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Catharine Young: I’ve launched a new venture – The Global Collective

Catharine Young/LinkedIn

Apr 9, 2025, 07:44

Catharine Young: I’ve launched a new venture – The Global Collective

Catharine Young, Former Assistant Director of Cancer Moonshot Policy and International Engagement at The White House, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“AN UPDATE: In a time of deep uncertainty and transition for so many, especially across the public and global health sectors, I’ve been mindful about sharing personal news, knowing how many are facing loss, change, and instability.

Still, I wanted to share an update that I believe is important – especially at a time when there’s an urgent need for us to step up and help fill the growing vacuum in global health leadership.

I’ve launched a new venture: The Global Collective – focused on advancing bold, collaborative solutions to some of our most pressing global challenges.

Our first engagement is with a coalition of leading cancer and global health organizations, where I will help lead the design and launch of a Global Cancer Fund. This builds on work I was privileged to lead under the Biden Cancer Moonshot at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where we began shaping a vision for a new kind of global fund – one designed to meet the rising burden of cancer with equity, urgency, and innovation at its core (the picture below was taken at our last in-person convening at the White House last year).

Today, cancer claims more lives annually than HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. And while extraordinary progress has been made in some parts of the world, too many communities, especially in low- and middle-income countries, continue to face late diagnoses, preventable deaths, and limited access to care. The burden is growing, but the financing and coordinated strategy to meet it at scale simply haven’t kept pace.

At a time when we are witnessing the withdrawal of traditional pillars of global public health leadership, it’s more important than ever to lean in – with clarity and a renewed sense of shared responsibility.

We have an opportunity to build something catalytic – to bring together governments, philanthropies, the private sector, and communities to create a new kind of fund designed for long-term impact.

I’m grateful for the trust placed in me and for the partners walking this path alongside me (which are many and which I’ll share at a later stage). We’re just getting started, but I believe this work will help close the gap between what’s possible and what’s currently happening for far too many people around the world.

If you’d like to learn more or explore ways to get involved, feel free to reach out – I’d love to connect. Thank you to all who have paved the way and continue to fight for health equity with urgency and compassion.”