mothers2mothers
Healthy Women, Healthy Families, Healthier World
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The African continent is facing a preventable health crisis that is fueled by inequity. Vulnerable African women and children are being hit the hardest, and African communities are unable to reach their full social and economic potential. For example: access to health care remains a critical issue. Over 600 million people across the African continent (52% of the population) cannot access the health care they need. Two out of three mothers who die during pregnancy or birth are from sub-Saharan Africa, and the majority of these deaths are preventable. Across the region, girls and young women (ages 15-24) are three times more likely to acquire HIV compared to their male peers. Furthermore, diseases that we know how to prevent or treat, like HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, cervical cancer, and diabetes, are having a devastating impact on communities across the continent.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT)
m2m employs women living with HIV as community health workers, known as Mentor Mothers, to provide health services, education, and support to women, their partners, and their families in health centers, households, and communities. Mentor Mothers promote uptake of HIV testing, treatment, and other health services, retaining clients in care along the PMTCT cascade and improving adherence to treatment. They support clients living with HIV through pregnancy and breastfeeding, and until their children have their final 18 - 24 month HIV test and are no longer at risk of contracting HIV. They also provide education and support to HIV-negative individuals to prevent new infections. m2m has achieved virtual elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV for nine consecutive years, with a transmission rate of just 0.5% in 2022.
Early childhood development (ECD)
Evidence from studies on the impact of HIV on exposed children demonstrates that they are particularly vulnerable to developmental delays, compromised health, mortality, and emotional adjustment. m2m is committed to ensuring that every child not only survives, but thrives. Good quality early childhood care is key to optimal development. ECD programming can be a powerful equalizer. Mentor Mothers provide an essential package of services at home, in communities, and at health centers, supporting parents and caregivers to understand the importance of nurturing a child's development. This intensive intervention is designed to improve children's cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, motor, and language development, and physical growth. Furthermore, by engaging mothers through a child's early years, m2m is able to support them to stay on treatment, or regularly test for their viral load.
Pediatric care and support
m2m Mentor Mothers are trained to identify children who are at risk of HIV at health facilities and in communities; link them to testing, care, and treatment; and deliver ongoing follow up and adherence support to their families.
Adolescent Health and Positive Youth Development
Tackling HIV among adolescent girls and young women is critical to ending HIV, as this population bears a disproportionate burden of the epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. m2m provides peer-led, age-appropriate services to adolescents in safe and confidential environments, including: promoting access to sexual and reproductive health services and HIV testing, treatment, and PMTCT services; building their skills and competencies; and fostering healthy relationships and greater resiliency through role modeling and involving youth in decision-making. We also improve the health and well-being of orphans and vulnerable children and adolescents by supporting them to access health services and stay on treatment, and strengthening the capacity of families and communities to care for these young people.
Reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (RMNCH)
In contact with their clients over an extensive period of time, m2m Mentor Mothers provide essential RMNCAH services. This includes linkages to care and referrals for essential health services, including sexual and reproductive health and family planning, promotion of safe childbirth, and postnatal care. For children, m2m provides services and referrals to prevent and treat childhood illnesses, including nutrition education and delivering immunizations, and identify young children with disabilities and advocate for their care. We also promote education enrollment and retention as well as strengthen economic well-being and food security to build resilient households.
Non-communicable diseases and other preventable health conditions
m2m provides education, screenings, and referrals on a wide-range of diseases that frequently occur alongside HIV and in settings of marginalization and poverty, including diabetes, hypertension, cervical cancer, tuberculosis, and malaria. In some countries we go further and offer clinical services in these areas, such as testing and ongoing management of conditions.
Special populations
In line with our commitment to double down on HIV, we provide targeted health services and education to groups where there are high numbers of new HIV infections and additional health risks such as male partners of existing clients, internally displaced people, female sex workers, and men who have sex with men (MSM).
Where we work
Awards
Africa Regional Social Entrepreneurs of 2009 2009
Schwab Foundation
Award for Social Entrepreneurship 2008
Skoll Foundation
Platinum Award for Innovation 2007
Impumelelo
Social Innovation Award Winners 2021
Classy.org
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of clients served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Infants and toddlers, People with HIV/AIDS, Adults, Adolescents, Children
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
In 2022, m2m reached a total of 1,212,244 new and returning clients through direct services, eServices, and technical assistance.
Mother-to-child transmission rate of HIV among clients
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Infants and toddlers, People with HIV/AIDS
Related Program
Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT)
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
For the 9th consecutive year, m2m achieved virtual elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, with a transmission rate of 0.50% in 2022.
Number of women living with HIV employed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
People with HIV/AIDS
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
As of the end of 2023, m2m employed 910 frontline staff living with HIV as community health workers across 10 sub-Saharan African countries.
Percentage of m2m clients who were tested for HIV
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Pregnant people, People with HIV/AIDS
Related Program
Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT)
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
95% of m2m clients who are women (ages 15-49) tested for HIV in 2022, compared to a benchmark of 86% in sub-Saharan Africa. (Source: UNAIDS)
Percentage of babies enrolled in our early childhood development program who achieved all of their developmental milestones.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Infants and toddlers
Related Program
Early childhood development (ECD)
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
98% of children receiving m2m early childhood development (ECD) services reached their developmental milestones at 12 months.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
mothers2mothers (m2m) is an African primary health care organization that employs women living with HIV as community health workers across 10 African nations. These Mentor Mothers deliver integrated health services at clinics and in communities to ensure everyone, everywhere has access to the services they need to be healthy and stay in care. Through our ambitious 2022-2026 strategic plan, this proven, peer-led model is being scaled up to double down on ending HIV, as well as to tackle new health challenges that put people living with HIV at greater risk and reach more people with the aim of building a fairer, healthier future. The employment of local women as community health workers means that we are delivering a model that prioritizes health care for families who need it most, delivered by women who know them best.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
For more than two decades, m2m has demonstrated the power of community-based female leaders to respond to the exact needs of communities, by employing women living with HIV as community health workers who are known as Mentor Mothers. Through employment and the status afforded by their role as health workers, Mentor Mothers become role models and leaders. They are valuable, sought-after resources in their communities who inspire and lift up other women to take actions that benefit the health and well-being of themselves and their families, creating a ripple effect of real and tangible change.
The power of the model is it not only reaches over one million women, children, adolescents, and families each year with life-changing services and education, it also creates vital economic empowerment opportunities for women. Employment as Mentor Mothers enables women to have a bigger voice in their families and in their communities, and take more control of their lives, health, and future.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
m2m has spent more than 20 years refining our peer-based training curriculum and tools that teach women how to catalyze change and reinforce healthy choices through their own life experiences. Our program has been highlighted as best practice by UNAIDS, UNICEF, USAID, and others, and was recognized as a key strategy in the United Nation's Global Plan towards the Elimination of New HIV Infections among Children by 2015 and Keeping their Mothers Alive (Global Plan). For years, m2m has been a trusted partner to other non-profit organizations and national and local governments. Governments across Africa have recognized the success of m2m's model and have worked to embed the approach in national policy in Kenya, South Africa, and Mozambique, among others.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since m2m began in 2001, we have created jobs for nearly 12,000 women living with HIV as community health workers. Together, they have reached more than 15 million individuals with life-changing health services and education, and helped keep more than two million at-risk women and children alive who otherwise might be at risk of maternal and child mortality. In 2022, the first year of implementation of our strategic plan, we were proud to deliver exciting results: achieving continued impact at scale; contributing to the Global Goal of ending HIV, including meeting or surpassing all of UNAIDS ambitious 2025 targets designed to bring the AIDS epidemic under control; improving health and opportunity for women and families; and making notable progress in addressing health challenges that pose greater risks to individuals living with HIV, such as tuberculosis, cervical cancer, and malaria.
Among the highlights in 2022:
- We achieved virtual elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV among our enrolled clients for the 9th consecutive year, with a transmission rate of just 0.5% in 2022.
- Only 0.45% of m2m clients who were HIV-negative when enrolled in our program contracted HIV in 2022, the third consecutive year that we achieved a decline and 5.12 times lower than the global benchmark of 2.3%. (UNICEF)
- 91% of our client reported consistent condom use, critical for preventing HIV and other STIs, and as an element of family planning.
- 98% of children receiving m2m early childhood development services achieved all of their developmental milestones at 12 months.
- 142,510 m2m clients were pre-screen for tuberculosis (TB) in 2022, almost twice as many as in 2021. In addition, 100% of m2m clients who tested positive for TB were linked to treatment.
- 96% of m2m clients referred for cervical pre-cancer screening in Lesotho agreed to proceed with the procedure (specifically, visual inspection with acetic acid) compared to 34% in 2021, and 100% of clients diagnosed with cervical pre-cancer were linked to treatment.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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mothers2mothers
Board of directorsas of 02/29/2024
Colin Freund
MODRA Pharmaceuticals
Mitch Besser
mothers2mothers (Founder)
Frank Beadle de Palomo
mothers2mothers (CEO, non-voting)
Colleen Hancock
Advisor and Mentor
Kate Schachern
Consultant
Ariel Knowles
Finance Professional & Consultant
Terry Peigh
Marketing Communications Consultant, Advisor
Meena Ravella
Advisor & Consultant
Karin Norington-Reaves
Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership
Modupe Odusote
Visual Artist | Human Resources Consultant
Neena Patil
Jazz Pharmaceuticals
Katy Digovich
Co-founder and CEO, Minutia
Loretta Kelly
Director of Strategic Marketing, Blue Diamond Growers
Robin Smalley
Co-founder, m2m
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
Transgender Identity
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data