{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-alumni-grant-recipient-js","path":"/alumni-center/alumni-grant-recipients/heman-bekele-2026","result":{"data":{"recipient":{"firstName":"Heman","lastName":"Bekele","slug":"heman-bekele-2026","year":2026,"finalistYear":2023,"finalistAward":"Winner","grantType":"Science in Your Community Grant","cardImage":"2026-heman-bekele.png","quoteImage":null,"quote":"Sometimes, the smallest step in the right direction ends up being the biggest step in your life.","cardDescription":"Heman was awarded the Science in Your Community Grant for his work on “CareForAll,” a youth-led nonprofit that equips young people around the world with the skills, mentorship, and resources needed to advance health equity and address barriers to healthcare access in underserved communities.","aboutProject":["CareForAll is a youth-led nonprofit founded in 2025 with the mission of empowering young people to become compassionate, community-engaged healthcare leaders. Through student-led projects, health education, mentorship opportunities, mass social media awareness campaigns, and professional development programming, we equip young leaders with the tools to design and implement community-informed solutions that advance health equity.","To date, we have reached over 2,000 young people worldwide, with CareForAll programming established in over 20 countries across 5 continents. Since introducing our chapter system, we have established 5 chapters with a collective 280 members.","This funding would support the continued growth of CareForAll’s efforts to help students and chapters launch local health-promoting initiatives, expand public health education resources, and strengthen the infrastructure needed to mobilize young people worldwide who are interested in making a difference in health equity. For more information, visit careforall.org."],"inspiration":["A lot of inspiration came from seeing healthcare inequality firsthand and realizing how many people around the world still struggle to access even basic care. The ethos at the core of my original project and everything I work on today is that innovation only really matters if people can actually reach it and afford it.","That idea stayed with me while I was working on my own research, and eventually it grew into CareForAll. I wanted to create something that focused not just on healthcare innovation itself, but also on access, education, and giving young people a role in solving these problems too."]}},"pageContext":{"slug":"heman-bekele-2026","relatedRecipients":[{"slug":"shrey-arora-2026","year":2026,"firstName":"Shrey","lastName":"Arora","finalistYear":2025,"finalistAward":"Finalist","grantType":"Science in Your Community Grant","cardImage":"2026-shrey-arora.png","cardDescription":"Shrey was awarded the Science in Your Community Grant for his work on “Little Innovators,” a hands-on STEM program that introduces elementary school students to science, technology, and innovation through interactive workshops that build confidence, curiosity, and creativity."},{"slug":"anisha-dhoot-2026","year":2026,"firstName":"Anisha","lastName":"Dhoot","finalistYear":2023,"finalistAward":"Finalist","grantType":"Science in Your Community Grant","cardImage":"2026-anisha-dhoot.png","cardDescription":"Anisha was awarded the Science in Your Community Grant for her work on “EcoRoots,” a youth-led initiative that expands early access to climate and STEM education while strengthening food security through hands-on workshops, community action, and environmental education."},{"slug":"anna-du-2026","year":2026,"firstName":"Anna","lastName":"Du","finalistYear":2018,"finalistAward":"Finalist","grantType":"Science in Your Community Grant","cardImage":"2026-anna-du.png","cardDescription":"Anna was awarded the Science in Your Community Grant for her work on “Ideas Become Impact,” a student-led initiative that delivers hands-on AI and STEM education by empowering students to solve real-world problems in their own communities through scalable, chapter-based programming."}]}},"staticQueryHashes":["1877358583","2853049992","3432942819","4119215080","4285582392"]}