FMCA Community Impact Scholarship Recipients For September 2026 Announced

Functional Medicine Coaching Academy is proud to introduce the recipients of our FMCA Community Impact Scholarships for September 2026.

We’re proud to share that three individuals have been awarded full tuition scholarships for our September 2026 Health Coach Certification Program.

This year, we received more than 600 applications, each reflecting passion, purpose, and a deep commitment to making a difference. As we reviewed them, we were inspired by the powerful stories, the dedication to community well-being, and the meaningful work already underway. Selecting just three recipients was incredibly difficult, and we are honored to recognize those whose vision and readiness to create lasting change truly stood out.

These future health coaches are expanding access to wellness in communities that have long been underserved. They are addressing gaps in care with compassion, cultural awareness, and a strong sense of purpose. Through FMCA’s training in functional health, nutrition, mind-body medicine, and behavior change, they will be prepared to deepen their reach and strengthen the impact of their work.

At FMCA, we believe that health and healing should be accessible to everyone. These three individuals reflect that mission and remind us that when we invest in people who serve others, we help build stronger and more resilient communities. We are honored to support their journey and welcome them into the FMCA community.

Meet our scholarship recipients below.

Ghadeer Garcia

Ghadeer M. Garcia is a dynamic entrepreneur, transformative leader, and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging champion with two decades of experience driving equity-centered innovation across the nonprofit, corporate, and civic sectors. As Co-Founder of Ally Lab, she guides organizations through human-centered design and cultural transformation. Known for her bold advocacy and strategic vision, Ghadeer inspires action through allyship, community engagement, and change leadership, empowering leaders to reimagine belonging and equity at every level. In her personal life, she loves throwing themed dinner parties and is the proud mother of two incredible young adults who are making their own mark on the world stage.

Ghadeer’s Community Impact:

Ghadeer’s goal is to integrate functional medicine health coaching into the communities she already serves, making this approach accessible to populations often excluded from holistic care. She envisions developing a functional wellness component within recovery programs, supporting leaders in high-stress, under-resourced environments, and offering community-based coaching through trusted spaces like Keystone.

Grounded in both personal healing experience and professional expertise, Ghadeer is focused on addressing the root causes of health challenges and designing sustainable, culturally relevant solutions that meet people where they are.

Natasha Dillahunt

Natasha Dillahunt is a Certified Advanced Postpartum Doula and Certified Lactation Counselor based in New York City, where she has spent more than a decade easing the profound transition to parenthood with caring, nonjudgmental, evidence-based support. She works with families during the Fourth Trimester, offering a blend of emotional reassurance, practical hands-on help, and guidance around rest, recovery, and newborn care so parents feel more confident and less alone. Her clients reflect the diversity of New York—BIPOC, immigrant, LGBTQ+, and multicultural families—and she is committed to providing compassionate care that honors each family’s values, traditions, and lived realities. Born in Ireland and raised with a deep respect for food and friendship as daily medicine, she weaves a functional, whole-person approach into every aspect of her work, with the goal of helping families not just survive early parenthood, but truly heal and thrive.

Natasha’s Community Impact:

Natasha hopes to expand her impact by integrating functional medicine health coaching into her existing work with families. Her goal is to provide more comprehensive, preventative support that addresses nutrition, stress, sleep, and emotional well-being, not just immediate postpartum concerns. She is especially committed to increasing access to holistic care for underserved populations and envisions developing group programs, community partnerships, and collaborative care models with functional medicine practitioners.

Ultimately, she seeks to help reshape women’s health into a more inclusive, empowering, and sustainable system that supports individuals across life stages.

Johana Castillo

Johana Castillo is a Colombian-born community herbalist, educator, and founder of Mama Tortuga LLC, a land-based healing practice rooted in South Florida and inspired by the ancestral traditions of Colombia and the Caribbean. This was her second time applying for a scholarship, having previously been a finalist.

Her work integrates medicinal plant education, somatic healing, and community wellness, with a strong emphasis on serving Latino, Caribbean, LGBTQ+, and multicultural communities that often face barriers to culturally competent care. As a bilingual practitioner, she bridges language and access gaps in the wellness space, offering both education and consultations that honor ancestral knowledge while addressing modern health challenges. Her journey into healing was deeply personal, shaped by her own experiences with chronic stress, intergenerational trauma, and navigating healthcare systems that did not reflect her identity, ultimately leading her to reconnect with plant medicine and holistic, root-cause approaches to health.

Johana’s Community Impact:

Johana aims to expand and deepen the work she is already doing by integrating functional medicine health coaching into her existing programs and services. She seeks to combine the clinical framework and credibility of functional medicine with her foundation in ancestral healing, enabling her to offer more comprehensive, culturally affirming care to underserved communities.

This scholarship not only makes FMCA’s certification financially accessible but also amplifies her ability to scale her impact, enhancing her bilingual education programs, strengthening community-based care models, and building collaborative bridges with other healthcare practitioners.

Ultimately, her goal is to grow Mama Tortuga into a sustainable, inclusive wellness hub where functional medicine and ancestral wisdom coexist to serve communities that have long been excluded from traditional healthcare systems.

Our Community Is Growing

We are thrilled to welcome Ghadeer, Natasha, and Johana to FMCA’s growing student body. As they complete our Health Coach Certification Program and become FMCA Alumni, their impact on the health and wellness of their communities will only increase.

If you’re wondering if now’s the time to start making an impact with functional medicine and health coaching, let this be your invitation to join us. Let’s break down barriers to accessible functional medicine health coaching together. Who knows, you might even see one of our three scholarship recipients in your Live Coaching Labs each week…

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