Harvard's Medical School Dean's Community Service Award 2022

This past Tuesday, E-ROQ Project Inc (which is our organization's official name 501(c)3 registration name), was awarded a certificate of appreciation for our outstanding service to the community at Harvard Medical School Dean's Community Service Award 2022.

Since our foundation, our directive members have dived into new professional opportunities, founding new companies, graduating from Medical School, starting residency and fellowship opportunities, and conducting scientific research abroad.

Since 2020, our CEO, Isabel Gonzalez-Bocco, has worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at multiple Harvard Medical School (HMS) hospitals. And this year, she was nominated to receive this award among 80 other Harvard Medical School students, faculty, trainees, and staff, who are also active participants in their communities. The award is described as follows by the Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership of Harvard Medical School:

"Community service is an integral part of the missions of Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Dental Medicine. In faithfulness to this commitment, the Dean’s Community Service Award was established in 1999 to recognize individuals whose dedication and commitment to community service have made a positive impact on the local, national, or international community."

The event was held at the Gordon Hall of HMS, we received welcoming words from Dean Daley, who expressed his gratitude to the attendees for the work they conduct in their communities, inside and outside Boston. All projects were then presented by Dean Reede and upon the award recipients' reception of the recognition, brief speeches were shared about their work in the organizations. We share remarks from Isabel's speech ahead;

We work every day to even the opportunities of those who were born in remote communities of difficult access in Venezuela, where education is considered a privilege. Because the place where you were born should not limit your opportunities in life.

To say it is an honor for us to share this news would feel short, alongside us, there were amazing physician-scientists who work endlessly to solve different community issues. Just to mention a few, the projects presented aim to teach STEM to the blind with Synses Designs, collaborate with outreach programs with Indian Health Services, created a stuttering scholarship alliance, funded a cancer research and treatment program in Jamaica. For us, to be recognized among them is an honor by itself and we want to take the time to congratulate them and say we hope their impact continues to grow.

We want to thank Dean Reede and Dean Daley for the recognition, and all the staff at the Harvard Medical School Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership for selecting us as one of the 2022 recipients.