Rachel Bervell is a graduate of Harvard University ('13) and a current resident physician, having graduated from the University of Illinois in Chicago (‘19).  She is passionate about service and tackling healthcare disparities. While in high school, she conducted a teddy bear collection drive and distributed more than 1,000 stuffed animals to children in hospitals, orphanages, and villages in Ghana—her parent’s home country. After watching children’s’ faces light up as they received their own toy to hug, Rachel created Hugs for Ghana which has now become Hugs for. In addition to establishing Hugs for Ghana, Rachel helps patients confront social determinants not only at work, but in various activities: she served on the March of Dimes’ National Youth Council, was a scholar in the Urban Medicine Program, part of the Patient-Centered Medicine Curriculum, and many more. She continues to lecture and provide advice to organizations on topics of health equity. She is a Gold Humanism Honor Society inductee and a 2021 recipient of the NMA’s Top Physician Under 40 Award.

Joel Bervell is a graduate of Yale University ('17) and Boston University (‘19). From a young age Joel developed a love for volunteering. Through his passion for service, Joel continued and enriched the mission of Hugs for Ghana after leadership transitioned to him. He broadened the charitable scope by implementing a school supply drive at his high school to collect basic educational necessities for Ghanaian children, in the process collecting thousands of supplies including backpacks, pencils and reading books which were hand-delivered to children at Ghanaian schools, hospitals and orphanages. Joel also introduced Culture Nights to each of the organization’s branches - a culturally infused fundraising night that has now been held for 10+ years. Joel is currently a third-year medical student at Washington State University’s Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. He continues his commitment to fighting health disparities through education and regularly shares on social media platform’s of TikTok and Instagram at @joelbervell.

Michael Bervell studied Philosophy at Harvard University (‘19) with a focus in computer science. He helped expand Hugs for Ghana by creating and implementing “Helping U Grow” or “HUG”, a branch of Hugs for Ghana dedicated to developing local initiatives. He also expanded Hugs for Ghana to Hugs for by establishing new branches around the country and growing the mission of the organization to accompany four additional countries around the world. In addition to his passion for service, he is immensely interested in business, leadership, computer science, and venture capital. He is a recently published author, having written “Unlocking Unicorns” (New Degree Press) in 2021, a book that investigates the founders, philosophies, and strategies for building a unicorn company. He has founded and leads a variety of organizations including the Enchiridion Corporation, a marketing consulting company, and Billion Dollar Startup Ideas, a media and innovation company. Michael is currently a part of Microsoft’s M12 Team and is President of the Harvard Club of Seattle.

Hugs for Ghana

2008 - 2009: 
Rachel Bervell, Candace Wanner, Elise Wolff, Michelle Kim, Abbey Blackwell

2010 - 2011:
Joel Bervell, Hyoeun Kim, Diana Bui, Vivian Zhu, Esther Kim, Jilli Davis, Mackenzie Gaddy, Juliana Jorgensen, Paul Barton, Megan Nguyen, Geena Boyce, Phillip Janaceck, Felicia Harrison, Amy Tran

2011 - 2012:
Joel Bervell, Vivian Zhu, Megan Nguyen, Ronelle Revilla, Juliana Jorgensen, Ashkan Mortazavi, Diana Bui, Felicia Harrison, Paul Barton, Phillip Janaceck, Mackenzie Gaddy, Ronelle Revilla, Liam Sosinsky, Esther Kim, Geena Boyce

2012 - 2013
Joel Bervell, Vivian Zhu, Megan Nguyen, Ronelle Revilla, Juliana Jorgensen, Ashkan Mortazavi, Paul Barton, Mackenzie Gaddy, Ronelle Revilla, Liam Sosinsky,

2013 - 2014
Michael Bervell, Lynne Onishi, Judy Chin, Bill Cho, Alex Banh, Katherine Choi, Laura Glastra, Olivia Kim, Melanie Marshall, Cherie Ruan, Anton Paras, Helen Anderson

2014 - 2015
Michael Bervell, Lynne Onishi, Alex Bahn, Allison Cantarano, Annabelle Falloria, Anton Paras, Bill Cho, Cherie Ruan, Garrett Peterson, Helen Anderson, Howard Yang, Judy Chin, Katherine Choi, Laura Glastra

2015 - 2016
Michael Yi, Tyler Bang, Komal Mand, Will Park, Jessica Bae, Chris Musoke

Hugs for Ghana (cont.)

2016 - 2017
Jessica Bae, Annette Vo, Muhammad Akbar, Corey Kim, Julia Kim

2018 - 2019
[Kamiak] Margaret Schroeder, Makena Thatcher, Gloria Lee, Angelina Karki, Jen Nguyen, Aaron Banh, Joanna Alonso

[Inglemoor] Tom Mikolyuk, Divya Akkiraju, Anna Li, Kaycie Suzuki, Nicolas Akyel

2020 - 2021

Lena Lee, Somi Kim, Emily Kim, Chris Choi, Angelina Karki, Evan Nguyen

2021 - 2022

Chris Choi, Jenny Choi, Olivia Higgins, Samantha Lewis, McKayla Vu

2022 - 2023

McKayla Vu, Jenny Choi, Zachary Boonsripisal, Madeline Graves, Zion An, Lillian Neumeister

2023 - 2024

Jenny Choi, Zion An, Natalie Elbahr, Angela Ton, Kevin Dang, Penelope Ridnour, Amrita Sengupta

2024 - 2025

Aayan Ahmed, Nihinsa Thotapolakumbura, Katie Chandrabalan, Paul Ripperger, Halima Jammeh, Irene Lee

Hugs for Tanzania

2015 - 2016
Tyler Choi

Hugs for Kenya

2016 - 2017
Alvin Makori, Sara Daugherty, Julien Lubell, Matthew Lorentz, Macie Meade, Kole Emplit, Lindsay Kastner, Anna Naci

Hugs for Sierra Leone

2017 - 2018
Michael Bervell, Ivraj Seerha, Ibrahim Syed, Katherine Emley, Jessica Li