Leading Locally, Fortifying Futures
In February, I shared a harrowing update about funding cuts affecting the children and families with whom we work.
Today, I write to you with renewed optimism – optimism for what is possible for our communities, optimism for our exciting path forward, and most importantly, optimism that YOU, our generous Helen Keller community, have made possible, allowing us to stand together with these very same children and families.
It is because of YOU, our generous community of supporters, partners, and champions – and Helen’s remarkable legacy – that we can be bold in times like this. Together, we have the strength and resources to help every woman, child, and family develop the tools for vibrant health.
One of my first actions as CEO was to direct an organization-wide strategic planning process. We started with the premise that our research-backed, cost-effective interventions were central to helping more families and children and that to achieve long-term, scalable impact, we would need to be even more locally connected, elevating solutions that come directly from the people and communities most at risk.
What we didn’t know when we launched this process was how different the global landscape would look just a few months later. The US government’s decision to end nearly all foreign assistance funding was not the “why” for our new strategy; instead, it reinforced the choices we needed to make.
The future of global health demands agile, responsive strategies and deep engagement with countries at greatest risk. Helen Keller is boldly stepping into this time of change with a plan to build our agility and advance innovations that will make solutions for families even more cost effective.
Our strategy: Leading Locally, Fortifying Futures will sustain our core program areas of nutrition, vision, and health, addressing some of the most persistent yet solvable public health challenges affecting families and communities who are systemically left out. Together with donors, local leaders and partners, and our committed staff, we will drive transformation in two critical high-impact areas:
First, we will improve the reach and quality of health services for underserved families in every country where Helen Keller works, with a focus on nutrition, vision, and neglected tropical diseases.
We will move the needle on arguably the most important component of health systems in nearly 20 countries: health services. For too many families, health services are inadequate or inaccessible. We will work with governments and communities to transform the experience of meeting with a healthcare to be effective, holistic, and pleasant.
This means making well-child visit more comprehensive: from vaccines to vitamins to life-saving medicines. This also means when community health workers visit their neighbors door-to-door, they will combine a dose of vitamin A with counseling about how to feed babies better.
Second, we will expand access to safe, nutritious, and fortified foods for underserved communities.
More than 1.2 billion women and 372 million children are deficient in at least one essential nutrient. Fortifying foods families already eat is a cost-effective, scalable approach to addressing hidden hunger amid rising food prices, climate shocks, and changing food systems.
Consider how, in the United States, table salt is fortified with iodine, milk with vitamin D, and even breakfast cereals have added nutrients. This helps children and families improve nutrition without changing their diets. Helen Keller will put foods fortified with life- and sight-saving nutrients into the hands of millions of people by partnering with regional and national leaders to strengthen fortification guidelines and helping producers adhere to current standards. This means staples such as flour, cooking oil, and bouillon cubes will offer an extra boost of nutrition, keeping families healthier.
Through these goals, we will build toward our vision: a world where every person can live a healthy life filled with potential.
This strategy harnesses what Helen Keller does best: leverage donors’ generous philanthropy, prioritize local voices and their solutions, and deliver cost-effective, proven solutions, all while keeping children and families at the center of what we do.
Our founder was never one to back away from a challenge, and neither are we.
Thank you for standing with Helen Keller! Together, we are building a healthier world, filled with potential for millions of children and family members.
Read more about our Leading Locally, Fortifying Futures Strategy in English or French.
