Leadership Pursuing Excellence Despite the Cost

Humanitarian Resource Institute presents a call for professionals to serve as a bridge for unmet needs to untapped resources, via optimization of (1) Problem solving and analysis, (2) Development of effective communication networks that reach key decision makers in appropriate demographics and (3) real time communication capability to support dialogue, consensus building and action.

The question: What is the true scope of the problem at hand To find an answer requires open, objective, non agenda driven analysis.

In the early 80'ss, my transition from medical studies to Olympic development training led to work with some of the worlds top coaches, scholarships and resources that would have never been available, if excellence was not the standard pursued. My eventual progression to coaching on the international level included my interest in the vast majority of youth who would never be exposed to such opportunities.

It was the youth development aspect, that led to my collaboration with numerous national leaders and the development of educational campaigns. In 1990, the 6000 mile Cycle Across America project (www.cycleacrossamerica.org) opened the first toll free hotline (1-800-729-6686 or 1-800-SAY-NO-TO-DRUGS) that provided the American people access to the federal resource for drug and alcohol information. This initiative focused on the availability of free educational resources and youth talks promoting positive lifestyle alternatives.

Lessons Learned:

-- In the vast majority of stopping points (60 major cities) along the 270 city route, the vast majority of community, social service and school district leaders, were unaware of the vast free educational resources that were available, despite the most sophisticated media and communication campaigns. The only way we were able to break through the mass inundation of information flowing across the desks of key leaders and decision makers, was to sit down personally with them in a meeting.

My work with leaders from national to the grass roots level, expanded my contacts and relationships exponentially. In 1993, continued dialogue and collaboration resulted in the coordination of the Run Across America community service project (www.runacrossamerica.org) that included local leaders and youth programs in 133 cities from Washington, DC to San Francisco, California.

Lessons Learned:

-- The general public had no true grasp of the size and scope of serious challenges facing the executive directors of front line service programs. The only way we broke through this barrier, was to provide the leaders in each community an opportunity to speak out about the these problems and their unmet needs.

The challenges presented during the 1990 and 1993 projects were so vast that in 1994, the nonprofit organization Humanitarian Resource Institute (www.humanitarian.net) was formed with a mission focus to bridge unmet needs to untapped resources. In a short time, domestic projects expanded into global initiatives, including the Humanitarian University Consortium (www.humanitarian.net/university) to connect the worlds top experts from colleges and universities across the globe. Oversight of research, development and coordination prompted my return to an academic track of medicine, veterinary medicine and law to facilitate education and communication initiatives that today reach:

-- International: newspaper, radio and television, corporate, intergovernmental, non-governmental, United Nations, community action and interfaith organizations in approximately 195 countries.

-- United States: grassroots networks (household level), corporate, municipal, state and federal government, community action and interfaith organizations in approximately 3100 United States Counties.

During the last 12 years, advocacy initiatives have included:

Veterinary Medicine: Policy initiatives to address vaccination strategies for high consequence pathogens such Foot and Mouth Disease, following the depopulation of 11 million animals during 2001 UK FMD Outbreak.

-- 2002 Award for Excellence in Outbreak Reporting (www.humanitarian.net/promed2002.html), ProMed, International Society for Infectious Diseases.

Human Medicine: As director of research and development of the International Veterinary Public Health Consortium (www.pathobiologics.org/ivphc), serving as a reference point for emerging infectious diseases, most recently contingency planning for pandemic influenza (www.pathobiologics.org/ivphc/pi102004.html).

-- Member of the Scientific Committee of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Tourist Health and Travel Medicine: 2005: Fifth European Conference on Travel Medicine (www.ectm5.org).

-- EHPNET: Humanitarian Resource Institute Emerging Infectious Disease Network (ehponline.org/docs/2004/112-1/forum.html): Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP), an online publication by the Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Volume 112, Number 1, January 2004.

International Law: Initiating dialogue and consensus among UN member countries to facilitate revision of the World Health Organization International Health Regulations.

-- International Law, Communicable Diseases and the Geopolitical Objective of Minimal Interference with World Trade and Travel (www.humanitarian.net/law/sars_travel.html), Humanitarian Resource Institute Legal Resource Center, 5 May 2003.

-- Newly revised International Health Regulations (www.pathobiologics.org/ivphc/ref/promed_ihr_52205.html), ProMED, International Society for Infectious Diseases, 20 May 2005.

-- The World Health Assembly, the supreme decision-making body of the UN World Health Organization (WHO), agreed to immediately start implementing parts of the International Health Regulations (IHR) relating to bird flu and a human pandemic, which were not scheduled to come into force until June next year. -- UN agencies move to curb bird flu among both humans and animals (www.un.org/apps/news/story.aspNewsID=18635&Cr=bird&Cr1=flu), UN News Centre, 26 May 2006.

Despite the challenges presented, Humanitarian Resource Institute has continued operations without outside funding or grants. Commitment, sacrifice and prioritization has yielded continual progress and we would like to present a call to all members of the international community to serve as a bridge for unmet needs to untapped resources, and a reference point for:

-- Problem solving and analysis.

-- Development of effective communication networks that reach key decision makers in appropriate demographics.

-- real time communication capability to support dialogue, consensus building and action.

It is time that we move toward a collaborative integrated effort to address the serious challenges facing UN member countries. Together, we can accomplish this task.

About Stephen M. Apatow

Stephen M. Apatow is Founder and Director of Research and Development, of the nonprofit organization Humanitarian Resource Institute (www.humanitarian.net), is a specialist in strategic planning and project development of initiatives associated with human medicine, veterinary medicine and U.S. and international law. To enhance collaboration between Humanitarian Resource Institute and the international community of scholars, the Humanitarian University Consortium and graduate studies centers for medicine, veterinary medicine and law were formed to enhance the development of initiatives associated with economic, social, cultural and humanitarian issues worldwide.

In conjunction with his work with arts, sports, Olympic and youth development programs, he founder of the Sports Medicine & Science Institute (www.esportsmedicine.org), and serves as a Special Advisor for Biomechanics and Sportscience at the Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts (www.nutmegconservatory.org) in Torrington, Connecticut.

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