This week, I will be stepping down as Mali Health’s Executive Director, a role I have embraced and loved for every minute of a very full and fast last 3 and a half years. Today, I am honored to introduce to you my successor and Mali Health’s new Executive Director, Erin Kitchell.
Erin has been a part of Mali Health since 2010, when she was hired as our Programs Director, leading activities and staff on the ground during our early years. When she left to pursue a PhD in 2011, Erin joined our Board of Directors, and since then, has remained an influential member of our leadership team, helping to manage national crises in 2012, redefine our strategy in 2013, and to consult on both Board development and programmatic improvements over the last several months. In addition, as a former Peace Corps volunteer in Eastern Senegal, a Field Coordinator for a regional USAID Research Support Program, and a Consultant to the World Bank on environment, livelihoods, and economic development, Erin holds deep knowledge and experience within the field and the region that will help strengthen Mali Health’s programs, research capacities, and organizational operations for the next several years.
As significant as her contributions to the organization have been over the past several years, I know her greatest impact on Mali Health will unfold in the months and years ahead, and I’m delighted and confident in Erin’s decision to accept the role.
And for me, of course, this is bittersweet.
I have so loved serving in this role, for this organization, with this team, for this cause. Improving global health for the poorest and most vulnerable children and mothers isn’t a pipe dream. It’s possible. It’s not wishful thinking or unrooted idealism. It’s a mission, one more possible today than ever before. And it is the right thing to do, whether you’re looking through a lens of social justice, economic productivity, environmental sustainability, or national security. As Mali Health has grown across the capital city and in the interior of the country over the last years, I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished, and I hope you are too. At the same time, we’re humbled by the daunting challenges ahead, and the progress we’ve made must continue in earnest as we seek to improve strategies, strengthen policies, and change the lives of the peri-urban poor.
I can’t imagine a better team than the one I’ve had the blessed opportunity be a part of since 2012; I’m looking forward to joining and contributing to Mali Health’s dynamic Board of Directors. And I can’t imagine a better individual than Erin Kitchell, Mali Health’s new Executive Director, to lead this team and execute the strategy we have built together over the last several years.
I hope you’ll join me in welcoming Erin into the new role, and I’m thrilled to continue serving with you all as an active member of our global family, together living the message, “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.”
With gratitude, admiration, and love,
Kris
