How Boost uses its community to
create value before, during, and after
its fellowship programme

The community challenge

Sabin partnered with Hivebrite to build Boost—a global community that enables immunization professionals to connect with peers and experts and learn skills to advance their careers.

Courses are a critical component of Boost’s value proposition. However, the increased popularity of virtual events and training in recent years has led to an oversaturation. Consequently, the Boost team (and Community Managers in general) must now work harder 
 to create unique and engaging virtual session experiences to grab and maintain attendees’ attention.

The Hivebrite solution

In 2022, Boost partnered with WHO to create a fellowship program for national and subnational immunization staff to support them as they plan and implement activities to recover and strengthen their countries’ immunization programs. The program was organized using Hivebrite’s platform. A public page was created to promote the fellowship program. Once registered, participants were signed up for the Boost community and added to a group dedicated to the program and given access to the benefits of the wider community.



Participants could exchange and get to know other participants during the course session runup and after. The program offered a learning engagement series. Participants were encouraged to ask and answer questions live throughout each course session to drive engagement in the community. The team also created specific forum discussions within the community to keep questions and engagement going after each session. 



The team built anticipation for each pre-course session by sending invites, reminders, and session news—a powerful tactic in combating live engagement attrition. The team centralized all course communication through Hivebrite’s Communication Module. Post-course session, the team shared all the session recordings via email and the community’s resource center. In parallel with the live sessions, a mentor program was created to enhance the training’s impact further and support attendees’ professional development. Program participants can exchange knowledge and experiences, learn new skills, and provide guidance to help others achieve their ambitions.

The outcome

Over 500 participants attended the fellowship program on a regular basis, with 638 actively joining the dedicated fellowship group on the Boost platform. As a result of the program, the community grew by 16%. Community engagement steadily increased throughout the program, averaging at a 7% increase every month. With Hivebrite’s platform, Boost could engage attendees before and during the fellowship program and sustain program-related engagement well after the training ended. The Boost team can build on and leverage this sub-community dedicated to the training every year to increase the impact and reach of future editions and other live engagements and courses.