Dr. Charles Flynn Appointed Mission Director by The Steve Menzies Global Foundation
Dr. Flynn Will Lead the Professional Training and Partnered Infrastructure Mission: Addressing Global Nursing Shortages in Developing Countries
August 11, 2020, OMAHA, NE— Steve Menzies, Founder and CEO of the global risk services firm Applied Underwriters, and Founder and Chairman of The Steve Menzies Global Foundation, today announced the appointment of Dr. Charles Flynn as Mission Director for the Foundation’s Professional Training and Partnered Infrastructure Mission to address the Global Shortage of Nurses.
“On one side of the globe sit well-established colleges where tuition increases cannot keep pace with fixed costs. Meanwhile, developing nations struggle to create professional programs, with one of the most problematic results being a shortage of nurses,” Mr. Menzies said, explaining the genesis of his idea for creating the Foundation’s Mission. “We link these issues into a mutually compatible solution that will ultimately–and permanently–improve the health of the citizens of participating developing nations.”
The Mission arranges for U.S. colleges to export their nursing curricula while monitoring quality and performance remotely. It enables students in developing countries to receive a degree from the American institution. In return, colleges increase enrollment without increasing fixed costs that otherwise come with increased on-campus enrollment. The margin provides the American institution supplementary, mission-centered income.
“It takes immensely skilled intervention to overcome the cultural, bureaucratic, and language barriers and bring the recipient countries a fully functioning, credentialed training infrastructure,” said Mr. Menzies. “Those barriers exist in the United States, and they exist in the developing countries. It requires bold thinking and creative solutions, and I know no one better qualified to successfully lead this Mission than Chuck Flynn.”
Dr. Flynn is the President Emeritus of the College of Mount Saint Vincent, where he served as President of the College from 2000 through 2020. During his tenure at Mount Saint Vincent’s, enrollment doubled and the College’s endowment increased by almost 900%.
Regarding the Mission he will direct, Dr. Flynn explained: “There are many U.S. colleges that offer a world-class nursing curriculum but lack the capability, connections, and resources to establish a program in foreign countries. We are building a model that offers colleges a new, additional, affordable way to serve international students at scale. These will be tuition-paying-students that will not add to the fixed costs of the US institution. Most importantly, this Mission can create a way for countries in need to expand high-quality educational opportunities for their citizens and build their own training infrastructure.”
The Foundation’s Professional Training and Partnered Infrastructure Mission emphasizes building towards “train-the-trainer” components that will eventually move the nation to self-sufficiency and permanency. These programs will be designed ultimately to become self-sustaining and fully independent. As the developing country builds its own infrastructure, they will see improved medical care along with a growing constellation of professional careers for their citizens.
About The Steve Menzies Global Foundation
Steve Menzies is the Founder and CEO of Applied Underwriters, a global risk services firm that helps businesses and people manage uncertainty through its business services, insurance, and reinsurance solutions. His Foundation is a global non-profit organization that takes a creative, constructive view to solving grand scale problems related to societal issues, economic issues, and intellectual advancement. The Foundation engages Bold Thinkers from its worldwide network of individuals willing to apply and generously share their energy, intellect, and resources to solve complex problems that risk going unsolved. Visit boldthinkers.org for more information.
About Dr. Charles Flynn
Dr. Charles L. Flynn, Jr. is the President Emeritus of the College of Mount Saint Vincent, where he served as President of the College from 2000 through 2020. Dr. Flynn received a B.A. from Hamilton College, an M.A. and Ph.D. from Duke University, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. A historian, Dr. Flynn is the author of White Land, Black Labor: Caste and Class in Late Nineteenth Century Georgia, and the co-editor of an award-winning volume entitled Race, Class, and Politics in Southern History. Dr. Flynn has served on the Executive Committee of both the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) and New York’s Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (CICU).
Media:
Ryan Gerding
press@boldthinkers.org