Fall 2025 Winner of the Hope for Humanity Scholarship
Lauren Forney
A firm believer that health information should be accessible to everyone, Lauren has made it her goal to advocate for others. Lauren plans to become a physician so she can continue her mission. Congratulations, Lauren, we cannot wait to see the impacts of our work!
Read her essay:
I will never forget the moment a woman walked up to the Learn2Derm booth at a community fair in Washington, D.C., where I was volunteering. We were there to educate people about dermatological health, especially in underserved communities. As I talked about the importance of skin checks, she leaned in and said, “I did not know Black people could get skin cancer.”
That moment stuck with me. Not because it surprised me but because it reminded me why I am doing this work in the first place. Health information should be accessible to everyone, and yet so many people are left out of the conversation.
I am a rising senior at Spelman College majoring in Health Science on the pre-medical track. But long before I started college, I understood what it meant to serve others. I was raised by parents who are educators and community leaders. At the age of twelve, I started my own nonprofit, Lauren’s Community Service Academy, to help raise up the next generation of servant leaders. Through that work, I have organized food drives donating over 32,000 canned goods over the past twelve years to stock the shelves of local food pantries, hosted a card-writing campaign for seniors during the pandemic, and raised money for families who lost everything during Hurricane Harvey.
I have also advocated for police reform and supported the passing of the Crown Act in Texas, standing alongside my community on Capitol Hill to fight against discrimination. Each project taught me how closely connected basic needs are to access, respect, and human dignity. research with Morehouse School of Medicine and explored health disparities through a public health research internship at the United States Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. I am currently working with MobilizeGreen, supporting environmental nonprofit organizations to better understand how environmental injustice is tied to public health.
Through all of this, one thing has become clear: this is not just a career path for me. This is personal. I see the gaps. I have heard the stories. I have looked into the eyes of people who did not know they deserved better care, better answers, and better support.
In the future, I plan to become a physician possibly in dermatology or gynecology so I can not only treat patients but also advocate for them. I want to lead programs that bring health education directly into communities and build partnerships with nonprofits that are already doing the work on the ground.
Receiving the Hope for Humanity Scholarship would help me continue closing the gaps I saw at the community fair in Washington, D.C. Like the woman who did not know Black people could get skin cancer, many still lack vital health information. I am committed to bringing care and education to those who need it most, one person at a time.
