Our response to COVID-19

TANYA CHARLES

Program and Impact Lead: Senior Fellow Engagement

The first half of 2020 was characterized by the spread and impact of the coronavirus. For the Atlantic Institute, planned face-to-face gatherings that were meant to take place in April (the “Indigenous Approaches to Health” pre-forum in association with the Beyond Flexner Conference in Arizona) and May (the “Conversations on Hope” forum in Dublin) had to be postponed indefinitely. Instead, the Atlantic Institute was forced to pivot to online programming that could meet its objectives while supporting the Atlantic community as it faced the crisis.

The most urgent concern was the wellbeing of Fellows. From March, the Atlantic Institute supported the Atlantic Fellows’ online engagements by providing Business Zoom accounts to enable connection as the world moved to online platforms as a way of life. This meant that Fellows had the tools not only to connect with family and friends, but also to participate in the Institute’s now mainly virtual offerings. The first of these was the weekly Global Zoom Calls: spaces made available to discuss ongoing professional and personal challenges, as well as any changes and small victories in dealing with this period. These conversations allowed for debate, support and re-strategizing as everyone thought through how best to serve their communities, families and colleagues.

With the community adjusting to “the new normal”, it was a privilege to see Fellows jump into action. The Solidarity Grants, which the Institute made available from May 2020, meant that Fellows like Maureen Sigauke, Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity, were able to respond to the needs of their communities in urgent and profound ways. With her Solidarity Grant, Maureen bought textbooks and computers for vulnerable learners in her hometown of Kwekwe, in Zimbabwe,

“It is evident that Atlantic Fellows are at the forefront and on the front lines in this pandemic, doing their utmost to mitigate inequities in their communities that are amplified by the virus.”

where pupils could not afford online or offline educational resources to mitigate the effects of the school closures during lockdown. Similarly, Holiday Simmons, Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity, was able to offer holistic psycho-social support to leaders of communities who were more vulnerable and marginalized due to COVID-19. Through helping both Fellows prepare their funding applications, I saw firsthand how they met the challenges undaunted — with huge drive, passion and dedication.

Fellows’ experiences were further brought to bear during our Post COVID-19 webinar series, “A (K)new World Reimagined”. The series was developed as a space for Fellows to think about possible strategies for impact that we could collectively take forward after the pandemic. Cedric Brown, Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity, shed light on how the coronavirus tested leadership and global solidarity, and reset expectations; Kentse Radebe, Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity in South Africa, provided a South African case study on mental health services provision; and Tracey Jooste, Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity, was one of the speakers who explored how the virus disproportionately affects certain racial, national or ethnic communities and populations. It is evident that Atlantic Fellows are at the forefront and on the front lines in this pandemic, doing their utmost to mitigate inequities in their communities that are amplified by the virus.

The Atlantic Institute is proud to have provided the infrastructure and resources to support Fellows during this time. We will continue to see how they have helped mitigate the effects of coronavirus and brought some positive changes to those most in need across the world.