Heading a national organization at the age of 25 may seem like a

Herculean undertaking, but Maya Cohen is not one to shy away from

a challenge. To wit: As a sophomore at Barnard College, the New

Rochelle, New York, native was frustrated with what she calls the lackluster

“sign-waving” of charitable groups on campus, resulting in a lot of noise but

not much lasting impact. A chance meeting with a member of GlobeMed, a

network that pairs universities with activist groups in impoverished areas

throughout the world, revealed that alternate—and more effective paths—do

exist. Cohen started a chapter of GlobeMed at Columbia University, moved to

Evanston following graduation to work in the group’s national office, and,

barely a year out of college, was made the organization’s executive director.

This month, Cohen will visit Boston to speak at the annual Millennium

Campus Conference, then at the American Public Health Association annual

meeting. Talking with her, there’s little doubt that GlobeMed is in capable

hands. Founded by a group of Northwestern University students in 2007, the

organization began as what Cohen refers to as a “ragtag

bunch of students” but has since grown to encompass 55

chapters and over 2,000 students nationwide. “In the

GlobeMed model, a group of students gets connected with a

grassroots activist who’s already leading a great organiza-

tion on the ground,” Cohen explains. “That allows students

to connect directly and learn what the community needs.”

Current programs range from a tuberculosis awareness

foundation in Lima, Peru, to a women’s empowerment

group in Gulu, Uganda. GlobeMed differentiates itself from

other charitable networks by fostering long-term relation-

ships between the schools and the activists on the ground in

each country. “Chapter partners work together for many

years, as long as the partnership is fruitful on both sides,”

Cohen says. “Every year they design a project that supports

the community.” A small group of students then travels to their partner organi-

zation to help bring the project (whether it be building latrines or training

community help workers) to life.

Cohen has also been tasked with creating the group’s first advisory council

and has already recruited figures like Partners in Health cofounder and chief

strategist Dr. Paul Farmer and celebrated women’s rights activist Marjorie

Craig Benton. The next step for GlobeMed is, fittingly, taking the organiza-

tion global. “We’re going to be working on putting our curriculum online,”

Cohen notes, “hopefully making it accessible to students around the world

who want to use it and bringing the dialogues that are happening at GlobeMed

chapters to other young people.” She’ll soon oversee the launch of GlobeMed’s

first strategic plan to develop 5,000 student global health leaders on 60 cam-

puses by 2016. After all, galvanizing young people is what GlobeMed is all

about. “I’m the oldest person in the organization at 25,” says Cohen. “We’re

learning every step of the way.” MA

Group HealthMAYA COHEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF EVANSTON-BASED GLOBE MED, EXTENDS A HELPING HAND TO GRASSROOTS MEDICAL ORGANIZATIONS FROM CAMBODIA TO UGANDA. BY JULIET IZON

FROM TOP: Maya Cohen was introduced to GlobeMed while at Barnard College, where she also met local director Pamela Angwech; meeting with partners in Uganda; a student participates in a project in Kenya.

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