Global Citizen award application guide by Bright Irem Chimezie

A. How does the nominee embody and exemplify the values and practices of a Global Citizen?
(900 Characters)

I am Bright Irem, a Global Citizen. I'm part of an emerging sustainable community in
 rural Nigeria where i have strategically committed my passion and energy in
innovative ways to address social, economic and humanitarian value challenges
that hitherto created inequality in our lives at the Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP).
Doing this in line with the ethics/cultural fabrics upon which our communities are
formed since 2011 to date through a home-grown Social-Enterprise model designed
in response to our communities' peculiarity and needs have yielded effective Social
Safety Net directly serving 63,166 rural dwellers among whom are the Vulnerable
and Fragile components of our population between Q3 of 2015 to Q2 of 2016.
This, have reduced poverty, improved human rights, justice and peace in the growing
face of gender equity which enhanced our socio-cultural and behavioral value system.

B. What is the nominee’s track record of reducing extreme poverty? *
Since 2011/12 to date, my work focuses first on ensuring timely access to
healthcare services through networked Health-Fulfillment-Centers, then using our
unmatched community engagement to implement programs in sustainable agriculture,
education, and economic development. By Q3 of 2012-2015/16, we'd directly
trained 3,060 rural dwellers (mainly women who have experienced gender-based
violence), forming market cooperatives in sewing, soap-making, baking and
IT-skill providing them with sources of income, linkage to micro-finance loans,
business management skills, while offering space for social interaction and
cooperation. I have ringed over 300-artisanal miners forming cooperatives in 2015,
empowering them with basic management skills both for safe environmental/personal
mining practices allowing them to benefit from their resources and invest back in
agriculture, schools and hospitals.

C How has the nominee brought new thinking to overcoming the challenge of ending extreme poverty? *
My innovative approach and new thinking order of anchoring ONE mission on
5-pillars gave us an effective strategic SOCIAL STRUCTURES upon which we
designed unique community-based solutions that are reducing inequality gaps in
the critical areas of quality healthcare, education, agriculture, economic
development and community engagement. My Yeast-Budding-Effect model is
unique to us, and can transform rural communities to become strengthened and
capable of independent and self-sustainability which can be scaled across other
communities. My ability to take leverage of IT application has made us succeed in
the core areas of planning and decision-making which have been problem due to local
data inconsistency. Another new thinking is the specific-community NEEDS
profiling system that abolished the old one-solution-fits-all system; and this is
helping other social organizations to succeed.


D How would this award enable/support the nominee to scale or improve their
work? How would the nominee use the funding? *

Winning this award would enable Afripharm through FVGI advance its mission of
improving access to rural healthcare through our Care-on-Demand innovative
IT-Based model. This simple innovation will improve quality, increase access and
reduce cost. This is a key step towards universal healthcare access and ending
poverty. Afripharm's Care-on-Demand pilot design is for $20,000 and have
improved healthcare indices for over 40,000 people in 12-months, increasing
providers' efficiency. A $100,000 award would enable the organization to start
deploying 4 more networked Care-on-Demand centers immediately, improving
access to quality healthcare for nearly 160,000 rural Nigerians.
The award money will also go towards Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) of our
progress and impacts. Demonstrating impact is very essential for attracting further
support, thereby sustaining our effort to end poverty.


Author Bio:
Irem Bright has a-5year+ hands-on experience as a healthcare entrepreneur in the Nigerian Health market. He is Afripharm's CEO, a medical/health supply-chain company. Bright holds a Harvard University Certificate in Entrepreneurship & Healthcare in Emerging Economies. He is a 2017-recipient of The prestigious Mandela Washington Fellowship Award for Young African Leaders. In the long-term, he intends to develop at least one Health-IT/Business-Incubator-Center (hIT/BIC) where healthcare entrepreneurs/leaders can explore/share knowledge-based resources in tackling public healthcare delivery challenges.

Why Global Citizen
Bright Irem is a Global Citizen. A part of an emerging sustainable community in rural Nigeria where i have strategically committed my passion and energy in innovative ways to address social, economic and humanitarian value challenges that hitherto created inequality in our lives at the Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP).
He started this Social-Enterprise out of deliberate effort to create synergy, shrinking high Mortality-Rates by addressing key-breakdowns in the healthcare-value-chain that, if resolved, could timely provide high-quality low-cost life-saving healthcare
services/supplies.

Article Teaser
Our generation is faced with myriads of social challenges beyond inestimable measures, but in the face of this, our opportunities are greater given the innovative role of IT in breaking old borders while increasing partnership for global cooperation.

Notes:
I am Bright Irem, a Global Citizen. I'm part of an emerging sustainable community in rural Nigeria where i have strategically committed my passion and energy in innovative ways to address social, economic and humanitarian value challenges that hitherto created inequality in our lives at the Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP).

Doing this in line with the ethics/cultural fabrics upon which our communities are formed since 2011 to date through a home-grown Social-Enterprise model designed in response to our communities' peculiarity and needs have yielded effective Social  Safety Net directly serving 63,166 rural dwellers among whom are the Vulnerable  and Fragile components of our population between Q3 of 2015 to Q2 of 2016.  This, have reduced poverty, improved human rights, justice and peace in the growing  face of gender equity which enhanced our socio-cultural and behavioral value system.

TED Fellow Application instruction guiedline supplied by Mandela Washington Fellow Bright Chimezie Irem



TED FELLOW APPLICATION Guidelines and Instructions for Young Prospective TED Fellows


Original Contents Written and Supplied By Bright Chimezie Irem to serve as public education and help material source document, guiding anybody who qualifies to apply for TED fellowship program
 
  1.  Tell us about your work, and the projects you are currently working on.
(Limit 750 characters)

As a Mandela Washington Fellow, my work is using Cloud-Computing/IT-Innovations to bridge the gap between knowledge, policy & action via Integrated App-Solution in saving the lives of vulnerable people in my country. With a Harvard University Certificate in Entrepreneurship/Healthcare in Emerging Economies, Bright Chimezie Irem is engaged in developing Need-Based Mobile-Health-Information-System, offering clinical/evidence-based point-of-care-App/referral solutions, reducing health inequalities/fatal clinical-errors & closing the Care-Consumer-Gap; enabling users have 24/7-access to verified medical personnel at over 70% cost lower than conventional method of consulting. This project is shrinking Mortality-Rates by addressing breakdowns in our Healthcare-Value-Chain.

  1. What is your idea worth spreading? (Limit 150 characters)
Deploying Innovative IT/Enterprise-Need-Based Private-Sector Solution for Public Health Pandemics – Towards overcoming our Healthcare Inequalities.

3.   What are you best known for? What is your crowning achievement?
(Limit 750 characters)

Connecting People to Knowledge/Solution as Innovative Healthcare/IT-Professional; INSPIRING Social-Entrepreneur who doesn’t accept old limitations in crafting knowledge-based solution for practical problems, I’ve domesticated the IDEA of Human-Centered-Designing (HCD) Thinking in creating a local concept, “Adaptive-Innovation” in our healthcare sector as a model that creates unique solutions to fit a specific environment/culture; effectively dismantling the conventional method of One-Solution-Fit-All model. I’m making achievement mark in setting a breed of POSSIBILITY-THINKERS via Afripharm Medicals Health-IT/Business-Incubator-Center (hIT/BIC) for LEADERS to explore/share knowledge-based resources in tackling public health problems.

4. What other accomplishments would you like to share? Please give context!
e.g. (you're a wine expert, you own a bakery, etc.) (Limit 750 characters)

As a health professional/IT-Service provider, I’ve a TEAM solving public health issue based experience from years of volunteering to UNICEF/World Health Organization in Health Systems which gave rise to Afripharm Medicals, a company sampling Knowledge-Based-SOLUTIONS-for-Practical-PROBLEMS, using need-based approaches on how IT-Innovations can be used in tackling rural health problems; generating over 11-Million Naira in 2-years, created about 320-direct/indirect jobs, evolving SmartPharm®-and-HealthBeat® operating in 46 Health-Fulfillment-Centers (HFC) & 26 linked Pharmacies as a-cloud-based-ubiquitous App-Solutions for RELIABLE essential medications/Blood transfusion Supply-Chain-System, reducing avoidable deaths by 65% in 2-years.


  1. List any awards, prize or other fellowships you have won, with the details below:
  • The name of the award, prize, or fellowship
  • The date it was received
  • Any necessary context about the honor (e.g. "major math prize in Eastern Europe")
Note: Awards are not required to receive a TED fellowship (Limit 750 characters

1. Winner (Finalist 001 Nigeria) - The USA Department of States' 2017 Mandela Washington Fellows for Young African Leaders (MWF/YALI) (2017)
2. Winner (Finalist) - University of Notre Dame, South Bend Indiana USA Business Model and Pitch Award (2017)
3. Winner (Finalist) - The Nigerian Stock Exchange Innovative Business Model and Youth Trainer Award (2010)
4. Winner (Award of Excellence) - Umuaka Rural Women Award for Health and SME Rural-Based Informal Educator meeting SDGs 1, 8, & 10 (2015)



  1. What type of education have you received? Please add details for any degrees, including:
  • Educational institution
  • Type of degree
  • Subject
  • Dates completed
  • Any additional context. Note: Formal education is not required to receive a TED Fellowship. Many Fellows have not been to school or did not finish. (Limit 750 characters)
1. University of Notre Dame, USA, Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Human Centered Design Thinking (HCD) - 2017.
2.  University of Notre Dame, USA, Certificate in Business Model/Strategy Simulation & Decision-Making- CAPSIM CAPSTONE Course - 2017.
3. Harvardx University, Boston USA - Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Healthcare In Emerging Economies - 2016.
4. University of Nigeria, MBBS - Medicine and Surgery - 2010.
5. Heidelberg University Germany - Certificate Course in Public Health: Climate Change and Health - 2016
6. Harvardx University, Boston USA - Certificate, Public Health and Safety: Humanitarian Response to Conflict and Disaster - 2017/In-Progress.


  1. What hobbies, causes or activities are you passionate about aside from your work?
(Limit 750 characters)

I’ve passion for social justice. I’ve volunteered as facilitator on race relations/diversity & intercultural affairs for safe work/training programs. At the grassroots, I’m leading the effort to create the first series of videos in support of community healthcare access involving PEOPLE, achieving harmony and social-friendliness. I’ve passion for peoples’ unrestricted access to knowledge/learning in order to fight social injustice. For every chance I have had, I project the dreams, hopes and aspirations of PEOPLE around me whose life experience has been different by no fault of theirs or their own ability-limitation. I’ve passion for building a better present together so that our desired future can yield.


8.   Share an example of something you have been a part of, created, led, or joined that you consider unique. Why do you think it is groundbreaking?
(Limit 1000 characters)

In April 2010, I looked at unacceptable Avoidable Death Rates on our health records. I joined immunization team to: 1.Understand the rural communities & 2. To inspire others into creative thinking beyond the age-long one-way routine visits. As a data analyst in health/IT, I quickly deduced why children skip immunization & pregnant mothers skip ante-natal care, both of which, are dangerous combination fueling the rise in death rates in the area. For 30-days, I brought an enterprise model, designing Social-Marketing-Strategy via “Community-Health-Talks” on Immunization, Exclusive Breastfeeding, Child-Nutrition/Weighing tips; creating network of contact points via rural chemists’ shops (operators of which have earlier been trained in this model). This led to increased immunization from 86/per-quarter to 392, reducing death rates by 43%, lowered barriers to healthcare; encouraged more check-ups. It’s unique as it served the basis for scaling in other communities, helping us overcome Polio.


9.   What questions should we have asked, but didn’t? Please write them down and answer them! (In other words, tell us something about yourself that we don’t know yet.) (Limit 1000 characters)

“I should have been asked, “What does Curiosity mean to you?”
Curiosity to me is the ability to ask and find answers to anything. We live in a time where access to information has impressively increased and the quest for curiosity can lead to discovery of one’s passion/the realization that there will be further probes that follow how solution(s) have been always created. A time that the spread of information/technology have reduced barriers to opportunity & prosperity, a time that is teaching us how we shared a common destiny; revealing a world more intertwined than at any time in human history. Here comes the time/chance to bring up new perceptions & solution away from the limitations of the past, the realization that solutions & answers are insights of reality, yet reality itself is a personal experience of ours individually at the moment. This brings fulfillment to me. To keep asking and to keep solving is an engaging and delightful continuous process.

10.                Can you share a memorable anecdote from your life that will give us a further sense of what makes you tick? (Limit 750 characters)
In April 2011 I’ve to inspire local health workers whose morale(s) have waned and showing on the poor outcomes/results from monitoring/evaluation. This covers a multi-community outreaches for 8 weeks. A week into the program I found the fundamental reasons/factors responsible for poor performances, results and unacceptable outcomes we were having in the community of 12,000 from over 25 tribes. I initiated & coordinate Leading-the-Leaders network among us.  This was an optional activity but it required great coordination between community heads, the clerics, the traditional-healthcare givers and the private sector operators etc. The result improved health outcomes, making me realize how much we can do better when PEOPLE are connected. 


Our Impact towards ending extreme poverty eradicating hunger and improving access to quality healthcare and education

One of the Essential Questions which is key to WHY we do what we do is,
"How to Innovatively Design, Create and Deploy Private Sector Solutions in Solving Public Health Pandemics (Eradicate Extreme Poverty, End Hunger, increase TIMELY access to Education and Affordable Qualitative Healthcare) in Nigeria" 
...Bright Chimezie Irem, Fellow Global Citizen, Nigeria.

Our Impact: Our Impact towards ending extreme poverty eradicating hunger and improving access to quality healthcare and education.

This has tremendously scaled and improved to our excitement.

With the nomination of our founder, Bright Chimezie Irem (Popularly Called Global Citizen by peers and communities) as an outstanding Young African Leader by the USA Government via the Department of State's program - Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders (MWF/YALI), an appreciable social gains have been made.

USA Government Listing of Bright Chimezie Irem, our Founder/Lead Initiator as outstanding Young African Leader on:

2. Mandela Washington Fellowship Page for Young African Leaders on 
Bright Chimezie Irem (Fellow Global Citizen, Nigeria)
Founder/Lead Initiator FVGI
2017 Mandela Washington Fellow
For Young African Leaders.
FVGI: ONE MISSION ON 5-PILLARS
Note: 1. All Pictures and Photo Images Used here are Copyrighted and are our direct photos while working in our various local/rural areas. All Photo Credit: Bright Chimezie Irem (Our founder, Lead Initiator, FVGI, Our Global Citizen.)
2. Our success stories is largely based on our ability to directly gather, collate local data directly and use it in our planning and decision making.

Our Core Mission has been strengthened through a locally-driven innovative model that supports and potentiates each other towards providing RELIABLE supply chain links for essential medications and supporting compassionate health care in a dignified environment while addressing the root causes of illness, poverty, violence, and neglect.
Our Mission in providing quality, compassionate health care in a dignified environment while  tackling the root causes of illness, poverty, violence, and neglect has grown to an appreciable proportion of directly serving about 63,166 persons (indirectly over 143,000 persons) at the base of the pyramid among the most fragile and vulnerable components of our communities and population within a time frame of two-quarterly operational period between 2015 to 2016 (Q3 of 2015 to Q2 of 2016).




Future View (FVGI) brings hope to Nigerians within the vulnerable and fragile segment of our demographics through a holistic model. Through a uniquely designed innovative model, a partnership with community members, we focus first on ensuring that fake and dangerous essential medications are stamped out by providing an IT-based and monitored/reliable essential medications supply chain network to our network of pharmacies, chemists and clinics treating and preventing illness through coordinated Health Fulfillment Center (HFC) networks anchored on the existing primary health care facilities and services, wielding together private and public sectors, thereby bringing in Efficiency and Accountability to the latter by the former. We then integrate education, sustainable and scalable rural agricultural programs/projects, and economic development programs through financial inclusion (micro-finance) strategies.
 

Our network forms the heartbeat of our operations - forming the anchorage to chains of primary healthcare/Health Fulfillment Centers, pre-vocational/school, and practical-demonstration gardens, and through network of routine community outreach events we provide services throughout 38 networked communities. 
FVGI comprehensive programs serve more than 63,000 vulnerable persons within the rural areas of our operations, thereby, providing and spreading Social Safety Nets to cover these fragile and vulnerable components of our population at the Bottom of the Pyramid. 


FVGI HEALTH
Nigeria's healthcare statistics and indices have been discouraging - A Nigerian childbearing mother has almost a 1 in 15 lifetime risk of dying of complications during childbirth or immediately after childbirth; and 64 out of 9000 babies will die before they reach their first to 5th birthday time.
There is big gap and opportunity for FVGI helpful/social impact in rural Nigeria and Afripharm Medicals through Future View Green Initiatives is uniquely working to create long-lasting sustainable and scalable social solutions to address these inequalities and change the narratives..


FVGI's key program in rural areas like Kawuti, Anyyiin, Akamkpa, Netim, Umuaka/Ndufu-Umota etc Communities is a detailed and very comprehensive network of Healthcare Fulfillment Centers (HFC). The social healthcare services being providing include primary care, maternal and child health, mental health, the prevention and treatment of HIV, TB, malaria and other infectious diseases, and a growing non-communicable disease program. Our network/s of HFCs have responded to local needs over time and now includes 6-inpatient wards via different General hospitals, including one dedicated primarily to severe pediatric malnutrition through a connected tertiary institution teaching hospital.


FVGI EDUCATION
Early, Timely Affordable High-quality education is among the basic key foundation to improve people's lives and alleviate poverty. Through FVGI community-enhancing education clinics program, we strengthen young people's timely access to vocational, pre-primary and primary education, develop teachers’ teaching/modern IT-skills through a home designed training program in coordination with networked area schools, and empower parents to take an active role in their children’s education and academic success.


FVGI Agriculture and Mining
Given our huge and growing demographics (population), Nigeria has the distinction of likely becoming one of the most hungry country in the world and malnutrition will be one of the most prevalent diseases in rural areas of Nigeria if nothing strategic is done now.
 

In response to local/rural community needs, FVGI agriculture home-grown rural Agricultural program has gradually advanced from nutrition education and seed distribution to include networked community outreaches and programs, rural farmer trainings, livestock management, and environmental protection. Members of the Community engage in the management of on-site gardens and livestock pens, cultivate and grow community gardens, and take part in agricultural and livestock cooperatives.
These initiatives produce food and economic opportunity for the community, and also strengthen community knowledge of the connections between food, nutrition, and health.


FVGI Rings artisanal miners together forming mining cooperatives as well, train and mentor scale miners by providing them with basic mining skills for them to get better revenues from the mining activities, and Occupational Health and Safety (OHS and HSE) management skills to avoid the dangerous set up of artisanal mines as well to allow the local Nigeria's population to benefit from their minerals and natural resources to help them invest in other alternative sectors such as agriculture, farming, and build schools and hospitals etc: Thereby scoring far-reaching points in ENDING EXTREME POVERTY !!!

FVGI Economic Development
FVGI provides rural and customized local training for vulnerable community members, especially women that engage in menial works and artisanal mining who have experienced longtime gender-based violence. Cooperatives in mineral mining/extractives in line with set best practices, weaving, sewing, soap-making, and baking providing rural community members with a steady sources of financial income and economic empowerment, while providing a social safety environment for relationship, growth, partnership and progress.



FVGI Community Engagement
FVGI and our our networks have grown rapidly over time with the inclusive support and interest of the rural community dwellers in which we serve and operate. We continuously learn from our networks, TEAM, each other and work in close cooperation to develop and implement social gainful programs that meet critical community needs that are specific and unique to each community. Through FVGI network of outreach programs and events, critical leadership development trainings/programs, festival of arts and culture, we inspire creative and inclusive expression, educating fellow community members while strengthening community connections and social safety net networks.