mothers2mothers
Healthy Women, Healthy Families, Healthier World
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Africa’s health systems are under tremendous strain. According to the World Health Organization, the continent has a shortage of 4.2 million healthcare workers, and by 2030 that figure will increase to 6.1 million. As a result, there are significant challenges to ensuring those who need healthcare can access services, remain in care, and adhere to their treatment. This is a major contributor to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa where over 400 children are infected with HIV each day, and nearly 7,000 adolescent girls and young women infected globally each week, the majority of whom live in the region. Other factors include HIV-related stigma and discrimination still prevalent in many African communities, and a lack of accurate health information. Meanwhile, maternal and child mortality rates remain high – usually attributable to entirely preventable causes.
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)
Using a family-centered approach, m2m employs Mentor Mothers to engage women, their partners, and their families in health centers, households and communities. Mentor Mothers promote uptake of HIV testing and other health services, retaining clients in care along the PMTCT cascade, and improving adherence to treatment. Mentor Mothers support HIV-positive clients through pregnancy and breastfeeding, and until their children have their final 18—24 month HIV test and are no longer at risk of infection. They also educate high risk HIV-negative women on how to remain negative.
Early Childhood Development
Consistent evidence from studies on the impact of HIV on HIV-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. Specially trained Mentor Mothers provide an essential package of services at home and in communities, 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
By engaging mothers through a child’s early years, m2m is able to support them to stay on treatment, or regularly test for their own viral load.
Pediatric Care and Support
We work to prevent mother-to-child transmission and also help children who are already infected or exposed. Using a family-centred approach, Mentor Mothers are trained to identify HIV-positive and HIV-exposed children at health facilities and in communities, link them to care and treatment, and deliver ongoing follow up and adherence support to the children and their families.
Adolescent Health and Positive Youth Development
Preventing infection among adolescents, which studies show are at the highest risk, is critical to achieving an HIV-free generation. m2m provides age-appropriate, sensitive, and empathetic support to adolescents in safe and confidential environments, promoting access to sexual and reproductive health services, building their skills and competencies, and fostering healthy relationships and greater resiliency through role modeling and involving youth in decision making. We employ adolescent peer mentors to do this in spaces such as youth clubs and via support groups in schools, communities, and health facilities.
Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH)
In contact with their clients over an extensive period of time, Mentor Mothers provide essential RMNCAH services. They include linkages to care and referrals for family planning, cervical cancer screening, child immunization, GBV support, neonatal male circumcision, malaria, nutrition, and TB.
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 2021, mothers2mothers reached 1,630,558 new and returning clients through direct services and technical assistance provided to partners, a 22 percent increase over 2020.
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
mothers2mothers achieved virtual elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV among our enrolled clients for 8 consecutive years, with a transmission rate of just 0.7% in 2021.
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
mothers2mothers employed 1,866 women living with HIV at community health workers in 2021, a 10 percent increase over 2020—creating economic well-being for women who are often marginalised.
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
97% of m2m’s pregnant clients at health facilities were tested for HIV, compared to the 91% benchmark for Eastern and Southern Africa.
Number of adolescent girls and women who receive HIV counseling and testing
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Preteens
Related Program
Adolescent Health and Positive Youth Development
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
mothers2mothers reached 402,616 adolescents (ages 10-19) in 2021, a 51% increase from 2020.
Percentage of babies (ages 0-9 months) enrolled in our Early Childhood Development program who achieved all their developmental milestones at 9 months of age.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Infants and toddlers
Related Program
Early Childhood Development
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
99% of children enrolled in mothers2mothers' ECD program achieved their developmental milestones by their first birthday in countries where we provide integrated ECD services.
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?
m2m's mission is to eliminate pediatric AIDS and create healthy families and communities by training, employing, and empowering HIV-positive mothers as frontline healthcare workers. Their intimate understanding of the social and cultural challenges of living with HIV gives these Mentor Mothers a unique ability to form trusted relationships with other women, vital to helping them access and stay on treatment for the best possible health outcomes for themselves and their families. Furthermore, by placing Mentor Mothers in critically understaffed health centres, we provide much needed support to doctors and nurses so that they have more capacity to focus on clinical work. And by employing community-based Mentor Mothers to reach women who have not engaged in the health system at their homes, we strive to make sure all at risk women have the education and support they need to access lifesaving medical care for themselves and their families.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
At the heart of the Mentor Mother Model are the people most impacted by the HIV/AIDS pandemic – HIV-positive African women. Their personal experiences of challenges such as stigma and gender dynamics make them highly effective role models and behaviour change agents. Unlike the hurried doctors and nurses who work at Africa's understaffed health centres, m2m's Mentor Mothers can take as much time as necessary to help their clients overcome their shock and fear of testing HIV positive. They also reach out into communities to reach women who have not accessed medical care or who have stopped their treatment. By sharing similar backgrounds, cultural values, and even language, Mentor Mothers are able to develop intimate and trusted relationships with the women they serve. Their empathy and understanding gives other women the strength to overcome fears of stigma and discrimation and take steps that are critical to keeping themselves and their babies healthy, including disclosing their status to their families.
Equally important, Mentor Mothers are able to leverage the trusted relationships they form with their clients to tackle broader health issues and keep women engaged in the health system and on treatment over the long term, including cervical cancer, child immunisation, family planning, gender-based violence, neonatal male circumision, malari, nutrition, and TB.
m2m also engages mothers through early childhood development (ECD) services, a high intensive intervention delivered by specially-trained Mentor Mothers in homes to ensure that children thrive and that mothers stay in treatment and test their children for HIV. And when they reach reproductive age, m2m addresses the unique challenges faced by adolescents by providing the skills and knoweldge necessary to them to make the right choices. It is only then that the terrible cycle of paediatric AIDS will be broken and an HIV-free generation can become a reality.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
m2m has spent more than 15 years refining our peer mentor–based training curriculum and tools that teach women how to catalyse change and reinforce healthy choices through their own life experiences. Our programme was recognised 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 organisations and national and local governments, and is currently providing technical assistance to the governments of Kenya and South Africa to establish national Mentor Mother programmes in order to ensure even more mothers and children are getting the comprehensive services they need for the best health outcomes.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
An external evaluation of m2m's Mentor Mother Model found that it reduces mother-to-child transmission of HIV, improves maternal and infant health outcomes and psychosocial wellbeing, and saves significant money through averted HIV treatment costs. In addition, m2m's most recent Annual Evaluation found that m2m has achieved, on average, the virtual elimination of paediatric AIDS among m2m clients, according to the UN guidelines that defines elimination as a transmission rate of less than 5%.
Our goal is for all women delivering babies in the countries we serve receive Mentor Mother services, as we feel that all pregnant women could benefit from the support and education that the programme provides. Currently, 1 in 4 women delivering in countries where m2m has a presence received support and education from a Mentor Mother.
We are also working to make sure that our clients are retained in care over the long-term, and at the very least until their babies reach 18 months when they have their final HIV test and are no longer at risk of infection. Retention is a challenge facing all organisations that work in this space. We have been improving our retention rates, and expect to continue to do so through our new community engagement programme and by offering expanded services to engage women and their families in healthcare over the long term.
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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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 10/03/2022
Colin Freund
MODRA Pharmaceuticals
Laura Bartlett
American Association of Advertising Agencies (Retired CFO/COO)
Leslie Brunner
Devoted Health
Mitch Besser
mothers2mothers (Founder)
Frank Beadle de Palomo
mothers2mothers (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
Mojisola Rotibi
Consultant
Karin Norington-Reaves
Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership
Modupe Odusote
Visual Artist | Human Resources Consultant
Neena Patil
Jazz Pharmaceuticals
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
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Gender identity
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Sexual orientation
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Disability
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