Mission: Global Good

BY JACK ROTH

When a professional loss left him in a “difficult place,” Scott Marcello found a cause for both personal healing and service devotion — health care in sub-Saharan Africa.

Listen to Scott Marcello ’84, MAcc ’85, and the work he does sounds like a natural part of being an engaged global citizen. Yet, in reality, it goes so far beyond.

Marcello is president of African Mission Healthcare, where he has dedicated himself to leading the transformation of health systems in Africa. That alone can fairly be considered a herculean task.

Further, from his office in DeLand, not far from the Stetson campus (and often from the road), Marcello works tirelessly not only regarding health care, but also to realize overarching positive change for all people of sub-Saharan Africa.

Look at a map. The potential sphere of influence is huge. The AMH story began with two men not named Scott Marcello — a missionary medical doctor, Jon Fielder, and his good friend Mark Gerson. Together, they saw the value of Christian mission hospitals in providing high-quality, compassionate health care for the hurting and forgotten across sub-Saharan Africa, a region, geographically, that encompasses all African countries that are fully or partially located south of the Sahara Desert.

Starting in 2002, Fielder and Gerson gradually expanded their efforts, working with a greater number of hospitals and becoming involved in additional projects. During fall 2010, they launched African Mission Healthcare, or AMH. Among the initial goals was to attract others to their cause.

Marcello was one such person. “My wife, Dené, and I met Dr. Fielder in 2006 during a shortterm mission trip to Kijabe, Kenya, where we saw firsthand the work he was doing and the positive impact his work was having,” Marcello described. “At that time, Jon and a small team at Kijabe Mission Hospital were focused on providing and improving care for patients suffering with HIV across much of Kenya. From those initial interactions, Dené and I developed a friendship with Jon and his colleague, Jonathan Mwiindi, and began supporting their work.” Marcello’s efforts haven’t stopped. In spring 2011, he joined the AMH board. Since that time, he and Dené ’87 have been both digging into their wallets, to help support AMH financially, and rolling up their sleeves. Marcello has served as president of the organization since September 2017, when he began with AMH full time. In 2019, Dené joined the organization as the manager of finance and administration.

PERFECT MARRIAGE When one door closes, as the saying goes, another one opens. That best fits how Marcello found his way to AMH.

In 2017, he lost a lofty senior position with a large accounting firm in New York. Admittedly one of the most traumatic and embarrassing events of his professional life, the loss left him in a “difficult place,” wondering how he might move forward in both career and life.

From those circumstances emerged a chance to help others. “After months of waiting and prayer, I felt a growing passion to become involved with a not-for-profit organization that would allow us to serve others and have a lasting impact on people’s lives,” Marcello explained. “That opportunity came through AMH, which at the time was growing rapidly but struggling to keep up with the health care needs of the people. In order to grow successfully, AMH needed to strategically scale the organization and expand its capacity, and we were in a position to help.” Call it right place, right time. Thanks to the leadership of Fielder (chief executive), Mwiindi (executive vice president of operations), Kenneth Miriti (vice president of programs) and Gerson (board chair), AMH had significant building blocks in place and a clear direction.

AMH, however, needed more. Although there was direction, AMH lacked strategic vision, along with key operational processes and the business infrastructure necessary to continue the expansion of human and other resources.

Enter Marcello and with an assist from Stetson. “My education at Stetson, as well as the wide range of experiences I enjoyed during my professional career, allowed me to develop skills and capacity to address these areas,” said Marcello. “While health care was a new industry for me, my financial, business and leadership experiences were a strong complement to the skills of the rest of the team.”

Alumni Scott and Dené Marcello

“The passion to impact the lives of others and enable them to solve their own challenges and address their own opportunities was certainly supported during my time at Stetson.” — Scott Marcello ’84, MAcc ’85

Above and below: Health-system transformation is in action across sub-Saharan Africa.

African Mission Healthcare has worked with 43 hospital partners across 17 African countries.

AMH envisions an African continent filled with improving and enduring health systems, where everyone has access to high-quality, compassionate health care — an especially challenging task.

Then Dené added her own Stetson influence. By the start of 2019, when it became apparent the organization needed even more focus on the financial planning and monitoring processes, she brought her training and background in public accounting, as well as experience in working with church and mission organizations.

LASTING IMPACT AMH envisions an African continent filled with improving and enduring health systems, where everyone has access to high-quality, compassionate health care.

Achieving that vision is especially challenging when you consider that Africa suffers from 24% of the world’s diseases, but possesses only 3% of health workers and represents 1% of global health expenditure. By virtually any comparative measure, Africa lags the rest of the world in health care capacity.

At the same time, the world is rapidly becoming more African. By 2100, the United Nations projects that 40% of the global population will live on the African continent.

“The implications of such a large portion of the world’s population lacking access to basic quality care are terribly significant and, from my perspective, unacceptable,” Marcello asserted. “While our vision is quite large, we believe our part is very strategic and focused. Our mission is to strengthen African mission hospitals to aid those in greatest need, and we focus on the mission hospital sector because it’s where our resources can have the greatest impact.”

Marcello believes mission hospitals are well-positioned to improve clinical health systems on the African continent, as they provide approximately one-third of the medical care in sub-Saharan Africa and a higher percentage of quality, compassionate medical care. African mission hospitals also are training centers, producing qualified nurses, physician assistants and, increasingly, doctors and specialists. Additionally, they have long, deep roots in the local communities they serve, having survived wars, famine, epidemics and poverty — earning the trust of the people in those communities. “Our approach is to work closely with our mission hospital partners,” Marcello continued. “We don’t have a standard, easily repeatable solution. Instead, we spend time and resources identifying what’s truly needed. One way to think of AMH is as a private investor that invests carefully with trusted mission hospital partners, but instead of measuring a return in profits, we measure impact in lives changed and the years of quality-life added.”

AMH carefully selects the hospitals with which it works, spending the time to understand and build relationships, and truly partner. Since its inception, the organization has worked with 43 hospital partners across 17 African countries. Projects fall into one or more of four categories — infrastructure and equipment projects; training; clinical care; and management-advisory support — each with a focus on combining efforts to amplify impact. Management-advisory support is the newest area of emphasis and includes helping mission hospital partners strengthen their governance, operations and administrative functions. Notably, such support also creates opportunities to collaborate with volunteers, as well as with Stetson and other universities.

Currently, AMH is collaborating with Stetson’s School of Business Administration to provide selected students with opportunities to visit hospital partners and participate in one or more of AMH’s management-advisory projects.

THE STETSON INFLUENCE Marcello sees big possibilities in such collaborations, particularly with his alma mater.

“The combined experiences in the classroom, Greek life, intramurals and other activities made a huge difference in our development,” Marcello said. “While we were both prepared professionally, perhaps the most critical skills involved the ability to solve problems, persist in challenging circumstances and lead others to help them reach their full potential.”

Marcello’s work, of course, fits right in with Stetson’s core mission — nurturing the development of the whole person committed to engaging and building lifelong connections with the larger world through Personal Growth, Intellectual Development and Global Citizenship. To that end, the university fosters policies, practices and modes of inquiry to support and explore those value areas.

For Scott and Dené Marcello, lessons learned hit home back as students and now are serving them well far abroad.

“The passion to impact the lives of others and enable them to solve their own challenges and address their own opportunities was certainly supported during my time at Stetson,” Marcello affirmed. “Today, Stetson is positioned to inspire and prepare students to be outstanding global citizens and gain a global perspective.”

LIFE OF SERVICE Assuredly, the real, lasting impact AMH is having on the lives of others is a testament to the dedication of those who give their time and resources to leave a legacy of durable institutions filled with competent and compassionate health workers.

For Marcello, his involvement is about taking the time to understand and follow passions. And do so even amid dire circumstances. “It’s easy to be swept along in a career and allow others to define your priorities,” Marcello concluded. “While the input of parents, mentors and sponsors is invaluable, only you know what’s most important for you.

“Working globally is incredibly rewarding, and learning from people across cultures and geographies is wonderful. People around the world are smart, motivated and passionate — seek to invest in them and help them get stronger … encourage and enable them.”