Building a more sustainable future together

Dear GEC family,

Today, I’m writing with some very exciting news about the future direction of GEC. As many of you know, it has been a long-term goal of the organization to transition our leadership structure from one where the executive team consists mainly of north Americans to a more Ugandan-led, sustainable leadership team with a focus on co-creation. In that spirit, it is with great enthusiasm that I welcome the newest addition to the GEC family – Mr. Steven Kisingiri – GEC’s pioneer Uganda Country Director. Steven was recently hired after a highly competitive hiring process. In this new position, Steven will lead efforts to strengthen GEC’s strategic partnerships, while growing the ECP program and working to fully integrate it into the medical and educational systems in Uganda. We are all very excited to have an individual of Steven’s caliber as our inaugural Country Director, and we look forward to his leadership.

In conjunction with Steven’s hire, I am stepping down as Executive Director. I’d like to express my appreciation to the entire GEC extended family for giving me this opportunity. Although I will be stepping down from the ED role, I will continue to work with the GEC team as an advisor, and am grateful for the continued involvement. While it is bittersweet for me personally, I am very proud of what we’ve accomplished together, and I’m enthusiastic for what the future holds for the ECP cadre and for emergency care development across Uganda.

To that end, I would like to give a warm GEC welcome to our new Executive Director – Dr. Ashley Pickering. Ashley has been working with GEC for many years and has extensive experience working with the GEC team in Uganda, as well as supporting GEC’s work from the U.S. Ashley’s role as the new Executive Director will be focused on facilitating the growth and expansion of organizational leadership to Steven and our Ugandan colleagues. We are all very enthusiastic about Ashley’s new leadership, and look forward to working with her to advance GEC’s mission and vision.

I’m very proud that with these changes we are actively transitioning GEC leadership to a more sustainable and Ugandan-led organizational structure, in accordance with our long-term vision. I look forward to collaborating with the entire team for a successful transition as we continue to train new ECPs, provide high quality emergency care, and help build an accessible emergency care system for all Ugandans.

Thank you to each and every one of you for your continued support.

Warmest regards,
Tom Neill