Radha’s Message for March 2018
Dear Friends,
Earlier this month, the Alliance announced that our new CEO Dymphna van der Lans would be succeeding me in April. The Leadership Council and I feel confident passing the reins to Dymphna at this important time, as I know Dymphna will continue to build on the hard-fought momentum we’ve all achieved over the past seven years. Dymphna is a dynamic and high energy leader, and her extensive leadership and innovation in the nonprofit and private sectors match well with the Alliance’s market-based approach. I know she looks forward to working with you soon.
I also want to update you on two additional developments, both of which will help accelerate sustainable market growth. The first is the launch of the first national clean cooking program in Nepal. Led by the government of Nepal, the Alliance, and many partners, the program will focus on strengthening the supply of available clean cooking technologies and creating demand through a series of behavior change communication activities, all in an effort to build smoke-free communities in Nepal. The second is the Alliance’s selection of the first four businesses to receive support under our Spark+ Investment Readiness Program. Spark+, an evolution of our successful Spark Fund, is a critical part of the Alliance’s work to build the pipeline of investment-ready companies and to ultimately attract increased investment across the clean cooking sector. These two developments, together with so many others happening around the world, reflect tremendous progress that would have been hard to imagine just a few years ago.
This will be my final newsletter message as CEO of the Alliance, and I want to say what a pleasure it has been working with you. Across my career, there has been a common thread: The opportunity to work on issues with a strong social, development, health, and climate impacts. My new role as President and CEO of the Capital Area Food Bank will allow me to build on my previous experiences, taking the global lessons I’ve learned and leveraging them on an issue and organization focused in and around the Washington, DC area. All countries and cities have a role to play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and I look forward to continuing to do that through a food, nutrition, and health lens in the United States.
It has been a pleasure to be a part of such an incredible movement and I couldn’t be more proud of what we have achieved together. I look forward to continuing to work toward a world where no one is left behind.
Our journey continues,
Radha Muthiah