Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies

Among the many interrelated goals driving the philanthropic efforts of the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies, headquartered in New Jersey, are healthy people, a healthy planet, and a healthy future for all. Johnson & Johnson recently began working with the United Nations to reduce mortality in women and children by 2015, in accordance with two Millennium Development Goals. The Foundation Center asked Michael J. Bzdak, Director of Corporate Contributions:

What lessons has Johnson & Johnson learned so far in its health-related efforts — particularly in its work to reduce mortality in women and children — and what kinds of opportunities exist for other funders to partner with you on advancing
these goals?

"Building the health care workforce is fundamental to all of our strategies. For example, improving the health of families requires a strong, supportive network of both lay and professional health workers to span the scope of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Our health care workforce programs begin in the early years of schooling by encouraging young people to have interest in health-related careers. This work continues with support to both new health care workers and to those continuing their education in the field, as well as leadership and management training.

"Training skilled birth attendants is a focus of Johnson & Johnson efforts to reduce maternal and infant mortality. Midwives provide antenatal care and can provide lifesaving interventions for the 15 percent of births that result in often life-threatening complications. A new partnership supports the work of the Health 4+ (WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNAIDS, and the World Bank) to reduce maternal mortality by training skilled birth attendants in Ethiopia and Tanzania. Although our support is specific to skills-based training, leveraging funds and expertise from many partners enables the programs in-country to cover the scope of support for health care workers, such as advocacy, a strong health care infrastructure, adequate facilities, and health literacy for women and children. Additionally, the increased communication from working as a joint program helps to identify gaps and opportunities in the system, thus allowing the opportunity to remove barriers. More private partners joining this collaborative would add to the knowledge base and the scope of implementation.

"For all of our work, we are strongly committed to improving our partners' — and our own — capacity to measure outcomes. This dedication to measurement and evaluation is deeply embedded in our approach to philanthropy and community responsibility. While we are willing to share our thinking and approach to measurement, we welcome the opportunity to learn how other funders are engaging in this important issue."