The Equity Initiative

We're Hiring: CMB-SEA Equity Leader Networks Program Assistant

The Equity Initiative is looking for an Equity Leader Networks Program Assistant to join our team in Bangkok! If you're organized, people-oriented, and passionate about health equity, this could be for you.

The Program Assistant supports the Equity Leader Networks Unit — the steward of CMB's growing ecosystem of Fellows, advisors, scholars, institutions, and partners across Southeast Asia and China. The role provides coordination, operational and administrative support across network engagement, the Annual Forum and leader gatherings, CRM and network data, community well-being and safeguarding, and cross-network learning.

Applications are open until 31 August 2026.

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Apply here! https://thaingo.org/jobs/detail/21532

We're Hiring! CMB-SEA Regional Programs Officer

The Equity Initiative is looking for a CMB-SEA Regional Programs Officer to join our team in Bangkok! If you're passionate about health equity and want to support shaping the next generation of leaders across Southeast Asia and China, this could be for you.

The Regional Programs Officer plays a key role in shaping and implementing the CMB Foundation's Southeast Asia regional portfolio. The position combines technical expertise, strategic grantmaking, network development, and program management to advance innovative investments and networks that improve health equity across the region. The role works across multiple thematic areas and collaborates closely with regional partners, Fellows, and Foundation leadership.

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Apply here! https://thaingo.org/jobs/detail/21511

FINAL CALL! Step 1 closes tomorrow! Don’t let the 2027-2028 Equity Initiative Fellowship pass you by. Don’t miss your chance at a fully funded, transformative leadership journey alongside a community of equity champions across Southeast Asia and China!

The Equity Initiative, also known as the Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity in Southeast Asia (AFHESEA), is CMB Foundation's flagship regional program dedicated to advancing health equity in Southeast Asia and China. The fellowship brings together outstanding professionals from diverse sectors committed to leading change for health equity, designed not only as a leadership development program but as a lifelong journey of learning, connection, and collective action.

Ready to join a vibrant community of equity champions across Southeast Asia and China? Don’t miss your chance and complete Step 1 before time runs out!

Applications close 31 August (GMT+7). To be considered, complete Step 1 by 1 August. Apply at https://www.equityinitiative.org/fellowship-program

2 days until Step 1 Closes!

At the Equity Initiative, Fellows learn from regional experts and directly engage with the communities themselves, developing a deeper understanding of health equity and leadership from different perspectives. Are you ready to broaden your perspective?

The Application is long, rigorous, and takes real reflection and effort to complete. That is exactly why the applicants who make it through are the ones who go on and make real change in the region. Behind every cohort, National Committee members handpick the best applicants over the years.

We’d like to express our heartfelt gratitude to these individuals who served on our National Committees, giving their valuable time and effort. Your careful review and selection have shaped a decade of health equity leaders across Southeast Asia and China.

REMINDER: To be considered, complete Step 1 by 23:59 1 August (GMT+7). Apply at https://www.equityinitiative.org/fellowship-program

3 days until Step 1 Closes!

At the Equity Initiative, Fellows learn from regional experts and directly engage with the communities themselves, developing a deeper understanding of health equity and leadership from different perspectives. Are you ready to broaden your perspective?

On May 1–8, the 2026 Equity Initiative Fellows travelled to Nairobi, Kenya for their Global Exchange, challenging them to see equity, leadership, and justice through an entirely new lens.

2026 Fellow Bui Thi Thanh Tu from Viet Nam shows what the Equity Initiative Fellowship looks like in practice. Her example and reflection show that to learn equity, you must go beyond the theories and experience it first hand, question them, and to carry those lessons back home.

In the Equity Initiative, Fellows learn from regional experts and directly engage with the communities themselves, developing a deeper understanding of health equity and leadership from different perspectives.

Read the full story here: https://www.equityinitiative.org/news/fellowship-program/global-exchange-learning-kenyas-living-history

Applications close 31 August (GMT+7). To be considered, complete Step 1 by 1 August. Apply at https://www.equityinitiative.org/fellowship-program

"I see myself in Bernard Chan's idea of mediation — building trust between sectors instead of choosing sides," reflected Yenuarizki Soedjoko (2026, Indonesia).

From July 1–9, our Cohort 2026 EI Fellows gathered in Hong Kong for the Asia Immersion learning event, exploring one question: What makes a society healthy? Over the week, Fellows met leaders and community organizations across the city, from The Honorable Bernard Chan at M+ to grassroots clinics, refugee services, and transitional housing- learning how health is shaped as much by housing, work, and belonging as by medicine.

Read the full story here: https://www.equityinitiative.org/news/fellowship-program/asia-immersion-architecture-equity-hong-kong

Applications close 31 August (GMT+7). To be considered, complete Step 1 by 1 August. Apply at https://www.equityinitiative.org/fellowship-program

5 DAYS TO GO! Step 1 of the 2027-2028 Equity Initiative Fellowship Program closes 1 August! If you’ve been meaning to apply, this is your leadership moment! Don’t miss your chance at a fully funded, transformative leadership journey alongside a community of equity champions across Southeast Asia and China!

Ready to join a vibrant community of equity champions across Southeast Asia and China? Don’t miss your chance and complete Step 1 before time runs out!

Applications close 31 August. To be considered, complete Step 1 by 1 August. APPLY HERE: https://www.equityinitiative.org/fellowship-program

Saida Ali, a feminist and international policy analyst dedicated to advancing gender equality and dismantling the overlapping inequalities that drive poverty among women, girls, and sexual and gender diverse people. Saida in 2017 became an Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity.

We'd like to thank Saida for helping make our learning event in Kenya possible.

The Atlantic Institute is a reminder that real, lasting change is never built alone and that when changemakers around the globe carry forward knowledge, open doors, and hold space for each other, real changes come about. As an Equity Initiative Fellow, you become part of this global community of changemakers working toward a more just and equitable world.

Step 1 closes on 1 August! You cannot start a new application after this date. Applications fully close 31 August. APPLY NOW at https://www.equityinitiative.org/fellowship-program

Read the Full Kenya story here: https://www.equityinitiative.org/news/fellowship-program/global-exchange-learning-kenyas-living-history

The Equity Initiative, also known as the Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity in Southeast Asia (AFHESEA), is CMB Foundation's flagship regional program dedicated to advancing health equity in Southeast Asia and China. The fellowship brings together outstanding professionals from diverse sectors committed to leading change for health equity, designed not only as a leadership development program but as a lifelong journey of learning, connection, and collective action.

“Mental health equity matters to me because I’ve seen the cost of its absence—when people fall through the cracks because institutions overlook, exclude, or punish them... The burden falls heaviest on those already pushed to the margins.” - Eleanor Joan Ong (2024, Singapore)

Eleanor takes a community-based approach, placing people with lived experiences, shared care, and the voices of those most affected at the center of the mental health equity index.

Being an Equity Initiative Fellow is a reminder that equity is a shared commitment by the community, and it is to look beyond institutions to address the deeper social forces that shape well-being. This is what gives her courage to carry on as she begins her postdoctoral journey in Harvard this coming August.

Step 1 closes on 1 August! You cannot start a new application after this date. Applications fully close 31 August. APPLY NOW at https://www.equityinitiative.org/fellowship-program

The Equity Initiative, also known as the Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity in Southeast Asia (AFHESEA), is CMB Foundation's flagship regional program dedicated to advancing health equity in Southeast Asia and China. The fellowship brings together outstanding professionals from diverse sectors committed to leading change for health equity, designed not only as a leadership development program but as a lifelong journey of learning, connection, and collective action.