Letter from the Founding Executive Director

Dear Friends,

Whole Child International has turned five years old! I’m especially proud of this milestone, as it belongs to all of us. Our donors, volunteers, and other supporters who have sustained us through the years deserve as much credit as anyone. No matter how acute the need, or how well-suited the solution, nothing can happen without those who share the vision and put the resources down to make it work.

Whole Child has been a collaborative enterprise from the beginning. I started this journey with little more than a simple idea and tentative strategic partnerships — with the Pikler Institute, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of California, Davis, and WestEd. Each of these partners contributed essential capabilities, but they also provided the clarity and the moral support we needed to envision the program and take the initial difficult steps to put it into place.

Since those first days, a diverse and expanding array of supporters have been there when we needed them. As a result, we have had the time and the resources necessary to operate in more orphanages in two countries, and to build a replicable model for cost-effective expansion to other countries and continents.

I’m looking forward to the next five years and beyond. As you may know we are now in a final program-development phase, during which we will continue to expand in our two countries but also finish the framework and lay out the strategy for international expansion. In the meantime, we are building new relationships to expand our capacity and continue to develop long-term, institutional funding partnerships. I’m deeply grateful to be able to announce a new partnership with the Earth Stewardship Foundation. We will update you with more information about this in the coming weeks.

In the meantime I can’t thank you enough for your own part in these past five years. It’s both humbling and inspiring to know we have your interest and your support. You'll be hearing more from us soon. There is exciting news to come.

Thank you again for your support.

Sincerely,

Karen Gordon
Founding Executive Director