Venture Strategies for Health and Development

Mission

Venture Strategies applies scientific evidence identifying tractable problems in health, combining this with opportunities inherent in local market forces to help large numbers of low income people in developing countries. We use business approaches and focus on projects that will be sustainable on a large scale, and can continue in the future without further dependence on financial support. We work closely with the School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley.

Programs

We are working with medical leaders, government officials and pharmaceutical manufacturers around the world to find ways to make high quality, low cost, off-patent products available to low income people through market distribution systems.

Current Projects on GlobalGiving

Saving Mothers' Lives in Rural Tanzania

Personnel Overview

Melodie Holden, MS, MPH - Director, Special Projects
An engineer and businesswoman who led strategy projects as an IBM consultant for 7 years, Melodie worked extensively in Asia and Africa and is experienced in developing business plans, budgeting and evaluation. She applies business approaches to improve health. She is responsible for VS’ drug regulatory and distribution programs in most of Africa and is academic faculty at UC Berkeley.

Godfrey Mbaruku, MD, PhD - Regional Medical Director, Kigoma, Tanzania
Dr. Mbaruku is a Tanzanian obstetrician-gynecologist and the Regional Director for the Ministry of Health in Kigoma, a rural region in eastern Tanzania. He recently completed a PhD in Sweden on maternal mortality in Tanzania. He has published seven papers on this topic.

Malcolm Potts, MB, BChir, PhD, FRCOG - Bixby Professor, Sch of Public Health, UC Berkeley
Dr Potts is a Cambridge-trained obstetrician and reproductive biologist. As the first Medical Director of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, he introduced family planning methods into many developing countries. As CEO of Family Health International, he launched the first large scale studies of maternal mortality. He has published ten books and over 200 scientific papers.

Personnel Statistics

Martha M. Campbell, Ph.D.,
President and founder
Founded in 2001
Employees: 20
Volunteers: 5

Financial Statistics

Budget (2008): $ 3,250,000
Budget (2007): $ 2,375,000
Maximum Budget: $ 3,250,000
Overhead: 15 %
Other funding sources: Brush Fdn; Conservation, Food, & Health Fdn; KfW; Morris S. Smith Fdn; Winrock International; the World Bank; and additional private foundations as well as individual donors
Religious Affiliation: None