Global Project: WVoice
Lead: Seoul National University Global Maternal and Child Oral Health Center & McGill University, Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences
Timeline: 2025-2027
Funding needed: $50,000 (seed funding)
WVoice: Global Women's Oral Health Leadership Program
The Challenge: Despite women comprising 70% of the global health workforce, they hold only 25% of leadership positions in healthcare. Meanwhile, oral health remains a neglected global public health priority, with the burden of oral diseases exceeding all five major non-communicable diseases combined.
The Innovation: WVoice introduces a unique triangular mentorship model connecting three key players: senior women oral health professionals (15+ years experience), junior professionals or dental students (≤5 years experience), and women community members from the communities they plan to serve. Each triangular team operates through an interactive mentor-mentee relationship where community voices are meaningfully incorporated into all aspects of research and program development.
The Program: Teams participate in a one-year journey starting with an intensive week-long training at either Seoul National University or McGill University, followed by 11 months of virtual collaboration. During this time, teams develop context-specific community projects, conduct research studies with appropriate ethics approvals, and create sustainable oral health improvements. Each team receives a $5,000 startup fund plus travel support.
What makes this work? The program's success lies in its recognition that leadership doesn't exist in a vacuum—it requires supportive ecosystems. By centering community voices and creating reciprocal learning relationships where each team member plays both mentor and mentee roles, WVoice develops authentic change agents rather than traditional top-down leaders.
The Impact: Through this model, WVoice aims to develop a global community of practice where women oral health professionals can connect, collaborate, and catalyze meaningful improvements in oral health as clinicians, policymakers, researchers, and public health advocates. The program addresses both leadership and oral health disparities through a public health perspective that brings mentorship where the next change agents are.
What's Next? The first pilot cohort of three triangular teams launches with comprehensive research evaluation using validated mentorship assessment tools and qualitative interviews. Success metrics will demonstrate both enhanced women's leadership capabilities and measurable community oral health improvements. Future expansion will scale the model globally, creating an interconnected network of women change agents transforming oral health worldwide.