A Star Student Whose Compassion Is Changing The Way We Heal

RYE BROOK , NY — While still in high school, this Rye Brook Star Student's achievements as a social entrepreneur have helped change healthcare in the Hudson Valley for the better, and that's just the start.

Star Students are found in classrooms, on concert and theater stages and at debate lecterns, and out in the community doing good things to make life better for all of us.

Here at Patch, we've launched an initiative to help recognize Star Students, and we’re working to tell the stories of these outstanding kids to their neighbors.

This submission comes from Ken Greenspan who nominated Jonah of Rye Brook, New York.

Star local student’s name

Jonah

What grade is your star local student in?

12th Grade

How do you know the star local student?

I have seen first-hand the impact in our local community (and indeed throughout NY State and the nation) that Jonah has made through his leadership in founding and building the leading Health Equity organization bringing access and improved health outcomes, particularly to traditionally marginalized and under-represented communities.

Why do you believe the star local student should be recognized?

Jonah's accomplishments run deep as a longtime social entrepreneur. With a longtime passion for and leadership in advancing health equity, Jonah founded the local (and now national) organization Strong Heroes, Inc. (https://strongheroes.org/) to develop innovative products, programs and services designed to increase health equity for individuals and communities that historically have been underrepresented. Included below are examples of specific accomplishments, achievements and tangible measures of growth. Please note, however, that this is not intended to be an exhaustive list, but rather they are several examples that are representative of the broad range of achievements accomplished by Jonah as CEO of Strong Heroes, Inc., which highlight Jonah’s leadership as a changemaker and, most importantly, underscore how such accomplishments have led directly to improving the human condition in our Rye Brook, Westchester Country, New York State, and broader communities:

CHILDREN’S HEALTH EQUITY:

Health discrepancies and inequalities that exist for children have the potential to stay with them throughout their lives. By contrast, ensuring health equity for children, so they have strong access to health literacy, resources and outcomes, puts their lives on a positive health and wellness trajectory, leading to short-term and long-term enhancements in their quality of life.

Under Jonah’s leadership, Strong Heroes developed and launched innovative HealthTech solutions that enable Children’s Hospitals to reshape the ways and extent to which children in hospitals can speed their time to "cure and endure," engaging with books, toys, games, videos and other items to brighten their days recovering amid their often very difficult hospital stays. This technology has helped transform and modernize the means by which Children’s Hospitals can seek and secure the funding, resources and donations they need to treat, remedy and uplift their young patients.

Products and Resources for Disproportionately Underrepresented Pediatric Hospital Patients:

Strong Heroes, Inc., under Jonah’s effective and impactful stewardship as CEO, has provided Children’s Hospitals over 80,000 toys, books, games and other resources for pediatric hospital patients to improve their medical recoveries. --- 500+ Volunteers and Donors: Since the company’s inception, Strong Heroes has secured volunteer service and monetary donations for Children’s Hospitals from over 500 individuals, which has been driving material and impactful health equity outcomes for local and regional hospitals and medical centers.

1,100+ Hours of Volunteer Time:

Time is among one’s most valuable and precious resources and, therefore, the ability of Strong Heroes to secure over 1,100 hours of time from volunteers to serve pediatric patients who disproportionately come from underserved populations has been no small feat. This is an important measure of growth for a few reasons. First, the number of volunteers that Strong Heroes has effectively placed has increased steadily each year. Second, volunteer services enable Strong Heroes to significantly expand its reach into our Westchester community, as well as more broadly throughout New York and the United States. This broader footprint propels even greater health equity outcomes by reducing health inequities within more communities that historically have lacked the access and resources necessary for maximizing health outcomes.

HEALTH JUSTICE:

Health Justice is a core pillar within the health equity space. With social justice relating to the concept of equality and human rights, social justice applied within the health and medical fields (i.e. health justice) boosts the likelihood that all individuals and families can achieve optimal health outcomes.

Tangible Achievements:

Strong Heroes, Inc. developed and launched a HealthTech solution to support Health Justice education and outcomes. Specifically, under Jonah’s leadership as the Strong Heroes CEO, the company provides the information technology and equipment for educational institutions to teach health justice, as well as to facilitate improved outcomes for currently or previously incarcerated individuals to enhance their health literacy and wellness outcomes.

Strong Heroes Partnered with New York Medical College to Drive Enhanced Health Justice:

One example of Jonah Bassuk’s achievement in this area is his partnership with New York Medical College in which Strong Heroes provides the computer laptops that enabled a collaborative health equity program between medical students and incarcerated individuals from Westchester County Jail using an "Inside-Out" program model. This model has been effective in fostering relationships between students and incarcerated individuals to cultivate mutual understanding and enrich communication related to health and wellness. --- The Strong Heroes information technology equipment helps students and health justice participants examine and deconstruct healthcare disparities suffered by justice-involved individuals, as well as analyze when and how healthcare is traditionally provided to incarcerated individuals. --- Specific measures of success highlighting the extent of Jonah’s achievements in this area include:

• Strong Heroes, Inc. provided IT products necessary for enabling this innovative and effective Health Justice Program.
• Several students and incarcerated individuals in the Program gained unique and literally life-altering education and learnings from each other about the attributes of healthy lifestyles and the role of personal advocacy in healthcare.
• Key outcomes for this population segment have included (i) a reduction in healthcare disparities, (ii) enhanced health literacy, (iii) tools for improved self-advocacy, and (iv) empowerment to individuals and families from these communities to improve their health conditions.

Moreover, policy outcomes also have included advocacy and legislation for improvements in the complex interrelationships among the social, economic and political stakeholders both outside and within the carceral system.

STRONG HEROES SCHOLARSHIPS FOR UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS TO INCREASE DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION IN THE HEALTH AND MEDICAL FIELDS – "EXPANDING & DIVERSIFYING THE PIPELINE"

Underrepresented racial, ethnic and economically marginalized populations historically are more sparce within the health and medical fields. This under-representation is one of the primary influencers of health disparities among these populations. Providers from historically underrepresented communities are more likely to possess the experience and cultural competence required to best understand and address the needs of patients comprising these underserved populations. Moreover, a diverse health and medical workforce has been proven to result in greater patient engagement, satisfaction, and overall health outcomes.

Under Jonah’s leadership at Strong Heroes, Inc., the company has successfully been addressing this issue, and continues to expand its "diversity pipeline" products and services through unique consulting to organizations, as well as by offering scholarships that enable students from underrepresented communities to secure jobs, internships, and shadowing experiences to which they otherwise would not have access, thereby increasing the pool and pipeline of health and medical professionals throughout the field.

Tangible Achievements:

Scholarships Awarded to Provide Otherwise Unattainable Jobs, Internships and Shadowing Opportunities for Historically Marginalized Populations: Strong Heroes has provided numerous scholarships to students from underrepresented populations, enabling real-world, hands-on experience in the healthcare and medical professions, without which these individuals would not have such access and exposures and, therefore, would otherwise have few opportunities to successfully secure jobs in the health and medical fields. --- One of many examples: The 2023 Strong Heroes Health Equity Scholarships were awarded in January 2023 to college students interested in pursuing healthcare and medical professions. For example, 2023 Strong Heroes Health Equity Scholars gained access to participate in the Cleveland Clinic’s 5th Annual Congenital Heart Summit, which provided the students with first-of-its-kind shadowing, networking, and educational experience, all in support of increasing the pipeline and fostering greater representation of individuals (who would not otherwise have the means and resources to do so) in the healthcare and medical professions. The 2024 Strong Heroes Health Equity Scholarships awarded have been similarly impactful.

Over 100 Health Equity Volunteers:

Jonah has long been very passionate about volunteerism in spreading the efficacy of a diverse health and medical care workforce. Along those lines, Strong Heroes has created and supported over 100 volunteer opportunities in which individuals gain first-time exposure and experience focused on improving health outcomes for historically underrepresented populations.

ADVANCING HEALTH LITERACY:

As CEO of Strong Heroes, Jonah also has developed and spearheaded a range of Health Literacy products and services. The company also has partnered with leading universities to engage in Health Literacy research focused on identifying best practices for enhancing health literacy so that individuals, particularly from historically marginalized populations, can understand and access better health and wellness resources.

The above represent just some of the many examples of specific accomplishments, achievements and tangible measures of growth Jonah has achieved as a leader in the Health Equity space, as well as in leading Strong Heroes, Inc. While not intended to be an exhaustive list, they are representative of the broad range of achievements accomplished by Jonah as CEO of Strong Heroes, and highlight Jonah’s leadership as a changemaker and underscore how such accomplishments have improved the human condition for individuals locally in Rye Brook and Westchester County, as well as more broadly throught New York and the U.S.

CONCLUSION:

What Makes Jonah Bassuk Suitable to be Selected for this Honor? Jonah is a changemaker and a longtime social entrepreneur, all at a relatively young age. While leading Strong Heroes, Jonah also has harnessed the powerful force of working with other businesses, government agencies, non-profits, academia, and the community at large to drive products, services and new innovations for historically underrepresented and marginalized individuals, to maximize the potential of the corporate and social sectors to create real and scalable impact for those individuals and communities. Jonah measures himself and Strong Heroes by tangible and quantifiable metrics, some of which are included in this nomination. It is important to also note the qualitative factors and “intangibles” that also set Jonah apart from other young students. Jonah’s character is another key factor underscoring his suitability to be selected for this honor. Specifically, Jonah embodies and lives by the highest integrity, while also personifying and leading his colleagues with the virtues of deep respect, teamwork, innovation, trustworthiness, rigor and full transparency. I give the highest possible recommendation for Jonah to be bestowed this honor.

What's one thing you want everyone to know about the star local student?

One thing everyone should know about Jonah Bassuk is the tangible impact he has had on his community. While many people talk about wanting to make an impact, Jonah rolls up his sleeves and works tirelessly to improve the human condition by problem solving on a local basis. Knowing that each locality experiences their own respective challenges, particularly in the area of health equity, Jonah and the leadership team he recruited to help manage and scale the Strong Heroes organization, look to reduce and eliminate barriers to strong and equitable health outcomes in local communities throughout Westchester and beyond. In short, Jonah is a changemaker with grit, perseverance, and driving determination to have a positive impact.

Congratulations on your achievements, and all of our best wishes to you in the future, Jonah!

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