Tekano is a new organisation funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies, a US-based limited-life foundation, which will focus on bridging the inequality in health by addressing the underlying inequities. The Atlantic Philanthropies has pledged to invest up to $45m (about R630m) in Tekano and its flagship programme: Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity in South Africa.
For each of the next 20 years, Tekano will select 30 young and mid-career individuals to undergo a structured programme of learning and experience. As each cohort of Atlantic Fellows completes the programme, it will swell the ranks of alumni to form an ever-widening hub for analysis, advocacy and collective action on social justice and health equity.
Tekano’s starting point is the reality that health is only partly determined by health services and is shaped largely by factors outside of the healthcare system. These include poverty and unemployment, nutrition, vulnerability to violence, discrimination on various grounds – including race, gender and geographic location, as well as access to clean water, sanitation, shelter and education.
“Many fellowships emphasise intellectual performance above all else, but at Tekano we are in the business of fostering changemakers,” said Dr Naledi. “The entry requirement for Atlantic Fellows at Tekano will not be an academic qualification; it will be the applicant’s record of commitment to social equity,” said Tekano chair, Dr Tracey Naledi.
“We will be working with changemakers who are well-positioned to tackle the roots of health and illness. The Atlantic Fellows at Tekano will be a diverse group – activists, advocates, researchers, professional service providers, policy advisers and programme managers,” said Dr Naledi. “They could be engaged – as paid workers or volunteers – in agriculture or the arts, in sanitation or social services, in healthcare, housing, education, journalism, community development, poverty alleviation, or the law . . . the list is almost endless.”
The learning programme for the first cohort of Atlantic Fellows at Tekano will begin in September 2017 and applications will open before the end of 2016. For more information on the fellowships go towww.tekano.org.za.
