Humane Worlds Center January 2009

Purpose: To inspire a new generation of leaders in public health and service to create conditions under which all children and youth have the full equal opportunity to thrive in body, mind, and spirit. Background: Those of us invested in public health face local and global challenges in dealing with maternal and child mortality, violence in all forms including child abuse, obesity and other forms of malnutrition, mental illness, asthma, and many other complex issues. Our objective is to create a world more humane and equitable for women and children. To make progress, we need broad participation of many stakeholders, which requires new forms of leadership. The Humane Worlds Center for Maternal and Child Health intends to provide that leadership. The Center draws on new research that shows 1) How various forms of inequality, injustice, and stress influence health, 2) How resilience and other positive resources provide the potential to create health equity, and 3) How leadership rooted in fostering inclusive dialogue and collaborative action form the foundation for the new leadership. We provide consultation on the translation of this research into humane practice. We provide an array of educational experiential opportunities to those who seek to learn and practice such leadership. We mentor those who have a passion for public health and seek tools to translate their idealism into action. Our method of choice for this work is Future Search, a unique planning process that has been used with success worldwide for 25 years to stimulate unprecedented action.

By this means we seek to unite stakeholders and serve as a catalyst for essential but previously unlikely partnerships. Our intention is to enable people to discover common ground for action that they did not realize they shared. Such discovery can lay the foundation for leadership needed to bring dignity, hope, and equity to women and children. We seek to move away from systems that thrive on pathology, medical diagnosis, and risk reduction. Instead, we envision systems that derive their power from resilience, trust, and community. Our species has a remarkable capacity for healing and cooperating for the common good. The purpose of the Center is to mobilize that capacity. To support this service mission, we sponsor research on effective methods and mentor those who intend to practice new forms of social action. In so doing, we equip a new generation of leaders with lifelong tools to actualize their ideals.

Public Health: Our purpose in public health, defined by the USA Institute of Medicine and World Health Organization, is to foster conditions that assure optimal health in mind, body, and spirit. We commit to ending health inequities and protecting human dignity. In MCH, we seek to change social conditions so that children experience humane worlds. Such worlds help meet basic needs and support their safety and well being.

Vision: Our vision is to bring the highest ideals of public health into the lives of children and families everywhere and to improve their health by:
1) Humanizing the worlds that they experience;
2) Changing how we think about public health to embrace every facet of their lives;
3) Creating forums for dialogue that lead to effective action on global health inequities; and
4) Educating and inspiring a new generation of public service leaders to carry on this work in the long term.

Goals: We seek to 1) Create equity and end MCH disparities by radical strengthening of the capacity of all concerned parties for participatory leadership. 2) Involve young people in all aspects of our operation, so as to educate and inspire new leadership in public health. 3) Set foundations for societal changes to make equity and justice in MCH a reality; and 4) Challenge individual and organizational biases; 5) Respect all voices, including those historically marginalized; and 6) Promote opportunities for shared learning.

Expertise: We specialize in:

1. Synthesizing several bodies of research that will have a significant impact on maternal and child health practice over the next 50 years. 2. Translating this research into humane MCH and public health practice and leadership. 3. Integrating cultural and linguistic competence into public health and health as key strategy to end health disparities. 4. Changing the language of public health and medicine to better reflect our ideals and purpose. 5. Bringing multiple stakeholders together to untangle complex public health challenges and take collaborative action to solve them. 6. Inspiring a new generation of leaders in public health and service.

Services:

1. Consultation to individuals, communities, organizations to build capacity in the above, by A) Giving keynotes, motivational speeches, presentations, workshops. B) Organizing forums with intergenerational and cross-cultural dialogue. C) Writing papers and grants. 2. Teaching, mentoring, and leadership, through A) Individual and group mentoring. B) Internships to build leadership capacity of young people. 3. Organization and facilitation of interactive meetings with broad stakeholder participation to unite diverse parties and spark action to create public health equity.


For more information, contact:
raronson@verizon.net
207 215 7317 Cell
207 622 8822 Office
www.humaneworldscenter.blogspot.com
www.humaneworldscenter.org