GSK and Save the Children UK’s ‘joint venture’

Thursday, June 12, 2014

It started with a challenge.

In the middle of a conference gathering hundreds of top managers for GlaxoSmithKline, Justin Forsyth, chief executive of Save the Children UK, called upon the crowd to think differently about the way two organizations can partner.

Forsyth pushed GSK to look beyond a traditional monetary “partnership” of GSK just giving money to the organization.

The philosophy Save the Children had adopted was one which director for program policy and quality Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi sums up bluntly as: “We really like your money, thank you very much. But most importantly we’re interested in your skills, expertise and medical platform.”

That speech was the beginning of an 18 month-process through which GSK and Save the Children got to know one another and hammered out the details of a partnership unique for its depth and scope — and a relationship that could serve as a model for other companies and NGOs looking to engage more completely to tackle critical development issues.

Source: Devex (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Health Care