The Phoenix Project Webinar Series: Overview
Join us for The Phoenix Project Capacity-Strengthening Webinar Series, a structured series of virtual sessions to build knowledge and mobilize diverse stakeholders before the open call. Our first session, on 2 October 2025, will be an overview of current challenges for sustaining services and WHO operational guidance.
This webinar is free and open to all. Registration is required to receive the Zoom webinar link. Register to attend.
Featured Speakers
Progress Agboola
Progress Agboola is a Medical doctor and Global Health Advocate with over six years of experience designing and implementing impactful community health projects across diverse cultural settings. He has relevant experience working with local and international organizations to address health disparities and improve healthcare access for marginalized populations in Africa. As a Program Officer at Sage and Enamel Foundation (SANDEF), he has implemented community-based projects that have impacted over 5,750 individuals through medical outreaches and campaigns, reducing the burden of infectious diseases like Malaria, HIV, and COVID-19. In his role with INSPIRE, he serves as coordinator for the Engagement Core.
Yusuf Babatunde
Yusuf Babatunde is a pharmacist, human-centered design expert, and implementation researcher. He has leveraged participatory action research methodologies to co-design people-centered interventions with the target beneficiaries across multiple projects in AMR, HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, and digital health for more than 4 years across 5 countries. He has been working as an early-career researcher on several research studies in Nigeria since 2020 and has collaborated with research experts from UNC-Chapel Hill, Washington State University, LSHTM, and Saint Louis University. He has published 20 manuscripts and 2 book chapters. Based on his contributions to these projects, he was selected to receive the Diana Award in the UK. He also co-chaired a steering committee that developed a WHO/TDR Practical Guide for Designations in Health and Health Research. He has also facilitated workshops in Nigeria, Germany, Japan, Australia, and the UK through innovative methods like crowdsourcing and designathons in public health to design frameworks, policies, and interventions.
Weiming Tang
Dr. Weiming Tang is a Research Associate Professor of Medicine at UNC School of Medicine, the Co-Director of UNC Project-China, and the Advisor of SESH Global. His background training is in the field of epidemiology, with an emphasis on HIV/STI epidemiology, study design, and data analysis. His research focuses on promoting HIV/STI testing and healthy behavior change among key populations. Specifically, Dr. Tang is interested in using crowdsourcing and other participatory methods to enhance health services. In addition, he is also interested in digital health/telemedicine, especially in the evaluation of digital health. In his capacity with INSPIRE’s Engagement Core, Dr. Tang focuses on participatory modelling.
Clarice Pinto
Clarice Pinto is a passionate and dedicated international health and social development professional with over ten years of international experience supporting and managing SRHR – HIV and TB programs at clinical and community levels in the Sub-Saharan African Region. She is a senior expert advisor on adherence, psychosocial support and health promotion activities to field projects, ministries and other health agencies in SRHR – HIV and TB programs. She serves as a technical officer for differentiated service delivery for HIV Treatment for the World Health Organization.
About the Phoenix Project
The mythical phoenix, symbolizing rebirth and resilience, inspires this project’s focus on the adaptability and sustainability of HIV programs amid shifting resources and policies. As many programs in resource-constrained settings face funding cuts, policy changes, and health system integration, there is an urgent need for capacity strengthening and the sharing of best practices. The Phoenix Project offers a timely platform to surface and amplify solutions that safeguard services, minimize disruptions, and reinforce community leadership. By capturing diverse perspectives and practical strategies, the project seeks to strengthen program resilience, promote scalable and sustainable financing models, and generate evidence to guide policies and donor investments in Africa and other low-resource regions.