PUBLIC HEALTH and Physician Leader
Evidence-Based and Pragmatic Change for the Next Generation
Working at the intersection of academics and public policy, Dr. Kerry is driving change to improve health, livelihoods and wellbeing for millions. As a mother of two, she is keenly aware that we are stewards of this world for the next generation.
Work
Seed Global Health
Dr. Kerry is the co-founder and CEO of Seed Global Health.
Seed Global Health (Seed is challenging the status quo. As a social enterprise working across four countries and with global partners, we are united in the belief that quality, dignified healthcare can and should be accessible for all. We have seen firsthand how dedication, discipline, and long-term investments in the health workforce can improve health outcomes in any setting.
Working with governments across sub-Saharan Africa, Seed seeks to catalyze and inspire lasting change in the public health systems of our partner countries. We help to train nurses, midwives, and physicians (over 47,000 to date) in service to over 76 million people and who build complete health workforce teams that can provide high-quality care and save lives no matter the challenge be it climate change, pandemics or basic needs.
To improve health, we know that you must start with people, partner deeply and commit for the long-term. To catalyze change at this scale, there simply are no short cuts or quick fixes. Through our work, we imagine audaciously and act ambitiously to not only treat today’s problems but solve for tomorrow’s.
Seed currently works in Uganda, Malawi, Zambia and Sierra Leone and in partnership with the World Health Organization, the World Bank, the Africa CDC, the COP Presidencies and many others.
World Health Organization Special Envoy
In June 2023, Dr. Kerry was appointed the Director General 's Special Envoy for Climate Change and Health for the World Health Organization.
The role recognizes the growing importance of the global conversation on climate change and health and the need for urgent action. Already 7 million people die a year from air pollution, more than in the entire COVID pandemic and 1 in 4 deaths globally are attributable to a preventable environmental cause.
In this new role, Dr. Kerry will play a pivotal role to amplify the WHO’s high-level climate change and health agenda. Her role will entail —
- Amplifying WHO's climate and health messaging, disseminating WHO's crucial messages on the significance of climate change and health, influential figures, and policymakers to ignite a widespread understanding and sense of urgency;
- Supporting WHO’s work and engaging in the work of global and regional organizations and national governments, in line with WHO's expert guidance;
- Harmonizing discussions between the WHO and key global and regional organizations and national governments, to ensure strengthened communication and alignment of priorities;
- Fostering the adoption and adaptation of WHO's recommendations, while considering the unique contexts of local, national, and regional circumstances;
- Providing strategic advice to the Director-General and decision-makers, strengthening WHO's position as a trusted and authoritative source of information and support, aligning with WHO's own guidance; and
- Mobilizing resources to advance the work of WHO, seeking out new partners and influential figures, including prominent personalities, recognizing their potential to lend their expertise and resources to amplify WHO's initiatives.
This role is highly informed by Dr. Kerry’s on-the-ground experience in her role as CEO of Seed Global Health, an organization that is being increasingly called upon by its Ministry of Health partners to engage in developing new climate-smart strategies for building the health workforce they need to withstand future shocks.
Massachusetts General Hospital
At MGH, Dr. Kerry is a critical care trained physician. Her role as a physician provides an important reminder of the complexity of dignified and quality care that everyone deserves - regardless of background or means. In addition, she serves as a Director of the program in Global Health Policy the MGH Center of Global Health. Building on MGH’s 200 year commitment to education, knowledge generation and care, and driven by the belief that everyone, everywhere has a right to good health, the Center of Global Health partners with diverse communities to exchange life-saving ideas, catalyze scientific discoveries, deliver compassionate care, and train the next generation of leaders in global health.
Global Health and Public Policy at the Department of Environmental Health
Dr. Kerry is the Director of Global Health and Climate Policy in the Department of Environmental Health. Joining the faculty at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Fall of 2024, she teaches on Climate, Health, and Public Policy.
We all can help in the face of this crisis
Climate Change and Health
The climate crisis is a health crisis. According to the WHO, one in four of the world’s deaths are from preventable environmental causes. Climate change is expected to contribute to an additional 250,000 deaths each year, many of which are preventable with timely and appropriate care.
Recent Media
STAT News | November 2024
Dr. Kerry is interviewed by Nicholas St Fleur of STAT News and shares why climate change is our greatest threat and the ways we can respond better to protect our security and well being. Read here
The Guardian | November 2023
"The reality is we’re dying every day from what’s happening … from extreme weather. I just really feel so strongly that we are fighting for our future. And it’s not just about my kids’ future. It’s quite candidly about yours, mine and everybody who’s alive today, here, now." Read the interview and article: Read here
Devex Fireside Chat @ UN General Assembly| September 2023
Dr. Kerry is interviewed by Raj Kumar of Devex and shares why climate change is our greatest health threat and the opportunity to respond. Watch here
JAMA | September 2023
Dr. Kerry is profiled and shares why climate change is our greatest health threat. Read here
My Climate Journey | August 2023
Dr. Kerry speaks about the critical moment we are living in, and why climate change is threatening our health. Listen here
The Lancet | August 2023
Read Dr. Kerry's profile in The Lancet.
“We are facing a profoundly urgent time…Climate change is the single greatest threat to humanity. And the way we experience that primarily and most intimately is through health. I think that we don’t do enough to acknowledge that as a global community or to recognise or remedy that."
Dr Vanessa Kerry appointed as WHO Director-General Special Envoy for Climate Change and Health | Jun
"I am honoured to serve as the WHO Director-General Special Envoy for Climate Change and Health. The climate crisis is a health crisis – it poses a fundamental threat to global health, and urgent action is needed to mitigate and adapt against this complex challenge. "
The Telegraph | September 2022
Dr. Kerry is profiled in The Telegraph.
“It is 2022 and it is fundamentally unacceptable that there are still two standards of care...We have seen in the face of pandemics that weak health systems including underinvestment in the health workforce affects not only the health of Africa but that of the world. The status quo is no longer acceptable.”
For further media...
To see more of recent media or check out Seed Global Health
Recent Publications
Health Workforce as a Climate and Health Priority
With Jessica Clarke, Iris Blom and Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum
Climate change is escalating the demand on health workers and health systems to deliver the entire range of essential public health functions. We examine how the health workforce is incorporated into NDCs and provide recommendations for strengthening their inclusion. We hope that this analysis will aid countries in preparing their updated NDCs for 2025 and beyond.
Climate Action is Pandemic Resilience | BMJ | January 2025
With Priya Basu, Executive Director of the Pandemic Fund
Experts predict there is at least a 50% chance of another covid-like pandemic occurring in the next 25 years, and this risk is exacerbated by climate change
Addressing the unmet need: US leadership on climate and health | Lancet | Dec 2024
With Drs. Megan Ranney and Andrea Baccarelli, Dr. Kerry
describes the critical opportunity for U.S. leadership to advance robust global public health systems that can meet the health challenges escalating from climate change. The article outlines critical investments for the incoming Administration and policy makers to address the health crisis from climate change... Read more
Climate change is one of our biggest health threats – humanity faces a staggering toll unless we act
With Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, Head of the WHO, and Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, COP28 President-Designate, Dr. Kerry writes about the urgency we face to address climate change, mitigate harm by reducing fossil fuel use, and investing in adaptation and resilient health systems ... Read more
Leaders need to pay attention to crossroads of climate change, health security | STAT | Jan 18 2023
It doesn’t make sense to talk about climate change without talking about health. Poor health is a key component of vulnerability and many of the world’s poorest and most politically fragile nations lie at the center of a climate-health-security crossroads. ... Read more
Partnering to Build Human Resources for Health Capacity in Africa | IJHPM | Jul 2022
A Descriptive Review of the Global Health Service Partnership’s Innovative Model for Health Professional Education and Training From 2013-2018... Read more
When we talk about the climate, we need to talk about health | The Times | Nov 15 2021
The urgency with which we address the climate agenda must not wane, even as the streets of Glasgow return to normal following Cop26.... Read more
Twin crises of climate change & pandemics require global investment | The Boston Globe | Nov 5 2021
Strong health systems, founded on a robust and well-trained workforce, can undergird both climate resilience and pandemic preparedness... Read more
Health care workers: catalysts for improvement, not costs to the system | STAT News | Oct 14 2021
The White House Covid Summit recently convened world leaders, multilateral organizations, global health experts, and the private sector to address the pandemic... Read more
In Africa's COVID-19 Response, Strive, Don't Settle | Think Global Health @ CFR | September 2020
The world is pouring money into battling COVID-19 in Africa, but in the race to triage with stopgap solutions, we risk missing a critical opportunity...Read more
More....
To read more in the interim, check out publications as well as media at Seed Global Health
Speeches and Events (available online)
Accelerating Climate Adaptation for Health Equity | UN General Assembly Week: September 20, 2023
Addressing health effects caused by climate change will require collective mobilization, particularly with respect to funding. The health sector has not been a target of climate financing, with a negligible fraction of global health funding aligning with climate adaptation. Dr. Kerry speaks a high-level event hosted by Foreign Policy, Foundation S, and Africa-Europe Foundation (AEF) to spotlight the health challenges posed by climate change and to advance the conversation on the financing required to support climate adaptation in order to achieve health equity.
Watch here (Dr. Kerry's panel at 31:34)
Putting Health at the Heart of Climate Action | World Economic Forum | January 18, 2023
Climate change has a direct impact on physical and mental health, with more than half of known infectious diseases worsened by rising temperatures and 20 million individuals displaced each year as a result of weather-related events. What steps are needed to place health at the heart of climate action and protect individuals globally? Dr. Kerry joins Cheryl Moore, Wellcome Trust, Victor Dzau, Head of the National Academy of Medicine, Paul Hudson, CEO Sanofi, Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF to respond. Watch here
From the Front Lines: How to Move from COVID-19 to Health for All | UNGA Week: September 23, 2020
Why investments and health matters for COVID and beyond. An introduction to the need for comprehensive health care investments in human reources for health as presented by His Excellency the Honorable Vice President Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh of the Republic of Sierra Leone. Watch here
USCF Masters in Science in Global Health Graduation | July 30, 2020
The need for new leadership and investing in wellbeing. Watch here
Leaders Driving Change | UNGA 2018
Watch here now
The Vision for Seed | TedX Boston | June 12, 2013
Watch here now
More posting soon...
For further examples, please visit Seed Global Health
Initiatives and communities
Frontline Health Care Workers Coalition
FHCW Coalition believses that every community should have access to health workers trained and supported to provide all essential health services and to prevent, detect, and respond to new and emerging health threats.
Young Global Leaders (Alum) | World Economic Forum
The mission of the Forum of Young Global Leaders is to create a dynamic global community of exceptional people with the vision, courage and influence to drive positive change in the world.
Draper Richard Kaplan Social Entrepreneur (Alum)
The Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation is a global venture philanthropy firm supporting early stage, high impact social enterprises. We believe that with early funding and rigorous support, exceptional leaders, tackling some of society’s most complex problems, can make the world a better place.