The Legacy of Global Force for Healing
Global Force for Healing was born from a simple but radical belief: that compassion, when organized and shared across communities, has the power to transform the world.
Founded by visionary leader Kay Sandberg, Global Force for Healing emerged at a time when many maternal and newborn health efforts operated in isolation—brilliant work happening in silos, often without the connective tissue needed to amplify impact. Kay saw something different. She saw a living network. She saw midwives, birth workers, community health leaders, and advocates across the globe who carried deep wisdom rooted in culture, community, and dignity. And she believed that if these voices were connected, resourced, and honored, they could reshape the future of maternal and newborn health.
Under her leadership, Global Force for Healing grew into far more than an organization. It became a movement grounded in compassion, relationship, and trust. Through the Compassionate Birth Network and other collaborative efforts, Global Force for Healing helped weave together grassroots organizations across continents—creating spaces where knowledge flowed freely, where local leadership was elevated, and where care was understood not simply as clinical intervention, but as a deeply human act of respect and presence.
The network championed models of care that centered women, families, and communities. It uplifted midwifery traditions. It invested in local leadership. It reminded the global health community that sustainable change does not arrive from outside—it grows from within.
By 2020, it had become clear that the spirit and mission of Global Force for Healing had already outgrown any single organizational structure. In a natural and values-aligned evolution, Global Force for Healing merged into Together for Global Health, ensuring that the network, relationships, and philosophy it cultivated would continue to expand and flourish.
Today, the legacy of Global Force for Healing lives on through Together for Global Health’s commitment to collaboration over competition, partnership over paternalism, and listening over leading. The seeds planted by Global Force for Healing continue to bear fruit in the form of stronger partnerships, deeper trust, and a global community united around the belief that compassionate, community-rooted care saves lives.
We honor Kay Sandberg for her vision, her courage, and her unwavering belief that love and compassion belong at the center of global health. We honor the countless network partners, birth workers, and community leaders whose dedication turned vision into reality. And we carry forward the understanding that healing is not something delivered—it is something created together.
