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Doctors Without Borders USA's CEO On Leadership And Smooth Transitions
Doctors Without Borders USA's CEO On Leadership And Smooth Transitions

Forbes

timea day ago

  • Business
  • Forbes

Doctors Without Borders USA's CEO On Leadership And Smooth Transitions

It's hard to avoid the pictures and news stories about humanitarian crises around the world today. Hunger and disease are hitting a breaking point in Gaza, while the U.S. government is stepping back from what was once a major role in helping establish sanitary conditions and bring health care and food to other nations worldwide. Millions of people are displaced, as wars continue to rage in Ukraine, Sudan and the Middle East. So why is Avril Benoît, CEO of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) USA, stepping down now? In May she announced she was leaving the post, and the organization will announce her successor in the coming months. Benoît, a 2023 Forbes 50 Over 50: Impact honoree, told me the timing is built in at MSF, which limits its CEOs to six-year terms. 'You're totally throwing yourself into a job that becomes a lifestyle,' she said. 'It's all-consuming in many respects. You're having to consume and experience vicariously, often from a distance, all the harrowing circumstances of a humanitarian crisis. And all of that weighs on you so heavily while you're trying to drive forward and lead. I think the thinking is that by having people potentially return to operations, or give the operational people an opportunity to lead from headquarters, is just a healthy dynamic, especially for an action-oriented organization like us. We really are very passionate. We're impatient, we're hard driving, we're on the ground. And there's only so long, I would argue, that you can really sustain that.' Benoît's term as CEO of MSF USA concludes almost two decades with the humanitarian nonprofit organization, and she said she's not necessarily leaving it completely behind. The former broadcast journalist has seen a lot in terms of events and management experience. Today's Forbes CEO newsletter is all about Benoît's leadership at MSF USA, looking at its similarities to other U.S. businesses, as well as key differences; how she's handled major challenges; and what she and the organization are doing to ensure a smooth leadership transition. This is the published version of Forbes' CEO newsletter, which offers the latest news for today's and tomorrow's business leaders and decision makers. Click here to get it delivered to your inbox every week. A SECOND CAREER Doctors Without Borders USA CEO Avril Benoît. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières Benoît said she's been helping people for her entire professional life, but the first 20 years were from a different perspective. Her first career was as a radio, TV and print journalist, working for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for two decades. Benoît said she entered journalism with a real desire to contribute to the public good. On the air, she presented stories that showcased inequality and need around the world. Off hours, she volunteered for a variety of causes and helped them raise money. While still a journalist, she chaired the board of a group of women dedicated to raising money for girls and women worldwide to receive an education. 'I was spending so much time doing that: volunteering,' she said. 'Always just loving the experience of being a volunteer, and wondering can I ever imagine leveraging my background to help an organization and really become one of the doers—as opposed to somebody, as a journalist, who is just chronicling, who's telling the stories, who's trying to amplify—but really get in there. Is there something I can offer?' Her opportunity came in 2006 when MSF Canada was looking for a director of communications. She landed the job, and became more inspired as time went by and wanted to know more. She learned about the places and situations in which MSF worked, but her education went deeper. She learned about how the organization conducts its operations—how it assesses situations, how teams and logistics are organized, how they negotiate access in the midst of difficult situations. As the now-59-year-old's children got older and left the house, she had more time to spend with MSF. She worked not only on the operational side of the organization, but also in the field. As she climbed the ladder at MSF, leading projects in South Africa, South Sudan and Mauritania, and moving into organizational communication and fundraising roles, she always believed MSF's field work MSF was its most important duty. As a senior leader of the organization, including as USA CEO, Benoît says she's worked in the field in Ukraine, Sudan, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo. 'Almost the equivalent of walking the shop floor for a CEO, but not just walking the shop floor. Actually doing the work,' she said. DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES Avril Benoît speaks to a patient in Katsina, in northwest Nigeria, where a 2024 MSF study found extremely critical levels of malnutrition. © Sarah Nuhu/MSF MSF is an international organization that brings medical and humanitarian assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters and healthcare exclusion. It's a big company with a huge mission. Benoît's work as U.S. CEO is to provide leadership and support for that mission—from doing advocacy work in Washington, D.C., and around the nation to fundraising. More than 30% of MSF's total global funds come from the U.S., Benoît said, and they do not rely on the federal government for financial support. Her typical day could include figuring out operational and logistical support for operations—much like the leader of any company, though with potentially bigger consequences, considering many of their operations are in dangerous places. But it could also include ordinary HR decisions. Because MSF is an international organization, Benoît is also a part of strategic discussions: Where will they invest their funds and how will they take positions on simmering conflicts. These can be tense debates, she said, because the stakes are high and it's difficult to forecast the best course of action to do the most good. And they aren't necessarily limited to executives. 'We foster a culture of debate because we know that whether you're the CEO or you're the water and sanitation technician on the ground, you have a valid perspective to offer,' Benoît said. 'And so to be a leader in the organization means that you have to take space for it, and it's much less hierarchical than perhaps many other organizations.' Benoît said that sometimes people in the for-profit business world dismiss those leading organizations like MSF because they are paid less, assuming that nonprofit executives and employees must be less competent. That's definitely not the case, she said. 'There's so much to commend this kind of work: that's meaningful and where you not only get the motivation of whatever intrinsic value it gives to you as an individual in terms of dealing with complex challenges of forever being stimulated, of always in a learning organization, but also the extrinsic ones where you're helping others in a very concrete way,' Benoît said. 'There's a lot of value in this kind of organization, and it's one of the reasons that we attract such good people.' RAISING AWARENESS A building belonging to Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in the southern Gaza Strip last year. Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images The last six years have seen wars, humanitarian crises and a global pandemic, creating new challenges for MSF. Benoît said she's tried as a leader to not impose her ideas on how to meet these challenges. The people on the ground who are closer to the situation and can more clearly see what the best solutions would be. Fundraising has been one of her strong points. From 2019 to 2024, MSF USA raised more than $3.75 billion—an overall increase of nearly 81.5%. '​​You can always do higher-quality medicine,' Benoît said. 'There are always more needs. There are always gaps in terms of humanitarian assistance available to people in crisis at a time when they need us most. We want to be able to step up. …I never got into all this work thinking I would be so often making the case for support to the public, to small groups and individuals on Zoom calls or in-person. And yet I feel so passionately about the efforts of the organization, and that we do need this help.' She's also worked to spread the word about what MSF is doing. Many people want to help the world and just need to be asked. And, Benoît said, MSF is a vital proxy organization because they help people in need throughout the world, both in places that people know—like Gaza—and ones that they haven't heard so much about. SMOOTH TRANSITIONS A Doctors Without Borders ship offloaded migrants rescued in the Mediterranean Sea in Italy in 2024. Roberto Serra -For an organization like MSF, there is never an 'easy time' for change. But Benoît said she has confidence in the organization. She doesn't personally play a role in selecting her successor; that's the job of the board. However, she said, there are what she describes as high-quality people throughout the organization. The person who should take on the job, Benoît said, should be ready to take on a wide range of challenges. But they should also be able to debate the best solutions, keep themselves on a livable pace in a world that always wants bigger, better, faster, more, and manage expectations for what can be done. And, Benoît said, come into the experience rested, resilient and adaptable. 'One of the things that we're trying to navigate in this moment of volatility and polarization in the U.S. is how to keep being true to who we are, what we do in the world, evolving as necessary for the sake of the patients and the communities, and maintaining that courage of our convictions, of being there for people when they need us most,' Benoît said. 'And there's a lot of effort that we're doing for the sake of my successor, just to make sure when I hand them the torch, the handle is not on fire.' COMINGS + GOINGS Fast food franchise Subway announced that Jonathan Fitzpatrick will join the company as chief executive officer, effective July 28. Fitzpatrick previously worked as president and CEO of Driven Brands, and will be replacing John Chidsey, who left in December 2024. announced that will join the company as chief executive officer, effective July 28. Fitzpatrick previously worked as president and CEO of Driven Brands, and will be replacing John Chidsey, who left in December 2024. Dental equipment manufacturer Dentsply Sirona appointed Daniel Scavilla as chief executive officer, effective August 1. Scavilla most recently worked as president and CEO of Globus Medical, and succeeds Simon Campion. appointed as chief executive officer, effective August 1. Scavilla most recently worked as president and CEO of Globus Medical, and succeeds Simon Campion. Beverage bottling firm Refresco selected Steve Presley to be its next chief executive officer, effective August 4. Presley joins the company from Nestlé where he worked as executive vice president and chief executive officer of Zone Americas, and will succeed Hans Roelofs. Send us C-suite transition news at forbescsuite@ STRATEGIES + ADVICE In these times, most business leaders would say they are dealing with a variety of crises. But instead of viewing them as complex problems to solve, it's better to reframe your mindset and look at them as opportunities. To make better decisions, look at your data insights closely. They can tell you what's been going on with your company, as well as what would best result in growth. QUIZ An interaction last week between President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell caught on video went viral. What happened? A. Powell corrected Trump and clarified that Trump actually nominated him to chair the Fed, not former President Joe Biden B. Powell told Trump his estimates for construction at Fed headquarters were wrong and included previously completed work C. Powell looked at Trump incredulously as he talked about the economic benefits of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and tariffs D. Trump called Powell a 'numbskull' to his face, and Powell responded, 'Excuse me?' See if you got the answer right here.

Murdoch v Trump: why the flawed media titan could be the final protector of press freedom
Murdoch v Trump: why the flawed media titan could be the final protector of press freedom

The Guardian

timea day ago

  • Politics
  • The Guardian

Murdoch v Trump: why the flawed media titan could be the final protector of press freedom

Years before Rupert Murdoch bought the Wall Street Journal, the writer John Lanchester suggested that his primary motivation – more than ideology or even money – was a 'love of crises, of the point when everything seems about to be lost'. More than two decades later, is the crisis in the US media, one in which everything seems about to be lost, motivating Murdoch to take on the most powerful man in the world? It is as good a reason as many of those given over the past week for the fact that the billionaire whose Fox News channel has acted as a Trump cheerleader throughout is now, alone among US media titans, preparing to do battle in the courts. Trump's onslaught on the US media – withdrawing federal funds, banning reporters and launching multi-billion-dollar lawsuits – has led once-renowned defenders of media freedom such as the Washington Post, ABC News and CBS to crumple, either changing their editorial policies or agreeing to apparently frivolous settlements. Yet ranting calls to both the WSJ editor, Emma Tucker, and his old frenemy Rupert failed to prevent the publication of a story suggesting he had sent a hand-drawn picture of a naked woman to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein with the words: 'Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret.' Last week, he launched a $10bn lawsuit over this 'fake'. After the WSJ doubled down with stories saying Trump had been told he was in the Epstein files, sources close to Murdoch report that, at 94, he refuses to be 'intimidated'. He is also enhancing his reputation as the most mercurial media titan. Media veteran Tina Brown asked how the world had come to depend on 'the Darth Vader of media' to stand up for press freedom, while a thoughtful friend asked: 'Suppose Murdoch had a Damascene conversion and sought to atone for his many sins – would we welcome him as an ally?' Can a man whose companies have paid out more than a billion pounds for either knowingly broadcasting lies or for hacking phones be preparing to die as the Severus Snape of the media world, the final protector of press freedom? Two years ago, when Murdoch announced he was standing down (sort of), he told staff to 'make the most of this great opportunity to improve the world we live in', a line that seemed ridiculous to me at the time. Is his battle with this madman in the White House really his final chance at leaving the world a better place? Before Murdoch watchers get carried away, there are of course a number of rational and personal reasons for Murdoch's decision not to kowtow to Trump. Throughout his long career at the nexus of media and power, one thing that has been consistent is Murdoch's desire to pick the winning side. Trump's friendship with Epstein is the only issue currently close to dividing him from a Maga power base that also forms the heart of the Fox News audience. And Murdoch's enthusiasm for the former real estate mogul has never been wholehearted. After the 6 January attack on the US Capitol in 2021 he sent an email to a former executive, saying: 'We want to make Trump a nonperson.' Despite this, the support of his Fox News channel helped elect a man he has little respect for. Not only is he spreading his bets on the Epstein fallout, Murdoch is also riding two horses by allowing his respected financial news organisation to defend its reporting, while Fox continues to downplay the story over Trump's card. A newsman at his core, Murdoch is just as likely to give his editors stories as ask for them to be spiked. But Murdoch is also known to have kept a particularly respectful distance from the Journal's editorials since buying it in 2007; one called Trump's tariff plans 'the dumbest trade war in history'. Besides, defending its journalism is good for business in a landscape in which the owners of CBS cancel a hit show critical of Trump and pay millions to his presidential library just days before receiving a government blessing for a huge deal. As always with Murdoch, there is also the psychodrama of an old man whose life is closer to Shakespearean than most. Michael Wolff, responsible for several of the many books on both men, tells me that Murdoch's support for his journalists is an 'old man's revenge' after the Fox fallout divided his family and prompted an inheritance battle still playing out in the family courts. Besides, says Wolff, Murdoch wants revenge on Trump simply for winning when Murdoch did 'everything to make sure [he] didn't'. Trump's behaviour in his second term – using his powers to further any whim or grievance, and approaching absolutism – could also have revealed to Murdoch the end result of a truly free market. What is to stop Emperor Trump from stripping his commercial empire of the protection of the rule of law once the old man is gone, for example? Murdoch is undoubtedly a flawed hero. And there is a chance after all that the drawing is a hoax, as Trump insists, despite the Journal's robust defence. Murdoch's papers have been tricked before. But for now, he is the closest thing journalism has to a Trojan horse, invited into the inner sanctum yet still apparently ready to do battle. Jane Martinson is professor of financial journalism at City St George's and a member of the board of the Scott Trust, which owns the Guardian Media Group

Has Starmer forgotten which country he's running?
Has Starmer forgotten which country he's running?

Telegraph

timea day ago

  • Politics
  • Telegraph

Has Starmer forgotten which country he's running?

Keir Starmer has taken the unusual step of summoning his Cabinet back from their summer holidays for an 'emergency meeting'. What pressing matter will our rulers chew over? The public's simmering fury over unvetted migrants being given full bed and board in hotels, perhaps? Surely they'll touch on the working-class revolt against those hotels – a very English uprising that has spread from Epping up to Nottingham, Leeds and across the nation. Or maybe they'll finally get down to brass tacks on our insanely porous borders. I would certainly call it an 'emergency' when hundreds of young men with regressive beliefs are pouring into the nation day in, day out. Don't be silly. It is not for anything as trifling as Britain's own problems that ministers are cutting short their overseas jaunts. No, the emergency they'll be discussing is Gaza. The PM is arousing his ministers from their sunbed slumber to discuss the 'next steps' the Government should take to help resolve the crisis in the Middle East. Nobody doubts that what is happening in Gaza is dreadful. And yet there is something faintly ridiculous, not to mention ludicrously self-regarding, about Starmer's calling of an emergency conflab. It is a wild overestimation of modern Britain's global clout to fantasise that we might fix a bloody, complex war an entire continent away. Starmer might fancy himself as Mr Human Rights mounting his white steed to save the wretched of Gaza, but I doubt either Israel or Hamas will have time for the ponderings of a PM who can't even get his own national house in order. What about the UK, Sir Keir? Or the 'Yookay', as they call it on the internet: a disparaging term for this once proud nation that's been pummelled by the ideology of multiculturalism and the incompetence of our rubbish new ruling class. Britain feels taut with anger right now. The public is fuming over officialdom's flagrant abandonment of its most basic duty: to defend the borders. Brits feel like they're being taken for a ride. They face tougher taxes while illegal immigrants are fed and bedded in hotels. They're called racist toerags if they dare to speak about the 'grooming gang' scandal or the fact that some illegal immigrants are carrying out sexual assaults. Even the good, loving mums who hit the streets of Epping to say they don't want large numbers of men from afar mingling with their kids were damned as 'far Right'. The 'emergency' Starmer should be addressing is why some Brits can't seem to speak about our social decay without being likened to Nazis. Starmer's emergency meeting on Gaza feels like a big, shiny deflection from crises closer to home. Bereft of solutions for the problems plaguing Britain, he opts instead to pontificate on Gaza. How much easier it is to clamber on to your moral soapbox and say 'Gaza is suffering' – something everyone agrees with – than it is to overhaul Britain's own madly lax border controls or address the heartfelt concerns of millions of our citizens. This emergency meeting smacks of a showy virtue-signal designed to distract attention from the uselessness of this Government. Starmer hopes his preaching on the Gaza calamity will make him look statesmanlike for once. A true statesman, of course, sorts out his own state before wagging a finger at other states. We shouldn't be surprised. Starmer has always been more comfortable mixing with global bigwigs and holding forth on human rights than he has with listening to the 'oiks' here at home. This is the man who once said he's happier hanging out with the gold-collared superclass at the World Economic Forum in Davos than he is in that 'tribal, shouting place' of Westminster. Charming. Way to demean Britain's democratic institutions. You get the impression that this new breed of technocrat finds governing a drag. They far prefer tweeting and moral preening and soirees with super-rich moralists. This is Starmer summed up: as we approach the first anniversary of the Southport massacre and the riots that followed it, he holds an emergency meeting about a strip of land 3,000 miles away. What about this land, Sir Keir? The one where you were elected PM – remember?

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