![Sh2022 Niyizonkiza Deo](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/a435b737-0e0c-4bdb-b89b-465dbbca62e7/SH2022_Niyizonkiza_Deo.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=62%2C36%2C706%2C707&w=290)
Deo Niyizonkiza
Founder, Village Health Works
Deogratias “Deo” Niyizonkiza, founder and CEO of Village Health Works, is a leading advocate for some of the world’s most impoverished and vulnerable people. His compassion, expertise, and lived experience have made him a key voice in global health and international development. A frequent lecturer on global health, Niyizonkiza is the recipient of multiple prestigious honors and awards, including The Carnegie Foundation of New York’s 2016 Great Immigrant: The Pride of America; the 2016 Presidential Medal: Amitiés des Peuples (Burundi); 2014 Dalai Lama Unsung Hero of Compassion Award; the 2013 People to People International's Eisenhower Medallion Award; the 2010 Women's Refugee Commission’s Voices of Courage Award; and others. Niyizonkiza has been selected as the 2022 Class Day keynote speaker at Columbia University.
Previously
![The Legacy of Paul Farmer, Global Health Champion](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/e2cd5c9a-4e40-4c19-a486-a5c397eb6629/52168851438_053e1d27b6_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=11%2C0%2C5374%2C3021&w=400)
A giant in global public health who dedicated his life to championing equity, Paul Farmer’s death in Rwanda this year at the age of 62 is a heartbreaking loss. Passionate, blu...
![Aspen Ideas Health Opening and Welcome](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/53d7ae6b-2d54-4a82-b969-eb5f7833e8e7/52166754313_6f7a89d85d_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C499%2C8256%2C4646&w=400)