Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity

What Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity does

Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity (AFHE) is a non-residential global fellowship program founded in 2017 and operated as a program within the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity at George Washington University's Milken Institute School of Public Health. The organization develops emerging and established leaders in healthcare, public health, and health equity through a competitive cohort-based selection process, with fellows representing 35 countries across six continents. Since inception, AFHE has trained 151 fellows (one source notes 137), working across focus areas that include advocacy, disease control, environmental health, gender equity, health systems, mental health, nursing, nutrition, and rural health. The program is non-commercial; selected fellows participate at no tuition cost, with program operations supported through institutional funding from George Washington University, coordination by the Atlantic Institute at Rhodes Trust in Oxford, UK, and philanthropic grants.

AFHE's core offerings include the fellowship experience itself, the Equity Talks video reflection series, a BMJ Leader blog collaboration, Collaboration Funds that finance inter-fellow projects, and Annual Reports documenting impact. The technology footprint is limited to a web-based platform (healthequity.atlanticfellows.org) used for application processing, fellow portfolio display, and content dissemination; no mobile app, public API, or proprietary technology platform is offered. The go-to-market is community-led: the program recruits emerging health equity leaders via website and application, then maintains lifelong engagement through global convenings, the Equity Talks series, and collaborative projects. Fellows are positioned within existing health institutions in their home countries (e.g., Gavi, MedStar Washington Hospital Center, University of São Paulo, International Medical Corps), effectively distributing program impact through their individual professional networks.

In 2025, Senior Fellows' work reached over 35 million people globally; 84% of Senior Fellows occupy leadership positions, and 100% of fellows report that AFHE leadership skills made them more effective leaders. The program has produced 354 AFHE-related publications and received the 2024 Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation Award for Program Excellence. AFHE is part of a broader network of Atlantic Fellows programs coordinated by the Atlantic Institute at Rhodes Trust and has no venture capital, private equity, or public-market ownership.

Name

Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity

Legal name

Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity

Website

https://healthequity.atlanticfellows.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity is a non-residential global fellowship program, founded in 2017 at George Washington University, that trains emerging health equity leaders across 35 countries through cohort-based learning, community convenings, and project collaboration.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Health Equity Leadership Fellowship

NAICS

Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Health & Health Equity Organizations (BPAGACAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Health Systems Strengthening & Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Partnerships (HLAJAOAL), Global Health Systems Strengthening (BPAGABAD)

Keywords

• Health equity fellowship
• Public health leadership
• Health workforce development
• Global health training
• Equity leadership program

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Fellowship Program Funding: AFHE operates as a program of George Washington University, supported by institutional funding, Atlantic Institute/Rhodes Trust coordination, and likely philanthropic grants. The program does not charge fellows tuition and instead provides leadership training at no cost to participants.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity is a non-residential global fellowship program that develops leaders who understand the foundations of health inequity and have the knowledge, skills, and courage to build more equitable organizations and communities. Selected fellows participate in cohort-based leadership training at no cost, gaining access to a lifelong global network of 151+ health equity leaders across 35 countries and 6 continents. The program is housed at George Washington University's Milken Institute School of Public Health and is part of the Atlantic Fellows network coordinated by the Atlantic Institute at Rhodes Trust in Oxford, UK.

Product overview

Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity is a non-residential fellowship program housed at George Washington University's Milken Institute School of Public Health. The core offering is the fellowship program itself, which develops global health equity leaders through training, community building, and project support. The organization operates as a program rather than a technology company—no software products or platforms are offered. Supporting offerings include Equity Talks (video reflection series), the BMJ Leader blog collaboration for knowledge sharing, Collaboration Funds to support inter-fellow projects, and Annual Reports documenting impact. The program has trained 137+ health equity leaders since 2017 across 35 countries on 6 continents.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity Fellowship Program A non-residential global fellowship program that develops leaders who understand the foundations of health inequity, providing knowledge, skills, and community support to build more equitable organizations and communities worldwide.

Quantifiable outcome

• 35+ million people served by Senior Fellows' health equity work in 2025 alone
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• George Washington University (Milken Institute School of Public Health)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAFHE is a program of George Washington University, based at the Milken Institute School of Public Health. The university provides institutional support, infrastructure, and academic credibility to the fellowship program.
• Atlantic Institute at Rhodes TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Atlantic Institute, based at Rhodes Trust in Oxford, UK, coordinates the global network of Atlantic Fellows programs. AFHE is part of this network of Atlantic Fellows programs focused on different equity areas.
• BMJ LeaderflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerAFHE has a collaboration with BMJ Leader to share Fellows' Equity Talks through a dedicated blog series. This partnership amplifies health equity perspectives from across the AFHE community through BMJ Leader's platform.
• Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce EquitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAFHE is part of the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity (Mullan Institute) at George Washington University. The Mullan Institute supports the fellowship's mission to develop health equity leaders.
• Barefoot Law and Uganda Law SocietyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for legal empowerment training of health workers in Uganda. AFHE Senior Fellows collaborated with these organizations to train 124 health workers at Kawempe National Referral Hospital.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Ashoka Fellows: Global fellowship network for leading social entrepreneurs, including many working in health equity. Comparable lifelong fellowship model, multi-country reach, and focus on systems-change leadership, with a larger and more established alumni network.
• World Health Organization Health Equity initiatives: WHO's Health Equity and Social Determinants of Health programs set the global agenda and standards in health equity. AFHE fellows frequently work in or with WHO-aligned organizations, and WHO represents the broader institutional ecosystem that AFHE fellows seek to influence.
• W.K. Kellogg Foundation: Major US philanthropy with decades of funding in health equity, racial equity, and community leadership development. Operates comparable fellowship and leadership programs (e.g., Kellogg Fellows Network) and represents a key peer funder and parallel model in the health equity leadership space.
• Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity: AFHE's parent institute at GWU, which houses broader health workforce equity research and policy work. Directly comparable in mission and shared institutional infrastructure, providing the academic backbone and convening platform for AFHE fellows.

Direct peers

• Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellowships: Prestigious fellowship program that brings mid-career health policy researchers and practitioners from partner countries to the US for study, leadership development, and networking. Comparable in fostering global health leadership, cohort-based learning, and senior leadership outcomes.
• Global Health Corps: Fellowship program that places emerging global health leaders in yearlong placements with health organizations across Africa and the US. Directly comparable cohort-based model targeting early-to-mid-career health equity leaders, with similar mission around health equity and workforce development.
• Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity: Sister program within the same Atlantic Fellows global network coordinated by Rhodes Trust at Oxford. Operates a similar non-residential cohort-based fellowship model focused on social and economic equity, and shares central infrastructure, convenings, and brand with AFHE.
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholars: RWJF-funded national leadership development program for early-career researchers from historically marginalized backgrounds. Directly comparable in mission to develop diverse leaders addressing health equity, with non-residential cohort structure and similar institutional funding model.
• Echoing Green Fellowship: Two-year fellowship for emerging leaders driving social change, including in health equity. Comparable in mission to develop a global pipeline of leaders tackling systemic inequities, with similar non-residential support model and global cohort structure.
• Atlantic Fellows for Global Brain Health: Sister Atlantic Fellows program focused on brain health equity, based at the Global Brain Health Institute. Operates the same non-residential cohort model as AFHE, shares Rhodes Trust coordination, and addresses health equity in a specific disease/condition vertical.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/GWFellow
• YouTubeyoutube.com/playlist?list=PLRKp9ntJzB5Y7m0qq8RC8NhrNyQCjhWFW
• Facebookfacebook.com/GWFellow
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/atlantic-fellows-for-health-equity
• Instagraminstagram.com/gw_fellow

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity