FXB Center Launches 2026 Global COACH Fellowship on Community Organizing and Advocacy for Climate and Health

Boston, Massachusetts – May 2026

The 2026 Global Community Organizing and Advocacy for Climate and Health (COACH) Fellowship, led by the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University, Center for Health Equity Education and Advocacy, Global Climate and Health Alliance, Health Care Without Harm, Stanley Center for Peace and Security and the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies in Greece, brings together 27 health practitioners from across the world, each bringing unique grounded experience, reflective practice, and leadership skills, alongside a shared commitment to advancing climate and health justice.

What distinguishes COACH from other fellowship opportunities is its foundational premise that addressing the health equity implications of climate change effectively requires durable community engagement and leadership practices. Participants jointly create tools and build the skills to mobilize in their own communities. By creating a space where diverse lived experiences come together and participants learn from and with one another, the fellowship reinforces a core ideal of the FXB Center: that the most effective solutions emerge when those most affected are part of shaping the response.

This course is co-led by FXB affiliates, Dr. Gaurab Basu and Dr. Pedja Stojicic, and by Global Climate and Health Alliance’s Campaign lead Shweta Narayan, and supported by the Director of the FXB Program on Distress Migration, Dr. Vasileia Digidiki. The fellowship runs for nine months, offering a combination of virtual sessions and an intensive in-person immersion week at the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies in Nafplio, Greece, which concluded on April 3. Over the course of the week, participants moved beyond theory into practice, sharing a unique experience of global value, a space for the exchange of lived realities, ideas, knowledge, and strategies. From dynamic classroom discussions and group activities to strategy conversations over shared meals and reflective walks along the Nafplio port, COACH became more than a learning environment, it evolved into a space of trust, mutual care, and collective problem-solving.

The COACH team is fortunate to collaborate with and be supported by a set of deeply committed partners who helped shape and define the program:

The CHA Center for Health Equity Education and Advocacy, where a U.S. version of this program was first developed, supported program design and evaluation.
The Global Climate and Health Alliance brought its leadership in global climate and health policy with Shweta Narayan, their campaign lead, playing a central role as co-leader of the program and helping, among other important contributions, recruit a vibrant global community of climate-health leaders.
Health Care Without Harm , a global leader in the climate-health movement, mobilizes thousands of hospitals toward net-zero emissions and advocates for the principle that climate solutions are fundamentally health solutions. They led valuable sessions on these topics during the program.
The Stanley Center for Peace and Security, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to addressing three of the most significant threats to human survival—mitigating climate change, avoiding nuclear weapons, and preventing mass atrocities—was a dedicated partner at every stage of the program, contributing as a thought partner, content developer, and supporter in implementation.
The Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies in Greece, a long-standing and trusted collaborator of the FXB Center, provided not only a physical home for the immersion week but also an intellectual one. Equally important, its staff created a genuine culture of care that fostered an environment in which ideas, collaboration, and a deep sense of community could flourish.

COACH emphasizes that advancing climate and health solutions depends on collective action, including scholars, partners, communities, and children working together at the intersection of climate, health, and justice, with a focus on protecting the well-being of younger generations. We are inspired by this year’s scholars and excited to see the many ways in which they will support and transform their home communities.

Learn more about the Global COACH program here: https://fxb.harvard.edu/global-coach/