GHESKIO’s Claudia Thomas Riché, RN, chosen for women’s leadership program

Claudia Thomas Riché, Executive Director of the Nursing Education Collaborative for Haiti (NECH-CIEH), a collaborative education network for nurses in the US, Canada and Haiti, and nurse in GHESKIO’s training unit, was recently selected to be a Vital Voices Visionaries Fellow with Estee Lauder’s charitable fund. The Estee Lauder Leaders Fund (ELELF), the Vital Voices Visionaries program aims to “support the next generation of emerging leaders who are redefining leadership in their everyday lives.” The program aims to identify women leaders across the globe that have worked towards creating positive social impact in their communities and provides them access to training and networks to sustain their efforts.  After participating in a 7-week immersive virtual experience incorporating lessons in leadership, participants have the chance to be selected for an annual in-person experience to further deepen their leadership training.

Throughout her professional career as a nurse consultant at the GHESKIO Centers Training Unit in Port au Prince, Haiti since 2004, she has established herself amongst the community of social innovators through her work with nurses. This includes coordinating advanced nursing courses for GHESKIO nurses, empowering them in the healthcare field, highlighting the unique position and influence of nurses in patient care through patient advocacy, identification of health delivery challenges and the implementation of systemic improvements in patient care. In doing so, she has redefined the role of nurses in her community and beyond by placing them at the forefront of healthcare delivery and disease prevention.

Ms. Riché holds a master’s degree in nursing science from the University of Montreal, Canada, received a certification degree from the Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI) as Improvement Advisor, and was named an Ashoka Fellow in 2019. Read more about the Vital Voices leadership program online here.

 Article by Nour Mourra.