Doing good together through the TED Fellows program

Former StaffTransplant News

Dr. Amy Waterman had her first introduction to TED at TED2016: Dream in Vancouver, Canada. The experience was transformational for her and she decided to take her work in transplant to a large scale, educating as many patients and living donors as possible. Since then, she has gone on to serve as a mentor in the TED Fellows program, which provides individualized feedback, guidance, skills training, and support to Fellows by matching them with a volunteer coach or mentor.

Taylor Trudon recently described the TED Fellows program in a blog post for TED and recognized the contributions of Dr. Waterman and the more than 50 other coaches and mentors who make the program possible. Each coach or mentor gives 12 hours of their time to help a young Fellow learn about developing a business model, effective public speaking, how to create a brand identity, ways to establish work/life balance, how to transition between careers or fields, and countless other practical topics.

Dr. Waterman serves as a mentor to Dr. Essam Daod, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist who co-founded Humanity Crew with his wife, Adv. Maria Jammal, in 2015. Humanity Crew is an international aid organization that provides mental health support and services to refugees in their native language. The organization has provided critical mental health services to Syrian refugees arriving in Europe, as well as outreach on rescue boats in the Mediterranean sea. Humanity Crew has trained more than 200 Arabic-speaking volunteers and offers trainings for mental health professionals and humanitarian aid workers in Greece, cultural mediation workshops, an online clinic for web-based therapy, and individual and group counseling services in refugee camps.

For Dr. Waterman, the experience of mentoring has been a gift. “I was so inspired by my mentees’ passion for his cause and excited every week to hear about the new opportunities he was receiving to speak internationally and broaden the scope of what his organization can do to help more refugees,” she said. Dr. Waterman was especially moved by the commitment of Dr. Daod and his wife to working to address the refugee crises even while starting a family and beginning the TED Fellowship. “They are true leaders in life and family.”