After 20 wonderful years and many great accomplishments, Prof Dr Fransje van der Waals, Founding Executive Director of Health[e]Foundation, decided to hand over her responsibilities to the current Managing Director, Dr. Nadine Pakker
Fransje and Nadine worked closely together since the early days of Health[e]Foundation, therefore it is with full confidence and optimism that this will be a smooth transition and reveals new dots on the horizon for 2021.
Read Fransje’s note here:
A Bright Future for Health[e]Foundation
Due to the current pandemic, my original plan to organize a symposium to bid my farewell and celebrate new beginnings will not be possible. Of course that is just a tiny consequence of COVID-19 pandemic compared to the massive impact it has on most people in the world. Fortunately, Health[e]Foundation originated as a training organization to educate health workers remotely with e-learning online, in an app or on a tablet. We could never have predicted that learning online would one day not only be efficient but also an absolute necessity. Our webinars and workshop led by our regional partners provide the blended format of our trainings even today.
We know that COVID-19 has a huge impact on everybody’s healthcare. Many other infectious diseases such as HIV, as well as maternal and mental health receive too little care and attention as a consequence. We continue our trainings on infections including COVID-19, next to our maternal and child health programs.
As many of you know, sitting still is not my nature, and as extra medical care is currently needed in the Netherlands, I took up extra clinical tasks and triage services. I was invited to support Health[e]Foundation as member of the board, and have also accepted to join boards of other charitable foundations: the Population Council, the Laguna Collective and the Renate Dorrestein Foundation.
I want to thank everyone for the great collaboration and all the support and contributions Health[e]Foundation has received from you in the past! Without you, the foundation would not have become what it is today. The participants of the programs also want to thank you in the video below and imagine what Health[e]Foundation will be able to do in the future.
I wish you all the best and especially a safe and good health[e] life, and please join me in welcoming Nadine Pakker as the new executive director!
Fransje van der Waals MD PhD
The Health[e]Foundation team wishes to thank Fransje for years of infinite devotion, powerful vision and passionate teamwork. By founding Health[e]Foundation with the mission to use digital education and information to support health professionals and community workers, Fransje made an undeniable contribution to improving the quality of health for people living in resource-deprived settings.
Dear Fransje, we are extremely thankful for all you’ve done and we will continue the great work with our passionate team and Nadine as our new executive director.
Have a look at the achievements of Health[e]Foundation with Fransje as our Executive Director in this video: