This series is hosted by FACE (the Focus Area for Compassion and Ethics) for sparking discourse and awareness through examination of provocative ethical questions in global health.
Overview
This Ethics Lunch & Learn was the second of our four-part series on the core values of The Task Force. If you missed the first in the series on Evolving Partnerships, be sure to review it here.
In this session, we discussed the meaning and responsibility of being good stewards. The Task Force describes stewardship as “the wise and judicious management of the resources entrusted to us.” Colleagues from several Task Force programs — diverse in mission, scope, and funding — as well as an external collaborator, shared their experiences and perspectives. Common themes included stewardship of people, communities, funding, data, knowledge, medicines, supply chains, policies, and trust.
Thank you to all who engaged in this lively discussion (recording for staff). As you read the report, we encourage you to consider, “How would you define stewardship?” and “Is there ever a time when striving to be a ‘good steward’ leads to uncertainty about what to do or to whom we are accountable?”
Examples from Panelists and Programs
FACE director, Dr. David Addiss, began in offering the above framing for the session, as well as the Merriam-Webster definition of stewardship : the conducting, supervising, or managing of something; especially the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care. With this in mind, several colleagues shared their reflections on what it means to be a good steward.
Ellen Wild, Chief Operating Officer, Integrated Program Services (IPS)
Ellen Wild focused on stewardship at the organizational level, which she described as a core responsibility of her role as COO. She highlighted three key types of stewardship: that of funds, people, and business operations.
In stewardship of funds, she said, we are called to be fiscally responsible by following rules and regulations set by funders as well as The Task Force; adhering to donor intent; and importantly, spending funds in ways that align with what recipient countries want and need. To be good personnel stewards, an organization must maintain an environment in which staff can thrive and grow, allowing them to not only feel valued, heard, and happy, but also safe. As a steward of operations, Ellen works to build robust systems for the organization to support programs, including maintaining a supportive board, effective and efficient operations policies, and essential legal statuses.
PJ Hooper, Deputy Director, International Trachoma Initiative (ITI)
PJ Hooper focused her remarks on stewardship of a Pfizer antibiotic, Zithromax®, which is used to eliminate blinding trachoma. The International Trachoma Initiative (ITI), has deeply considered the role of stewardship in their program, making it one of their three programmatic pillars. At ITI, stewardship means ensuring that the right amount of drug gets to the right people at the right time, which entails careful attention to equitable access, adequate supply, continuous improvement, efficiency and effectiveness, and local-global partnership. ITI’s core principles of data-driven decision-making, transparency, and accountability contribute to good stewardship of the donation.
Like Ellen, PJ emphasized that attention to people is important for good stewardship. The definition of stewardship, she said, “strikes me as not just referring to the drug, but also the people who we have been entrusted to reach with our donation.”
Dan Martins, Chief Financial Officer, Integrated Program Services (IPS)
Dan Martins offered a perspective on financial stewardship at the program and organization level. He described stewardship as the responsible and ethical management of resources to ensure accountability, transparency, and attainment of organizational mission objectives. He believes The Task Force promotes these ideals through combined internal and external checks that can be used as indicators of good stewardship.
Internal checks include accurate assessment and monitoring of resources and internal policies that protect the assets of the organization by separating the custodial, reporting, and approval functions among Task Force programs, finance, and the Office of the President. External checks include outside annual audits and board reviews, legal and tax accountability for the IRS, approval through the Better Business Bureau (BBB), donor accountability through matching intent and reporting of fundraising practices, and investments aligned with public health values.
Vivian Singletary, Director, Public Health Informatics Institute (PHII)
Vivian Singletary described the essential components of data stewardship . PHII recognizes that caring for data is a great responsibility and, as such, have identified and established processes for five key domains of data stewardship: consent, ownership, access, use, and security.
Proper consent requires securing permission to collect and later access data. Explicitly defining ownership is critical, as collection does not automatically entitle ownership. Access should be limited, meaning only that required to do one’s job, while use means being specific about approved activities related to the data. Lastly, security requires application of the most updated technologies and practices to safeguard data and ‘do no harm.’ Preventing misuse of data is crucial for future health gains and for good stewardship.
Julie Jacobsen, Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Bridges to Development
Julie Jacobson shared a donor’s view of stewardship. The primary responsibility of the donor is to ensure that their dollars do good. To be good stewards, donors should enable and trust the grantees to use donations within their context.
Similar to other panelists’ remarks, she highlighted people as the most precious asset to be served by stewardship, which means being humble and mindful of what communities bring to the table and actively inviting contribution by recipients of funding. Additionally, the donor is responsible for protecting these same individuals from undue burdens of grant-making processes, while still ensuring grantees receive proper guidance and support.
In closing, Julie encouraged the participants to consider planetary stewardship as well. Focusing on stewardship and its many unfolding applications, she remarked, will always offer a point of reflection we can keep coming back to, in order to further improve.
Key Takeaways
In discussion, participants highlighted key takeaways about good stewardship:
- While we have many mechanisms to ensure stewarships of material resources, we have fewer for human resources. A stance of “relational or collaborative stewardship” with all partners helps prioritize the people most impacted.
- Attention to the humanity of those who receive and delegate resources builds trust with partners and communities.
- Valuing stewardship also requires balance, between pragmatism and rigor, as well as consideration of upstream and downstream activities.
- Channels for communication must remain open to encourage continuous improvement and sharing of best practices.
Ellen concluded the session by sharing that at the executive level, being a good steward involves constantly asking questions such as, “How will proposed solutions impact our staff, the work they do, and the partners they support?” and “Do these solutions run counter to being a nimble organization?”
Stewardship is clearly a multifaceted value that we each have a chance to consider daily in our work. Asking ourselves, “What is entrusted in our care?” and “What is my responsibility and for whom?” may help guide improved stewardship and, ultimately, compassionate and ethical practice.
We look forward to seeing you at our next Ethics Lunch & Learn in August 2024 to continue the discussion of Task Force values in action.
