Our Story
Driven by the barriers presented to students during the shift to online learning during the Covid-19 Pandemic, Co-Founders Alejandra Bahena and Alexia Childress joined forces. They founded the first National Pre-Health Conference, uniting students from underrepresented backgrounds in healthcare and providing access to resources and mentorship.
Alejandra Bahena, Co-Founder
As a low-income student who experienced a variety of obstacles during the COVID-19 pandemic, Alejandra Bahena envisioned an event that would bring together students around the nation, particularly individuals from underrepresented and underserved background in healthcare, and provide them with access to a network of healthcare professionals and free academic resources.
Throughout her journey as a pre-health student at the University of Pennsylvania, Alejandra learned the power of education in furthering life opportunities and the role that mentors play in supporting students to achieve success in their respective careers. Alejandra believed that the shift to online education prevented many students from accessing such resources that would otherwise be available to them during a traditional school year. Therefore, Alejandra saw the need for a virtual event that would provide students with access to expert advice about navigating healthcare careers, while also teaching them about resilience in the face of adversity.
On June 19th, 2020, Alejandra reached out to a group of close friends and presented her ideas for the event. After the initial meeting, Alexia Childress demonstrated an immense interest in the event and, over the next two months, Alexia and Alejandra worked together tirelessly with the rest of the leadership team to organize the inaugural conference of 2020.
Alexia Childress, Co-Founder and CEO
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Alexia Childress was studying abroad in Switzerland working on a cancer research project at the University of Geneva. Her research was cut short six months as a result of the pandemic, leading to the cancellation of multiple networking and event opportunities that would have majorly impacted her career. Upon returning home, Alexia felt hopeless in finding other programs online. Therefore, when Alejandra came to her with this extraordinary idea to unite and empower pre-health students during this time of uncertainty, she could not resist the opportunity.
Alexia worked as an event planner for over 3000 honors students at Arizona State University, planning large-scale community service events to promote personal and professional growth. Due to her success, she was selected to represent her honors college at the National Collegiate Honors Council conference where she shared her expertise in event planning.
Alexia's skills in event coordination combined with Alejandra's vision gave rise to the National Pre-Health Conference, a free and online event for anyone interested in a career in healthcare. We wanted to expand our organization from one single event each year to a thriving community of students all year round as the National Pre-Health Community. Alexia is honored to be a part of such an innovative and inspirational organization that supports the future careers of pre-health students around the globe.
Alejandra Bahena and Alexia Childress were very involved in the Celebration community throughout their high school years. They served as youth group leaders at the Community Presbyterian Church of Celebration and were part of the cross country and soccer team at Celebration High School.
After they graduated from Celebration High School they moved to different states to attend college. Alejandra moved to Pennsylvania and Alexia to Arizona. Both of them thrived at their respective universities and continued to develop their leadership and professional skills by participating in research, leading clubs, serving their community and pursuing their dream of working in the healthcare field.