At CAMI Health, we have long been honing an organizational model based on collaboration by building and leading learning networks. To address complex public health problems impacting women and their families, we foster collaborations, manage knowledge, and set priorities for action; an approach that we have refined to helped to shape the advancement of the MPT field. Outside of the IMPT, CAMI Health also offers technical assistance to other organizations for research, evaluations, and advocacy related to the broader field of women’s health.
The following are features that illustrate CAMI Health’s steadfast commitment to our mission of improving the health and lives of women and their families.
Within women’s health, our programmatic focus is developing solutions for complex, systems-level challenges. Alongside organizations that address individual health by providing direct health services, we operate at a higher level in collaboration with multidisciplinary stakeholders to better understand the underlying causes of health risks and develop impactful, sustainable solutions.
With CAMI Health at the helm, the MPT field officially launched in 2009. Since then, through the IMPT’s learning network mechanism, we have facilitated the growth of the MPT field – both in terms of investment and diverse stakeholder interest. For example, more recently, IMPT partners National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the World Health Organization prioritized MPTs in their strategies in 2016; the NIH released several RFAs in 2017 in alignment with IMPT-identified priorities for the MPT field; and there are now over a dozen promising MPT products in the development pipeline.
As IMPT Secretariat, CAMI Health’s role is to serve as the central coordinating body of the IMPT learning network – facilitating collaboration between network members and seeking opportunities to expand the network as appropriate. Network-weaving for the MPT field necessitates bridging the fields of HIV, other STIs, and family planning, for which funding and research streams are often siloed. We believe that this integration is critical, however, to improving the health of women and girls. The network thus benefits from expertise across diverse health fields, and incorporates methodologies from social and behavioral science, economics, market research, and other sectors.
A central function of a learning network is knowledge management – that is, ensuring that information is effectively collected, synthesized, analyzed, and communicated. As IMPT Secretariat, CAMI Health collects MPT-relevant updates from consultations with network members, bi-annual virtual membership meetings, presence at international conferences and meetings, and regular landscape reviews. We synthesize and analyze these data to inform our strategic plan and to generate resources tailored to specific stakeholder audiences. Finally, this information is communicated out to the larger network through our membership convenings, website, e-blasts, media and peer-reviewed publication outlets, informational webinars, and in-person meetings and presentations. We also facilitate across-network information sharing through several modalities, including social media platforms. From identifying and communicating around research priorities, to tracking and synthesizing MPT research and development activities, stakeholders look to our team as a resource for their MPT-related work.
We are efficient and effective both in project management as well as program administration, backed by the critical operating infrastructure of the Public Health Institute (PHI), CAMI Health’s fiscal agent. PHI is an independent, nonprofit organization headquartered in Oakland, CA with offices in Sacramento, CA and Washington, DC. PHI is one of the largest and most comprehensive public health organizations in the United States, with an annual budget of more than $100 million and 650 employees. PHI provides CAMI Health with pre-award budget and submission guidance, as well as post-award grant management and reporting. Administrative support services include accounting and financial management; contract and grant administration; corporate legal counsel; personnel functions; and public relations and communications.
Whether serving as IMPT Secretariat, working to advance other areas women’s health, or providing technical assistance on an external program evaluation, we thrive as collaborators because we believe that we go further together. We collaborate with dozens of partner organizations across the globe in our daily work to pool diverse skills towards a common agenda. If there is a task requiring skills outside our scope, we know exactly who to call upon within PHI or our broader network.
CAMI Health distinguishes itself by prioritizing the physical, mental, emotional, and socioeconomic health of women and girls worldwide. Comprised of a staff with decades of combined experience working on behalf of women and girls through research, advocacy, and service delivery, CAMI Health is an expert team that has a demonstrated commitment to this population.