Strong Heroes is a nonprofit organization run by an intelligent group of Blind Brook High School kids looking to make a difference in the world. They have donated over 80,000 toys, books, and resources to children’s hospitals. Additionally, they have over 500 donors and volunteers and have put in over 1000 hours of volunteer time to fight health disparity to maximize health outcomes across all populations.
Their commitment lies in enhancing health fairness through a comprehensive strategy. They work to merge education, research, policy, and community involvement to create solutions that channel resources, establish programs, and foster support systems. These efforts aim to eliminate barriers hindering optimal health for everyone. Striving for a future where health disparities vanish, health inequities diminish, and every population achieves the best possible health outcomes is our goal.
Jonah Bassuk is the founder and chief executive officer of Strongheroes and alongside him is Charlotte Zelin, chief operating officer, Emily Tian, research director, Emilia Boccini, news director, Richa Munjal, events director, Kabir Joshi, director of financial planning, Charlie Kaminsky, director of financial analytics and Noah leader director financial management.
From August 27th to September 1st many of the leadership members traveled to Washington DC to attend a six-day World Congress. The vision for this conference was to improve the global standard for pediatric and congenital help. The mission was to organize the most comprehensive scientific form ever convened for this patient population and their caregivers to improve the duration and quality of life for neonates, infants, children, and adults with pediatric and congenital cardiovascular disease.
This was the eighth annual World Congress. At this World Congress Strongheroes set up a work booth where they provided information on health equity-related events during the day and gave general background information surrounding the organization.
There are many different types of world congresses, but this one specifically was an international meeting designed with the objective of promoting the sharing of ideas to improve cardiac care for children across the world. One of the main goals of this conference was to bring together non-governmental organizations and patient family advocacy groups to share best practices and develop strategies for improved and sustainable access to patient care in low- and middle-income countries.
The 2023 World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery received over 2200 abstracts from 92 different countries, and out of those 92 countries, only 76 had representatives at this international conference. It was a huge honor to be a part of this conference for the Strong Heroes organization.
Going forward after this event, they have many more events that they are looking to be a part of in 2024, including the third annual International Public Health Conference in Singapore coming in March and the RISE Summit on Social Determinants of Health in New Orleans coming in April. This organization is looking to do great things going forward for the world of health inequality.