SUNDAY CONVERSATION WITH … Helene Gayle

There is more than one prominent Atlantan who has been considered, in some circles, to be on a list for the position of U.S. surgeon general. Dr. Helene Gayle —- president and CEO of CARE, former CDC executive, epidemiologist and pediatrician —- has been mentioned as a potential candidate for the job (behind CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta). So, if offered (yes, we’re speculating wildly here), would she take it? Gayle wanted to talk a lot more about CARE’s International Women’s Day initiative this Wednesday than about future employment opportunities.

Q: With International Women’s Day coming up this week you’ve got a movie premiering, “A Powerful Noise,” which highlights the plight and empowerment of poor women in developing countries. But do you think Western women, who are dealing with their own very deep economic pain right now, will have time to focus on the pain of others halfway around the world? Or are there similarities in the suffering?

A: There are similarities. Women are the change makers in communities. Women will always invest first in their children and will make incredible sacrifices so that their children have opportunities that they don’t have. Women are the caretakers in communities around the world.

Q: Isn’t that a bit gender partisan?

A: I don’t think it is at all. If you talk to women in this country, as well as women around the world, we know that women are the culture bearers, women are the people who continue traditions throughout societies, and that if you change the life of a woman or girl, it’s a long-lasting investment not only in that person, but in their community. You know that expression, “If you teach a boy, you teach a boy. If you teach a girl, you teach a nation.” Those expressions have been around a long time for a reason.

Q: Now because of your work in public health … your name has been mentioned for surgeon general, head of the USAID, UNAIDS. And then the top job at your old employer, the CDC, is open. Which would be your dream job?

A: Right now my dream job is CARE. I haven’t quite been here three years, and I made a commitment to our board that hired me that I wanted to take what was an incredible organization and see if I can make it even more incredible. I also have a real strong commitment to doing what I can to make this [Obama] administration successful.

Q: You contributed to Barack Obama’s campaign.

A: Yes. But I think there are a lot of ways in which one can serve. I think the work we do here at CARE supports that mission of this administration.

Q: OK, you kind of went around that. I have to think you’d be open to one of those positions, particularly USAID or surgeon general?

A: Again, I think there are a lot of positions that could make a contribution. I remain open to thinking about other possibilities. But for now this is where I’ve made a commitment.

Q: OK, well. Let’s talk about aid to developing countries. We know that is CARE’s mission and that you’ve got a huge focus on Africa. But there are a growing number of thinkers who say aid is not the way to go because it can be co-opted by corrupt governments. They say that the way to truly help Africa is through supporting entrepreneurs.

A: I think there are countries that are so poor that it is unrealistic to think they will be able to do all that’s necessary without some external assistance. On the other hand, I think it’s looking at comprehensive approaches and not believing that there’s one magic bullet. It’s looking at what’s the right mix of things.

Q: So with this country in such economic crisis, and people slipping deeper and deeper financially, is there anything you’ve learned in your aid work abroad that could be applied here? We need all the help we can get.

A: Our [CARE’s] roots have always been international, but what we try to do is share our expertise; can we bring the lessons that we’ve learned overseas back home to our own country? As an example, [Atlanta] Mayor Shirley Franklin went on a trip with me, just over a year ago, looking at some of the work we do in India. She was incredibly impressed by some of the micro-finance and wondered, “Could we be doing some of those sort of programs here?” So there are a lot of lessons learned about how you do community development, how you give people the capacity to bring about change in their communities, that in some ways we do better outside of the United States than we do inside of the United States.

Q: There are two things people say we’ll never cure: poverty and AIDS. Your life’s work has been about both. So is your work ultimately about mitigation rather than eradication?

A: I think it is possible to believe that one day we will be able to eliminate the extreme, grinding poverty that we see. In a world as rich as ours, even in the midst of this economic downturn, we could do more, we could do better if we had the will. … At the end of the day, we have safety nets here that just don’t exist for people who are living in the poorest of circumstances around the world. We are their only safety net. It’s not in our interest to have countries who are already facing incredible poverty get poorer, have more food crises, have more violence, have more instability. It is in our interest to continue to try to improve the lives of the poorest of the poor because what affects one part of the globe ultimately will affect us as well.

Q: You’ve talked about your parents’ divorce and growing up with a mom who battled severe mental illness. So who taught you to be a self-reliant woman?

A: My mother. She did have chronic mental illness, but she was one of the most incredibly strong, intelligent, articulate women I know. She raised five independent, incredibly successful children. The story of my mother is the story of a woman who had chronic mental illness but who despite that was able to raise us, give back to her family, give back to her community.