February 25, 2013: A letter from Dr. Quick, Board Chair, GHC  

 The new GHC Board of Directors, whom were elected last December, met February 13 and 14 to take initial steps toward re-establishing GHC as a leading voice for global health. We are looking forward to working with you, the members, to reimage and revitalize the organization with a commitment to advocacy, transparency, and responsiveness to all. Following each board meeting, minutes will be posted within one week on the GHC website.

These times call for the kind of leadership in which a reinvigorated GHC can provide. The impact of global health investments is visible in countries around the world yet fiscal challenges threaten to squander the enormous potential. GHC not only recognizes the need for tangible progress in critical health areas, we also focus on cross-cutting issues such as health diplomacy and protecting and expanding resources for the entire global health portfolio.

Over the next six months the board will seek input from members to develop strategic priorities. We intend to take steps to re-establish a vibrant GHC. As we develop our new mission and priorities, the board is embarking on an initial set of actions for the coming weeks that includes:

• Jump starting education and advocacy activities with the Administration and Capitol Hill. This work will provide opportunities for GHC members to engage on policy and funding issues, with support from a leading Washington, D.C. policy and advocacy consulting group.
• Co-sponsoring the Global Health Traveling Experience during Global Health week on March 4 and 5 in Washington, D.C. with strategic alliance partner, Washington Global Health Alliance. Learn more at www.wghalliance.org.
• Partnering with the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) on their March 14-16 Washington, DC conference. GHC members can receive a one-day special rate of $200 on March 14. At the event, GHC is hosting an exciting panel entitled Forging Strong Relationships between Faith and Secular Global Health Programs at 4:30 pm. More information at www.cugh.org.
• Also at CUGH on March 14, at 6:30 pm following the GHC panel, we will host a special meet and greet with the GHC Board and members that are registered for the event. We invite all GHC members and interested parties to come discuss year one priorities and engage in an open dialogue.
• Representation at the World Health Assembly, May 20-25, in Geneva, Switzerland. More details will be announced as available.
• Initiating a monthly e-mail update and ongoing social media communications to keep our members up to date on news in the field and the ongoing activities of the organization.

 
Within the next several months we will host a virtual community town hall meeting for GHC members and others to discuss global health issues and priorities for the new GHC. If you have any further questions or would like to lean more, we invite you to call GHC's Secretariat Ann Canela, at (202-368-1353), or via e-mail (ann.canela@charity.org), or you may contact any of the Board members through the GHC Secretariat. We look forward to our work together over the coming years.

With warmest wishes on behalf of the GHC Board of Directors,

December 22, 2012: New Board of Directors Elected  

Certification of the 2012 Global Health Council Board of Directors Election

For the election of Global Health Council’s Board of Directors:

The published response deadline was December 19, 2012. At the close of the election, 137 ballots were received. Of these, 136 were electronic responses, 1 was received via email, 15 were disqualified due to duplication or lack of validation.

The 122 valid ballots received exceeded the quorum of 10% of the January 1, 2012 voting member population of 966.

Of the valid ballots received, the following is the tally for the top 15 of the 21 proposed candidates placed on the ballot to fill 15 seats on the Board of Directors:

All terms expire December 31, 2015

Certified by: Christopher Gibbs 12/19/2012

November 3, 2012: Extension of Board Nomination Period

Dear Global Health Council Members,

Due to the disruptions caused by Hurricane Sandy, we are extending the deadline for nomination submissions for the Board of Directors for the renewed Global Health Council to 11:59PM EST November 19, 2012.

We would appreciate your assistance in identifying one or more outstanding individuals suitable for election to the Board. The term is up to three years and requires active participation and attendance at three meetings per year. Key responsibility includes providing oversight and policy direction to the organization and support for fundraising efforts. The individual should also carry considerable respect and credibility within the community of global health professionals, and have solid strategic sense to inform and guide the Council's directions. Ideally, they would help to connect the Council to other relevant networks. There is no compensation for Board participation.

Nominations should be sent to Christopher Gibbs at membership@globalhealth.org.

Please remember to include a one or two paragraph biography along with your principal reasons for recommending this individual, addressing their particular area of expertise that will be most beneficial for moving the Global Health Council forward. Biographies and expertise are required for nomination consideration.

All members are encouraged to nominate a candidate for the Board, only individual members can vote on the final candidates. Associate members are not eligible to vote.

Sincerely,

Board of Directors
Global Health Council

The BoardSource Ten Basic Responsibilities of Board Members

(Board Source, formerly National Center for Nonprofit Boards - November, 2002)

1. Determine the organization's mission and purpose. It is the board's responsibility to create and review a statement of mission and purpose that articulates the organization's goals, means, and primary constituents served.

2. Select the chief executive. Boards must reach consensus on the chief executive's responsibilities and undertake a careful search to find the most qualified individual for the position.

3. Provide proper financial oversight. The board must assist in developing the annual budget and ensuring that proper financial controls are in place.

4. Ensure adequate resources. One of the board's foremost responsibilities is to provide adequate resources for the organization to fulfill its mission

5. Ensure legal and ethical integrity and maintain accountability. The board is ultimately responsible for ensuring adherence to legal standards and ethical norms.

6. Ensure effective organizational planning. Boards must actively participate in an overall planning process and assist in implementation and monitoring the plan's goals.

7. Recruit and orient new board members and assess board performance. All boards have a responsibility to articulate prerequisites for candidates, orient new members, and periodically and comprehensively evaluate its own performance.

8. Enhance the organization's public standing. The board should clearly articulate the organization's mission, accomplishments, and goals to the public and garner support from the community.

9. Determine, monitor, and strengthen the organization's programs and services. The board's responsibility is to determine which programs are consistent with the organization's mission and to monitor their effectiveness.

10. Support the chief executive and assess his or her performance. The board should ensure that the chief executive has the moral and professional support he or she needs to further the goals of the organization.

October 17: New Announcement from the Board of Directors

Dear Global Health Council Members,

We want to share some exciting and encouraging news regarding the future of the Global Health Council. As you are aware from previous GHC communications, a group of members (collectively called IMG, Interested Members of the Global Health Council) organized an open consultative process to explore options for a renewed GHC. You will find the conclusions of this process in “The Case for a new Global Health Coalition”. As you will see from this document, among the options they considered, the best approach was judged to be rebuilding from the existing GHC non-profit structure.

The first step in moving forward is to elect a new Board of Directors. Within the coming days, we will be seeking nominations to the Board. This will be an active, unpaid Board, with substantial time commitments, networking, membership development and fundraising responsibilities. Particularly during the first year, Board members will be required to participate in several meetings, develop fundraising strategies and materials, and play a role in leading the organization.

The nomination materials will include information to be provided by each potential candidate. Candidates who have successfully completed the nomination process will be forwarded to the membership for a vote.

The key dates for the election of new board are:

• October 22: Formal Call for Nominations
• November 5: Nomination Period Closes
• November 19: Ballot of Board Nominees distributed to GHC members
• December 3: Voting Period Closes
• December 7: Announcement of new GHC Board of Directors

We look forward to working with you as the renewed Global Health Council takes these next steps and begins a new chapter of progress.

Sincerely,

The Board of Directors

April 20, 2012 - GLOBAL HEALTH COUNCIL TO CLOSE OPERATIONS

Board of Directors Thanks Leadership, Staff and Members for Unwavering Commitment to Global Health Mission

With deep regret, the Board of Directors of the Global Health Council (GHC) announces that the Council will close operations within the coming months. This decision about the Council’s future comes after serious deliberations about the state of global health issues, the role of the Council as a convenor and the Council’s current operating model.

GHC, formerly the National Council of International Health, is a U.S.-based, nonprofit membership organization that was created in 1972 to identify priority world health problems and to report on them to the U.S. public, legislators, international and domestic government agencies, academic institutions and the global health community. GHC is the world's largest membership alliance dedicated to saving lives by improving health throughout the world, and worked to ensure that all who strive for improvement and equity in global health have the information and resources they need to succeed.

The Global Health Council has championed issues of importance to the global health community and can point with pride to significant advances on the five key issues critical to improving health and promoting equity: women’s health; child’s health; HIV and AIDS; infectious diseases and health systems.

For the past four decades, the Council has been the neutral convening place for a diverse community of organizations, all advocating for improvement and equity in global health. The Council’s members have been its strength, working together to form broad-based coalitions to address challenges that affected us– whether advocating for increased U.S. government funding on global health or developing common positions on major health policy issues.

However, times have changed. The compelling needs that gave rise to the Global Health Council’s mission have shifted. Funding that once existed to promote a broad-based health agenda is now focused on specific health issues. The fundamental shifts in the health landscape have led the Board to revisit the relevance of the organization and determine that the Council’s current operating model is no longer sustainable.

We wish to thank our staff, leadership past and present and our members of the international community who have supported the Global Health Council for the last 40 years.

We have accomplished much together, but despite the progress we have made, millions of people, many of them children, remain without access to basic health care. Our commitment to them must not waver. Although The Global Health Council will no longer play the same role, we will continue to fight for the goals that first inspired us to action.

To offer comments of support for the Global Health Council, which may be posted online, please submit toinformation@globalhealth.org.

April 12, 2012 - Annual International Conference on Global Health Cancelled

For nearly 40 years, the Global Health Council has held its Annual International Conference on Global Health in Washington, DC. This event convenes nearly 2,000 members of the global health community to discuss critical issues and identify common ground for action.

We appreciate that during tight budget times many members need to prioritize conferences they intend to attend and/or support. The same choices would need to be made by panelists, sponsors and participants. Rather than compete with other health causes and organizations whose missions we support, the Global Health Council Board has decided to cancel our 2012 Conference.

The Global Health Council will be returning sponsorships and early registrations to those who have signed up for the conference - we will process the refunds as quickly as possible and ask for your patience. We would like to thank the organizations and individuals who have submitted abstracts for the conference, those who dedicated time to review abstracts and to the sponsors who have committed to our event.

Please direct all inquiries to membership@globalhealth.org.