Sylff News

Two Sylff fellows have been selected for a Sylff Leadership Initiatives (SLI) award. SLI supports Sylff fellows’ initiatives to change society for the better with awards of up to US$10,000. (Their applications were received last fiscal year and reviewed before the suspension of new applications for SLI.)

The two winners are Liza Hamman and Holly Horan.

Liza Hamman

Liza Hamman completed her PhD at the University of the Western Cape as a Sylff fellow and is currently working as a department head at a vocational education college in South Africa.

With this grant, she will address the social and emotional challenges faced by both educators and students in South Africa by developing an online, mindfulness training course. “It is my hope that this award will benefit many South African teachers,” said Hamman.

Holly Horan

Holly Horan, a Sylff fellow in 2015–16 at Oregon State University who was also awarded an SRA grant in 2016, is a clinical biocultural medical anthropologist at the University of Alabama in the United States.

With the SLI grant, as an academic and a birth and postpartum doula, she will promote a model of integrated maternity care in Puerto Rico by organizing an international conference for multiple stakeholders. Over the long term, she aims to launch a political and economic movement for health systems reform.

The Sylff Association secretariat is excited to provide support to fellows who are taking social action by applying their ideas and expertise to build a better world for all.

Congratulations to the two Sylff fellows on winning the award. Barring disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the projects will be carried out over a year in their respective countries.