Many of our volunteers and supporters often ask us what role the board of directors plays in the organization. It’s a difficult question to answer because their role can be so encompassing and diverse. In its simplest form, the board of directors sets the tone and strategic vision of the organization, helping ensure that the organization stays on mission and finds new ways to more successfully achieve that mission. But more often than not, board members are much more than people who convene every now and then to answer the big questions of what do we do? who are we here to help and what can we do to help?. Board members get involved in fundraising, they help identify strategic partnerships, and they determine what program areas to expand to, among many other things.
With board members wearing so many hats–from fundraiser to event planner to consultant–it can’t be emphasized enough that having dedicated and compassionate board members is vital to an organization. Especially considering how nonprofit board members receive no compensation from the organization, finding the right board member sometimes feels like finding a needle in a haystack.
That’s why VNHELP is excited, humbled, and thrilled to have Dominic Montagu, a professor of epidemiology and biostatics at the University of California, San Francisco, as a new board member this year. We look forward to the new voice and perspective Dr. Montagu brings to the organization. Check out his profile below!
Dominic Montagu is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at UCSF and Lead of the Private Sector Healthcare Initiative at the UCSF Global Health Group. His work is focused on the private delivery of health services in developing countries and on market function for health services and health commodities. Dr. Montagu holds an undergraduate degree in architecture from MIT, as well as masters degrees in business administration and public health and a doctorate in public health from the University of California, Berkeley. He has worked extensively in Africa and Asia, including five years in Vietnam where he was the country director for the American Friends Service Committee and country advisor for the Population Council. Dr. Montagu has served as the secretariat for the World Health Organization’s project on the Non-State Sector, and has been a co-investigator on HIV/AIDS impact and service assessments in Botswana and Rwanda. Dr. Montagu has published papers on a range of issues related to developing country health service delivery.
Dr. Montagu sharing his thoughts on healthcare access.