Position: Chief executive, Global Impact, an Alexandria-based nonprofit that raises funds to meet humanitarian needs around the world.
Discrimination against his interracial family in the 1960s opened Scott Jackson’s eyes as a youth. He developed a strong interest in cultures and even lived among the native Maori people of New Zealand where he developed a passion for global issues. After working for a congressman, starting his own trade and development company, he entered the nonprofit sector working on global health issues such as efforts to curb meningitis and HIV.
What was your proudest work in humanitarian affairs?
I was in Vietnam at a local clinic, where PATH [a global health nonprofit] had been involved as the technical partner to help the government support efforts with local clinics. We were there on a child immunization day. The woman doctor approached me and said, “Let me tell you why it’s so important that PATH is here today. You have brought us new ways to vaccinate our children. You brought us new ways to dispose of our needles. And because we have the new products and knowledge of how to use them, now our people are not only healthier but more economically viable.” She could see the work right there on the ground that directly impacted several thousand people.
What was your greatest asset to that project?
I helped raise the funds and the attention here in the United States that allowed that project to take place. It was the education, marketing and fundraising, and forming strategic partnerships.
How do you raise money?
I try to meet donors where they are. What’s important to them? What are they trying to accomplish in the world and how can I help as a fundraiser to support that? Instead of asking them to invest in things I care about, I really want to stop with anybody and ask what’s important to you?
What skills does it take to be a leader in the global health field?
One is to have a sense of humility in understanding that people come from different perspectives in life. You can’t judge people on the conditions you find them in. Every human life has meaning. I think you have to realize that everyone deserves a right to realize their full potential.
— Interview with Vanessa Small
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