Catharine Grimes, President of the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, shared on LinkedIn:
“A defining part of my role at the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation is having the opportunity to see firsthand what long-term partnership can make possible.
During our recent visit to Africa, I had the privilege of experiencing this work alongside BMS Foundation Board members Wendy Bartie and Cristian Massacesi, as we spent time with grantee partners, government and Ministry of Health leaders, healthcare providers, community health workers, patients and families who brought that impact to life in very real ways.
We saw clinicians building the capacity to diagnose cancer earlier. Community health workers bringing screening and care closer to where people live.
Health systems developing the specialized workforce and infrastructure needed to care for children with cancer and blood disorders. And, most importantly, we met people whose lives are different because that care was there when they needed it.
For more than 25 years, the BMS Foundation has worked alongside local grantee partners across sub-Saharan Africa.
What these visits reinforced for me is that lasting progress is built over time. It takes trust, persistence and investment in local leadership – not to create parallel systems, but to strengthen the systems and people that communities rely on every day.
That is how evidence becomes action, and how promising approaches can become sustainable models of care.
I came away, as I always do from time spent with our partners, inspired by what they are accomplishing and reminded that the most meaningful measure of our work is what communities are ultimately able to carry forward.
I’m also deeply grateful to my fellow BMS Foundation Board members Chris Boerner, Cari Almo Gallman and David Elkins for their continued leadership and commitment to our mission.”
Learn more about the BMS Foundation’s work to improve access to care across sub-Saharan Africa.
