SCALING A PEER-TO-PEER SUPPORT & LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT MODEL

A Collaborative Approach That Elevates Local Leaders

Designed in partnership with Kenyan cancer advocates, A Fresh Chapter (AFC) is building a scalable, sustainable, evidence-informed model focused on:

• Healing the emotional scars of cancer.
• Empowering African survivors and caregivers to mobilize as advocacy leaders.
• Strengthening global health equity by equipping people with the tools they need to redefine their lives, along with the confidence to share their cancer stories, which is helping to reduce stigma and promote early detection and screning.

Our programs are led by local AFC-trained facilitators who have been personally impacted by cancer.

Current programs include:

• The Ignite Experience: A virtual 10-week skills-based mental health support intervention for cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers.
• Mizizi Workshops: Half-day in-person interactive workshops that bring AFC’s skills and concepts aimed at addressing the emotional aspects of cancer to grassroots communities across Kenya.
• AFC Leaders: This 6-week foundational leadership and professional development program addresses the human side of leadership through offering skills to build emotional intelligence, compassionate leadership, inclusion, and resilience.
• Empower Workshops: 1-2 hour virtual workshops that offer new tools, resources, and perspectives to help balance both cancer and life.
• Elevate Fellowship: An immersive, cross-cultural leadership and advocacy program that aims to build AFC’s program capacity in Kenya by investing in and elevating local leaders.

In addition to our work in Kenya, AFC plans to scale this model to additional Sub-Saharan countries before 2026, starting with South Africa and Tanzania.

The Need

• During the past 30 years, cancer incidence rates in Sub-Saharan Africa are estimated to have doubled.
• The psychosocial/emotional challenges of cancer dramatically affect a patient’s quality of life. 
• These challenges are often more dramatic in low and middle-income African countries, where cancer has over time been associated with no cure. 
• In addition to anxiety and fear of death, many cancer patients in Africa deal with stigma and strained family relationships.

There is a clear need to help African patients, survivors, caregivers, and advocates gain tools to cope with uncertainty, develop resilience, and build concrete skills to navigate the challenges of a cancer experience.

Elevate: An Innovative Cross-Cultural Leadership Program 

In 2019, A Fresh Chapter launched our first Elevate Fellowship in Kenya. This immersive, cross-cultural, peer-to-peer advocacy experience offers emotional support, tools, personal and professional growth opportunities, and global perspectives to our fellows. Created with support from our industry partner Eli Lilly and Company, this Fellowship Program set the stage for the work we are doing today in Kenya. Our collaborative model invests in and elevates our local partners to ensure we meet local needs. Since then, we’ve been grateful to also partner with Bristol Myers Squibb in 2023.

Each year, AFC brings together employees of AFC’s partner organizations with Kenyan and U.S.-based cancer patients, survivors, caregivers, and advocates. All selected participants work in cross-cultural teams on vital projects aimed at advancing AFC’s important work in Africa. For example, in 2024, this includes the development and delivery of AFC’s inaugural two-day Summit held during the onsite portion of the program. The Summit will provide AFC Alumni and African cancer advocates skill-transfer and professional development opportunities, with a particular focus on relationship-based policy advocacy and leadership skills.

We are working collectively to not only build AFC’s program capacity in Kenya, but also explore how we can bring these transformational programs to other countries in Africa. 

Why Partner Kenyan & U.S. Advocates?

Cross-cultural connections have been at the heart of AFC since our pilot Odyssey Program in 2013. Connecting people impacted by cancer across diverse cultures and backgrounds has empowered all involved to see their lives, their cancer stories, and the world from a different perspective, creating an enduring ripple impact across the globe.

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In 2024, AFC intends to:

• Increase access to our virtual 10-week Africa Ignite Experience, with a goal of serving 50 Africans impacted by cancer.
• Expand our Mizizi workshop library and roll out 18 onsite workshops across Kenya, with a goal of serving 1,000+ Kenyan patients, survivors, and caregivers.
• Broaden access to the AFC Leaders program and provide foundational leadership skills to 40 African cancer advocates.

The 2024 Africa Elevate program is funded through the generosity of our donor community as well as independent grants from our sponsor organizations:

Kenya PHOTO GALLERY