SUSAN RICKMAN

CEO, World Pediatric Project

Susan has spent most of her career working to improve the lives of children in Africa, Southeast Asia, Central America and the Caribbean. Since 2001 she has grown the World Pediatric Project from a non-profit with a $500,000 annual budget to a $19 million operation in FY 2017. WPP has provided advanced pediatric care to more than 11,000 children in Central America and the Caribbean. 

The World Pediatric Project is a Richmond based non-profit that heals critically ill children and builds healthcare capacity in the world. 

But, behind that simple description is a complex and skilled organization that has the business expertise to run a medical personnel recruiting company, a travel agency, an international logistics company, a mobile hospital, and a medical records company. It also has to raise the funds required to provide its services.  

WPP brings specialized diagnostic and surgical care directly to more than 2,000 children in 12 partner countries in remote parts of the Caribbean and Central America.  It accomplishes this by mobilizing complete medical teams covering most every pediatric sub-specialty and organizing nearly 50 trips each year for intense, weeklong visits to its partner countries. The teams come from a strong network of 24 partner hospitals.

Because of the specialized nature of the care provided by the highly skilled teams, this level of care would simply not exist for these children without WPP. 

Key to WPP’s success are the medical personnel that repeatedly give their time to the effort. For example, Dr. Moskowitz has made more than 35 trips to seven different countries in 12 years with the program.  He has treated at least 2,500 patients in the Eastern Caribbean and Central America. And he’s nowhere near finished with his work. This fall, Dr. Moskowitz will travel to St. Lucia to establish another diagnostic sweep.

OUR HOST

The New Community School
4211 Hermitage Road
Across from the Masonic Temple

The New Community School transforms lives by creating an educational environment that celebrates the strengths of dyslexia and related learning differences. The School empowers minds that think differently and inspires tomorrow’s leaders and innovators. TNCS now consists of 10 academic and administrative buildings, as well as full athletic facilities and an athletic field. We will be meeting in the gym at TNCS.