The Okoa Project: Rebranding to Moving Health
The Okoa Project is excited to announce that as of August 24, 2021, they became Moving Health.
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Emily Young, reflects upon the decision. “Five years ago, we were a group of motivated and passionate student engineers looking to empower communities to build their own ambulances,” says Young. “We started The Okoa Project to disrupt emergency healthcare. Since then, a lot has changed. We expanded into Ghana, identified our key expertise areas, and worked with thousands of people to save lives one ride at a time. As we have become more global, we knew it was the right time to update our brand to reflect the vision of the organization. Today we announce our new name: Moving Health.”
The choice reflects the organization’s larger goal: to be at the forefront of moving health forward. Regardless of where people live, the organization believes every family should be connected to healthcare when they need it most. Moving Health creates emergency transportation systems in areas that do not have any. The intended result? Faster emergency triage improves health outcomes by getting patients to the hospital earlier.
Listening to The People
Moving Health is dedicated to taking the resources and expertise they have and using them to amplify the voices of the communities with which they work. They listen -- to traditional birth attendants and their challenges, to the health directorate and the gaps they see, to pregnant women and what they are most worried about. They have built an organization that manufactures locally, hires locally, and focuses on bringing diverse opinions to the table. With this approach, they are confident that the ambulances and systems they build actually fit the context that they are working in, and actually tackle the challenges people face every day.
The new logo reflects a global commitment to collaborative design and development. The tan and rust colors reflect the roads and landscape that they work in, a nod to Sissala East. The blues are a nod to Okoa’s old brand and the healthcare space, but lighter and more forward thinking.
History:
Since 2016, Moving Health has been redefining emergency transportation. We work in geographically neglected areas to address the health crises that these communities face every day by providing opportunities for safer, faster emergency care. Unlike other companies, our primary goal is to use human centered design to create a solution that the communities actually want--one that is more sustainable, cost effective, and reliable than alternative options. Our work fills a desperately needed gap by providing sustainable, low-cost emergency transportation in areas that do not have any. Not only do these ambulances save lives, but our intersectional approach to global health and technology allows us to capture our impact with precision and create opportunities through learning and innovation.