‘HEALTH FIRST’
Health care leads priorities for new Americares CEO Christine Squires
STAMFORD — Americares’ new leader embraces the nonprofit’s longstanding role as a frontline responder to natural disasters around the world. But she says its work extends even further.
Now chief development officer and executive vice president, Christine Squires is set to take over next month as the Stamford-based organization’s president and chief executive officer. In her new role, she has pinpointed the ongoing development of Americares’ community health programs as a key objective.
“The vision of the organization is health first. Our mission is that health is the gateway and pathway to all good things,” Squires said in an interview at Americares’ headquarters at 88 Hamilton Ave. “It’s rooted in that, and that really excites me.”
New role
Squires, a resident of Old Greenwich, will officially start as chief executive on March 14. She will succeed Michael Nyenhuis, who is leaving to become president and CEO of UNICEF USA.
The CEO oversees all Americares operations worldwide, including a staff of more than 500 in the United States
and other countries such as Colombia, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Liberia, Malawi, the Philippines and Tanzania.
“Christine is a real pro. She has been a leader in organizations supporting global causes for years, has a real heart for the people we serve and knows how to make organizations effective,” Nyenhuis said. “She certainly has helped to do that here at Americares. Christine is wellprepared to lead Americares to even greater impact in our community, nation and the world.”
As the chief development officer, Squires has contributed to the growth in Americares’ annual cash revenues, which rose from nearly $39 million in 2014 to about $60 million in 2019. Those totals included cash contributions, grants, securities and other revenues.
“That’s because of the great relationships we have with individual donors, foundations and corporate partners and because of the great team here and work that we do,” Squires said. “We’re really fortunate to have a very longstanding and loyal donor base, but we’ve really made efforts to expand our constituencies. We’ve got the tri-state area, which is really important, but we’re also making sure we’re reaching out in other parts of the United States.”
Before joining Americares in 2016, Squires served as chief operating officer for Physicians for Human Rights. She also served as managing director of development and outreach for Human Rights Watch and spent 10 years as vice president of marketing at UNICEF USA.
Working locally and internationally
Since its founding 40 years ago, Americares has delivered more than $18 billion in aid to 164 countries, including the United States.
Among crises in recent years, it responded to the Ebola outbreak in west Africa from 2014 to 2016; the Nepal earthquake in 2015; Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in 2017; the ongoing economic and political turmoil in Venezuela; Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas in 2019; and last month’s earthquakes in Puerto Rico.
“What’s heartening is more of the general public is understanding that when a disaster strikes, it’s got long-term consequences,” Squires said. “They’re supporting us in being able to stay and help recover and rebuild.”
Its longer-term initiatives include more than 100 professionals who are providing primary care and mental health services in Colombia to families who have fled Venezuela.
At the same time, Americares has deployed 11 mental-health specialists to treat survivors of the Puerto Rico earthquakes, a contingent of 14 in the Bahamas to support survivors of Hurricane Dorian and five relief workers to respond to a dengue fever outbreak in the Marshall Islands.
In Connecticut, Americares operates four Free Clinics — in Bridgeport, Danbury, Norwalk and Stamford — that serve lowincome area residents without health insurance.
Global programs
Americares also runs a family clinic in eastern El Salvador and mobile health centers in Mumbai, India.
In Liberia, the organization is training health workers in maternal care, to encourage more women to give birth in health facilities.
“Strengthening our global health programming, both in the U.S. and internationally, is really where I want to keep going and push us even further,” Squires said. “It’s the quality of our programming that’s really important.”
At the same time, the group remains committed to its Stamford headquarters. About 125 of its approximately 500 employees are based in Stamford. In addition to the main offices, the campus also houses a distribution center that covers about 50,000 square feet.
“From the fundraising perspective, it’s beneficial to be based here because we are surrounded by people of means who support the organization,” Squires said. “And we have people who work across the U.S., and folks who are in the field. We’re a global organization.”