Congratulations to the 2015 Maximize Life Essay Contest Winners!

Congratulations to the 2015 Maximize Life Essay Contest Winners!

Essay winners Saliou Diop, P. Sangeetha and Jozina Pacheco Gómez.
Essay winners Saliou Diop, P. Sangeetha and Jozina Pacheco Gómez.

Have you visited the 2015 Maximize Life Essay Contest webpage recently? The Max Foundation is honored to share that the 2015 Maximize Life Essay Contest winners are officially released! Three winners in total, one for each of the French, English and Spanish categories, were selected by a panel of highly esteemed judges within the global health community. You may view the complete panel of judges here. We are exceedingly grateful for the valuable time and input provided by each of the judges. With 71 meaningful and authentic personal stories submitted, it was no small task to select only one winner for each language category!

We are also overwhelmingly grateful and proud of the 71 brave individuals who came forward to share about their personal journey with cancer. While we may feel from time to time as though we don’t have enough power to affect change as broadly as we might like, we all come armed with our story, and when it comes to inspiring others with hope, understanding and compassion our stories are powerful tools indeed.

So, without further ado, the 2015 Maximize Life Essay Contest winners are:

  • French-Language Winner: Saliou Diop, Survivor, Senegal
  • English-Language Winner: P. Sangeetha, Caregiver, India
  • Spanish-Language Winner: Jozina Pacheco Gómez, Survivor, Peru

In addition to each winner receiving a US$300 grant, The Max Foundation is also providing a US$500 grant to the Max Global Network partner organization of each winner’s choice in an effort to strengthen the work that they are doing within their communities to better support people living with cancer. The following partners were selected by the three winners to receive the grant:

  • A.G.I.L du Sénégal, Senegal (French-Language Winner)
  • Friends of Max, India (English-Language Winner)
  • Esperantra, Peru (Spanish-Language Winner)
  • Congratulations to the winners and partner group awardees! And congratulations to all of the storytellers shared their personal journey. Your words will continue to inspire and bring hope to all who read them.

Browse essays from this year’s essay collection.

The Max Foundation is a leading global health nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating health equity. For 28 years, Max has pioneered practical, scalable, high-quality solutions to bring life-extending treatments and patient-centered health care to more than 100,000 people living with cancer and critical illness in low- and middle-income countries. Max believes in a world where all people can access high-impact medicines, where geography is not destiny, and where everyone can strive for health with dignity and with hope.

Related Articles

  • A Partnership Bound by Mission, Innovation, and History

    A Partnership Bound by Mission, Innovation, and History

    At The Max Foundation, we believe in the power of individuals to make a difference, especially when it comes to health equity. Over the years, we’ve been privileged to work alongside some amazing people in both the public and private sectors – people who have moved mountains to help patients around the world face cancer with dignity and hope. We also believe in working closely with organizations whose mission and values align with our own. 

  • The Maximize Life Campaign: Africa and Middle East

    This year, like past years, 16 patient support groups in Africa and Middle East have joined the Maximize Life Campaign with enthusiasm and excitement. All the groups in Africa welcome back our friends from Sierra Leone who inspired us all with their resilience in the face of the Ebola epidemic that touched their country.

  • Fiorella’s Story

    Fiorella’s Story

    Meet Fiorella from Chiclayo, Peru. With determination, a positive attitude, and support from her husband and parents, she’s been successfully managing her chronic myeloid leukemia for 20 years now. She’s also been able to start a family of her own. Fiorella’s story shows the power of the human spirit and the importance of providing access….