conversation in our podcast, Natural Collisions. Past episode topics include creating cultures of wellbeing at work and the impact of the pandemic on women’s careers and the mental health of women in the nonprofit workplace.

Connect to Co.act Detroit on social media :

Julia Hotz

Julia Hotz is a solutions-focused journalist currently writing THE SOCIAL PRESCRIPTION (2024), a book exploring the science and stories of social prescribing by chronicling how doctor-led interventions for nonmedical supports —like art, nature, exercise, volunteer service, conversation groups, and economic resources—are making healthcare more effective, equitable, and sustainable. Her stories have appeared in WIRED UK, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, TIME, Popular Science, Scientific American, and more. After studying sociology at the University of Cambridge, she joined the Solutions Journalism Network, where she helps other journalists and entrepreneurs do and spread rigorous, evidence-based reporting on solutions to today’s biggest problems.

Dan Morse

Dan Morse is the co-founder of Social Prescribing USA, a network of leaders working to advance the US Social Prescribing movement. His team of volunteers are coordinating a US grassroots physician movement, organizing a network of 400+ experts, and catalyzing prospective pilot studies in collaboration with professors at Harvard, Stanford, University of Michigan, reps from hospitals, Cleveland Clinic, and the NIH. Aimed to be the “public town square” of the moment, the organization is also building a free site to allow people to find social prescriptions by zip code.

Dan has spent the past decade focused on social determinants of health, from organizing place-based health interventions in Detroit to founding an award-winning health empowerment restaurant. Today, Dan is on the founding team of a new Bachelor’s degree-granting college in San Francisco, called Make School (now Dominican University). The college prepares students from disadvantaged backgrounds to get jobs at companies like Apple, Google, Tesla, and NASA. Dan has pioneered data-driven programs that address students’ social determinants of health and foster academic success. He graduated from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business with honors.

Dr. Ardeshir Z. Hashmi

MD, FACP, FNAP.

He is the Endowed Chair of Geriatric Innovation and Section Chief of the Center for Geriatric Medicine at Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Hashmi completed a two-year postdoctoral research fellowship at Yale University. He completed his Internal Medicine residency at the Yale-Saint Mary’s Hospital in Connecticut, where he served as Chief Medical resident. He then trained at Massachusetts General Hospital as a Clinical and Research Fellow in Geriatrics before becoming Faculty and then Medical Director of MGH Senior Health-Harvard Medicine. Dr. Hashmi subsequently transitioned to the Cleveland Clinic.

He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the National Academies of Practice, a graduate of the Clinical Process Improvement Leadership Program and the Value Based Healthcare Delivery program via the Harvard Business School Institute of Strategy & Competitiveness. Dr. Hashmi is also certified as an Advanced Peer Coach through the Cleveland Clinic Center for Excellence in Coaching and Mentoring. He is Co-Chair of the national American Geriatrics Society (AGS) Patient Priorities Care Special Interest Group (SIG) and serves on the AGS Health Systems Innovation Economics & Technology Committee and the Society for General Internal Medicine’s Geriatrics Commission. Dr. Hashmi is also a member of the Association of Chiefs and Leaders in General Internal Medicine (ACLGIM). He is an alumnus of the prestigious Tideswell Emerging Leaders in Aging (ELIA) national leadership development program (in conjunction with the American Geriatric Society and the University of California San Francisco) and the ACLGIM LEAD programs. He is also a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Dr. Hashmi’s niche area of interest is the intersection of technology and population health in the service of our most vulnerable populations.

Fundación Mi Sangre

Colombia.

Originally founded by singer-songwriter Juanes in 2006, Fundación Mi Sangre was elevated to global recognition through the innovation and systems change approach led by co-founder and current chairperson Catalina Cock Duque, a successful social entrepreneur and global weaver with more than 20 years of experience in development. Our youth empowerment ethos is driven by our belief in the inherent potential residing in Colombia’s young people to become agents of change. Fundación Mi Sangre believes that Colombia’s youth—when given the guidance and the tools—will be the champions who make our country more peaceful and equitable.

To that end, we facilitate systemic cultural change, activating the ecosystems surrounding youth and engaging them as the primary contributors to personal, community, and societal transformation. Our carefully crafted model harnesses arts and culture to develop life, leadership, and social entrepreneurship skills, equipping and mobilizing our participants as co-creators of transformative peace solutions. We engage all actors of the ecosystem, including schools, partner organizations, and communities, weaving them together to align visions, encourage collaboration, and empower the next generation to lead the construction of a peace culture. We listen to, convene, and activate the diverse stakeholders and voices in a given community, and enhance their potential to influence young people and change existing narratives through ongoing dialogue, training, and support. Acknowledging that inner well-being is essential to all of the work we do, transversal psychosocial support underpins our programs, available in both individual and group settings to highly vulnerable and at-risk youth and families in need of this foundation for peace-building.