I created I-Ally from a place of great, deep need -- not only my own need, but an enormous need I felt and heard from those like me. There are millions of us, Millennials who are now 40% more likely to be taking care of an aging parent; Millennials who now comprise over 1/3 of multi-generational family caregivers. We don't relate to the traditional messaging that is geared towards caregivers. We are different. We are younger, more diverse, and most likely providing the bulk of care all by ourselves. We need a new system.
I made I-Ally to connect us, and to empower us. If we join together, there's no end to the power that our voices have. If we join together, we prove the power we do have: we are the gatekeeper to positive patient outcomes for healthcare organizations. We are the key to the data that scientists and doctors need for research and clinical trials. We choose which vendor we use for medication management or Telehealth or life insurance.
So, this is how I see I-Ally: not just a place for us to support each other and be with people who know what we're going through; not just a place to get the best resources and information available; not just a place for us to focus on our own health and wellbeing; but also a vehicle for our own empowerment.
In solidarity,
Lucinda Koza, Founder of I-Ally
The Team
Lucinda Rogers Koza, Founder & CEO, I-Ally
After her own experience becoming her father's full-time caregiver at a young age, Lucinda's life's mission became to advocate for Millennial family caregivers. She is a member of the current TechCrunch Include Cohort, SheWorx + AWS Startups Mentorship Program 2020, All Raise Org's Visionary Voices Speakers Bureau, and the Lyfebulb Patient Entrepreneur Circle. She just received Honorable Mention in the Lyfebulb + Orexo Innovation Challenge and received Honorable Mention for Intermitten's 2020 Changemaker Award. Her writing has been published in Thought Catalog and Medium Women. Passionate about storytelling and giving voice to the voiceless, Lucinda also premiered a short film at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016.
Patrick Igwe, CTO
Patrick has been with I-Ally since its inception, volunteering his time and skill as a designer and software engineer in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He has since become Chief Technology Officer. A talented and dedicated developer, Patrick also spent years volunteering and working on urban planning in his native Nigeria. He uses his skill and passion in service of improving the lives and circumstances of those around him.
Trevor van Mierlo, Advisor
Dr. van Mierlo combines expertise in applied health economics, product strategy, and rigorous validation to shape the future of digital health. For over 20 years he has applied evidence-based behavior change strategies to consumer-facing interventions for pharmaceutical companies, behavioral health organizations, non-profits, and government agencies. He frequency serves as an advisor or co-investigator in digital health research projects funded by the Centers for Disease Control, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and other state and provincial funders.
With over 1,100 citations in academic literature, he publishes outcomes, strategies, and methods in high-impact digital health publications, and peer reviews manuscripts submitted to leading journals. Trevor is a coach at heart. When not coaching his kids’ hockey teams, he mentors founders and early-stage startups. He plays to strengths, designing insightful micro experiments to validate hypotheses and build confidence.
