Meet Akshiti Reddy Gundala, Aniruddh Subramanian, Rebecca Thomas | Nightingale Executive Board Leaders

We had the good fortune of connecting with Akshiti Reddy Gundala, Aniruddh Subramanian, Rebecca Thomas and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Akshiti Reddy Gundala, Aniruddh Subramanian, Rebecca Thomas, how does your business help the community?
Today, healthcare remains one of the biggest challenges many people face in the United States. Millions of Americans are denied fair and affordable care, with the costs for essential procedures skyrocketing to insane levels. Our mission is to fight for equity in health policy by actively breaking down these barriers, ensuring that every person regardless of their income, race, or gender, has the opportunity to live a healthy life. We recognize that access to quality healthcare extends far beyond clinical settings as it is greatly under the influence of legislation and socioeconomic inequities. Our mission is to advocate for individuals in underserved and marginalized communities who often face barriers to essential care and representation.

Nightingale Advocacy unites students and professionals from healthcare and legal disciplines to create evidence-based approaches to reform through collaborative initiatives. We take part in community outreach, policy research, and fundraising, which are all designed to give more awareness to health disparities and help us take our first step towards achieving the actionable change that we want. Our organization creates a healthcare system where compassion and equality become two of the most defining parts of the standard of care by increasing the voices that have gone underrepresented years prior.

What serves as our motivation to advocate for better healthcare policies is knowing that the policy decisions which are made within the government offices ultimately will become things that directly impact people and families. With these policies in place, the people who we have known for years could be struggling to access medication or afford the treatments that they need to get better. We are leading this organization in hope that by educating communities across our nation, we will be able to write our own future where healthcare is a birthright rather than a privilege.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Nightingale Advocacy was formed in 2022 by Harsh Singh and Aditi Singh in reaction to the historic overturning of Roe v. Wade, where the Supreme Court eliminated a women’s constitutional right to variety of issues, which includes partnering with huge organizations such as Planned Parenthood (a nationwide organization providing reproductive healthcare to a wide range of people), and last year, fundraising for Generation Patient (an organization that helps young adults living with debilitating chronic illnesses).

Just recently our advocacy has spoken on the ongoing threats to social security and Medicare that can affect millions of individuals from gaining proper healthcare and as the future of the United States, our words matter. Our journey to reaching where we are right now was not linear and extremely challenging when considering our current political climate. In fact, many of the challenges that we faced had to do with hesitance from the advisory board of different schools when it came to starting a chapter for an organization that is very committed to making political change, and that too, starting with the voices of our generation. These obstacles were faced with many discussions with different schools to advocate for our organization, and along the way, we have learned how change begins with understanding and realized that bridging the worlds of medicine and law requires not only knowledge, but persistence. Through our combined past two fundraisers, we have raised over $20,000 for two organizations: Planned Parenthood and Generation Patient while our political email campaigns have cumulatively sent out over 36K+ emails to political leaders about various policy issues.

Our work has taught us the importance of approaching advocacy with both compassion and evidence, and using data to guide our efforts while never losing sight of the individuals behind the statistics. We’ve also learned that progress takes time because while structural inequities cannot be dismantled overnight, advocacy that is well informed of the problems in our society today can lead to momentum toward justice. Most importantly, Nightingale Advocacy has shown us that leadership in healthcare can take form in places other than the typical hospital setting that most think of. It presents itself in the policies we impact, the awareness we spread, and the communities we ultimately change. We want the world to know that anyone can make a change in the world no matter how little they think it is. If more people can recognize this, our country will have a more active society that focuses on what our citizens truly desire.

One thing that sets us apart from other organizations is that we are entirely youth driven. Many people underestimate what students can accomplish but we all have seen firsthand how much of an impact young advocates can make when given the opportunity to. We are also extremely proud of creating a community where students across our nation can work together towards a shared goal regardless of whether they are interested in healthcare, law, public policy, social justice, national finance, etc. Now that we are taking a look back at the past few years, something that we are realizing is that most of our meaningful accomplishments came from multiple months of us staying committed to our plans.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Food:
Uchi: It’s perfect if you’re looking to try something unique like their original take on sushi and crispy brussels sprouts.
Taverna: Cozy and elegant, which makes it a great spot for hanging out with friends for exploring Italian dishes. The atmosphere here is super friendly and relaxed, so it’s very ideal for a dinner with friends!

Cafe’s/Drinks:
Sylvan Thirty: A gem! This is an awesome spot if you’re after something with a laid-back vibe. You can grab a coffee or just hang out in their backyard area. Perfect for a casual, low-key outing.
Sugar and Sage Bakery: A sweet spot (pun intended) for baked goods. If you’re a fan of cakes, pastries, or any sweets in general, this bakery is definitely worth a visit. The cinnamon rolls here are incredible!

Visiting Places:
The Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden: Perfect for a peaceful stroll through beautiful gardens, and if you’re into nature, this is a must-visit.
Perot Museum of Nature and Science: This is a cool museum with interactive exhibits and is great for a day out if you’re into science and tech.

Hang Out Spots:
Bishop Arts District: It’s one of the coolest neighborhoods for hanging out. Full of quirky shops and restaurants.
Trinity Groves: It overlooks the skyline and you can walk along the bridge for a great view.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We would like to dedicate this shoutout to our generation of students and young professionals who are becoming more and more willing to speak up about the issues they care about. Whether it’s healthcare, education, politics, climate change, or social justice, more people our age are realizing that the power that even a single voice holds matters. A lot of what inspired Nightingale Advocacy actually came from seeing students partake in discussions that many people assume young adults do not care about. Our generation today has access to platforms that allow us to raise awareness faster than ever, and that also comes with responsibility. The smallest of actions, like educating others, initiating discussions, contacting policy makers, or supporting causes that an individual believes in, can cause the greatest of impacts.

We also want to recognize the mentors, teachers, healthcare professionals, attorneys, politicians, and community leaders who took the time to encourage us to keep going when we were first starting out this organization three years ago. Many of them have repeatedly conveyed to us that impactful advocacy isn’t just about always having all the answers to all the questions but also about being willing to understand the pressing problems and act upon them. We strongly believe that this generation’s youth deserves more credit for speaking up and paving the path for their own futures instead of just accepting what is already there.

Website: https://nightingaleadvocacy.net/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nightingaleadvocacy/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nightingaleadvocacy