Honest Feedback

Who is going to run the Foundation?

As Derek Yach is gone, who is going to run the Foundation and what legitimacy/competence (if any) do they have. A closer look at the experience and background of each of the present members of the board of directors does not provide any reason to trust them to promote tobacco harm reduction. Indeed they were recruited by Derek (see our post about the evolution of the board  and our post about the compensation and average time devoted by each board member to the Foundation work, according to the most recent, 2020, 990 form, scroll to page 56 of the pdf ) but he was really the only reason they came in. See below for yourself.

What I know about the origins of the Foundation

Here is what I know of the origins of the Foundation, from my reading of Derek's book, Project Unthinkable,  (how many people read it? in my opinion, very few). Interesting to revisit now that Derek is out. Of course the present Board Directors had nothing to do with the creation and very little with its operation, despite a hefty compensation for very little work. But who cares...

The original contact with PMI came from a lawyer who had previously worked for BAT and he had met while he was with WHO, during tobacco control hearings in 1999 (page 73): she sent him an email on May 5, 2015 (page 170), a few months after the opinion he had published in the British magazine The Spectator, on February 21 2915, 'E-cigarettes save lives" (pages 164 to 170 but I could not find the original article).

One week after her email, they met in London (page 172) and at the end of the month two PMI executives traveled to Connecticut for a meeting with Derek and invited him to visit them in Switzerland (page 173 to 177). He agreed and met for two hours with PMI CEO, André Calantzopoulos (page 179 to 182).

I could not find details about how from this first meeting in June 2015 (?) was worked out the project of the Foundation. Derek mentions several public statements by Calantzopoulos about transitioning PMI out of combustibles (in August 2016, in November 2016 for the launch of IQOS, page 185, in the spring of 2017 in Dubai at a PMI event that Derek attended). At that time Derek writes he expected a job offer and he accepted when Calantzopoulos showed him the 6 pages draft about the Foundation (page 188). Looking at his linkedin profile shows he transitioned from Chief Health Officer with Vitality in March 2017 to consultant for Vitality for six months, until August 2017, when he accepted PMI's offer.

Derek is out. What is left?

Nobody will believe the press release (copied below as well). 

“After careful consideration, the Board has determined that now is the right time for a new leader to guide the essential efforts of the Foundation, its team and its work with partners around the world,” said Pamela Parizek, Chair of the Foundation’s Board of Directors.

As you know the board has zero credibility and the same goes for the staff. Derek leaving with deep satisfaction?

What's left of his unthinkable project? 

What a waste of resources :( :( and what is the true story behind Derek's departure?

FOUNDATION FOR A SMOKE-FREE WORLD ANNOUNCES LEADERSHIP TRANSITION

NEW YORK, Oct. 25, 2021 – Foundation for a Smoke-Free World today announced that Dr. Derek Yach will no longer serve as President and Board Director. Heidi Goldstein, General Counsel, and David Janazzo, CFO and EVP of Operations and Finance, will serve as Interim Co-Presidents, effective immediately, while the Board conducts a search for a new President to lead the foundation and its vital mission forward.

“After careful consideration, the Board has determined that now is the right time for a new leader to guide the essential efforts of the Foundation, its team and its work with partners around the world,” said Pamela Parizek, Chair of the Foundation’s Board of Directors. “As we continue to take urgent action to accelerate progress toward ending smoking in this generation, we look forward to this opportunity to take the Foundation to the next level of achievement. The Foundation remains squarely focused on its mission to improve global health by reducing death and disease caused by smoking, and Heidi and David, together with the rest of our talented team, will continue advancing our global research grantmaking, range of innovative programs and powerful public health collaborations without interruption.”

Ms. Parizek continued, “On behalf of the Board, I want to thank Derek for helping to establish and build the Foundation. We deeply appreciate the contributions he has made to this team’s work and to communities around the world through decades of ground-breaking efforts in tobacco control and public health. We wish him all the best.”

Dr. Yach commented, “The Foundation’s ongoing work to end the world’s largest single preventable cause of death could not be more needed today. I leave the Foundation with deep satisfaction that we now have an emerging cadre of hundreds of researchers, advocates and industry scientists dedicating themselves to this goal. My future efforts aim to complement them.”

ABOUT FOUNDATION FOR A SMOKE-FREE WORLD

The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World is an independent, U.S. nonprofit 501(c)(3) private foundation with the purpose of improving global health by ending smoking in this generation. The Foundation supports its mission through three core pillars: Health, Science, and Technology; Agriculture and Livelihoods; and Industry Transformation. Funded by annual gifts from PMI Global Services Inc. (“PMI”), the Foundation is independent from PMI and operates in a manner that ensures its independence from any commercial entity. For more information about the Foundation, please visit www.smokefreeworld.org.

Contact:

Nicole Bradley

Foundation for a Smoke-Free World

[email protected]