Founder

Joel Birkemeier - Founder

My journey began in 2017 when I had the privilege to spend a semester in Ghana while studying for my masters in public health. During this time I was able to connect with many people within the community of Labadi and at the University of Ghana, and experienced the rich culture, history, and extremely warm and inviting people of Ghana.

Since then, I have traveled back multiple times and recognized the need for wellness programs within the local communities. I began to wonder, why should some people, depending on where they live have limited access to various wellbeing programs like health education, physical activity programs, and school age activities. 

During the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020, I was in Ghana for over 8 months. The love, acceptance and family-like feeling that I experienced from everyone within the local community truly made me feel like it was my home.  As I became close friends with many people, I became inspired to turn my passion and inner drive to create the Global Wellness Mission alongside my friends.  It has been and will continue to be an extremely rewarding and meaningful experience to help build wellness communities in Ghana and in many other communities around the world.