Americares Announces Inaugural Health Summit

More than 100 business executives, leaders in philanthropy and health experts will explore some of today’s most challenging global health issues during the first Health at the Center Americares Partner Summit on Thursday, May 9, in New York City.

The summit will include moderated panel discussions and interactive sessions with a focus on resilience—how resilient communities recover from disasters, how resilience is key to mental health and how public health depends on resilient environments. Sessions will explore ways to better prepare low-income, underserved communities for disasters, innovative approaches to reduce stigma associated with mental health services, and the connection between health and the environment.

“We are bringing together thought leaders from across the country to have meaningful conversations around complex health issues,” said Americares Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer Christine Squires. “Together, we will explore innovations that can accelerate progress in global health and disaster response with a shared goal to improve health for people in crisis around the world.”

CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be the featured speaker, discussing nearly two decades of reporting from the frontlines of disasters and his worldwide quest to find the secrets of living longer, healthier lives. CNN Anchor and National Correspondent Erica Hill will join Gupta for the lunchtime conversation.

• David Barash, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Executive Director, GE Foundation 
• Rola Dagher, President, Cisco Systems Canada
• Peter Fearnhead, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, African Parks Network
• Francine Katsoudas, Chief People Officer and Executive Vice President, Cisco Systems
• Moyra Knight, Vice President Communications, Astellas US LLC and President, Astellas Global Health Foundation
• Jerry P. Leamon, Chairman, Americares Board of Directors and Retired Global Managing Partner, Deloitte
• S. Atyia Martin, LP.D., CEM, Chief Executive Officer, All Aces, Inc. and former Chief Resilience Officer, City of Boston
• Honorable Gina McCarthy, Director, Center for Climate, Health & the Global Environment, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
• Glen Moriarty, Psy.D., Founder and Chief Executive Officer, 7 Cups
• Michael W. Painter, M.D., Senior Program Officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• Shweta Rawat, Managing Director, Rural India Supporting Trust
• Stephen Sadove, Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Saks and Founding Partner, JW Levin Management Partners
• Peter Seligmann, Chief Executive Officer, Nia Tero and Chairman, Conservation International

The summit will include a special presentation to longtime Americares supporters Carol and George Bauer for their commitment to the organization and its mission to save lives and improve health for people affected by poverty or disaster.

Americares is a health-focused relief and development organization that helps communities prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters, increase access to medicine and medical supplies, improve and expand clinical services, prevent disease and promote good health. Since its founding 40 years ago, Americares has provided more than $17 billion in aid to 164 countries, including the United States.

The invitation-only event will take place at Convene, 101 Park Ave., in New York City. Media interested in attending the summit must register by May 7. To register, or to see the full list of confirmed speakers, please visit www.americares.com/summit.

Americares will livestream the summit on Facebook Live with host A.J. Gibson. Supporters can also follow the conversation on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn by using the hashtag #Partner4Health.