ColaLife’s Virtual Advisory Board

The members of ColaLife’s Virtual Advisory Board are high profile individuals who want to see an independently evaluated trial of the ColaLife idea undertaken. They have agreed to be publicly associated with ColaLife with the objective of helping us raise the resources and support we need to do this trial.

Our Virtual Advisory is being grown slowly as the people we approach agree to become members.

Current membership:

  1. Professor Don Nutbeam, Professor of Public Health and Vice Chancellor, Southampton University >>more
  2. Dr Ian Goldman, African Development Specialist >>more

Professor Don Nutbeam

Don Nutbeam, Professor of Public Health,
University of Southampton

Professor Nutbeam said:

“ColaLife offers a creative solution to the distribution problems that prevent the delivery of proven solutions to enduring health problems among some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable populations. For Coca-Cola it represents an outstanding example of corporate social responsibility.”

Professor Nutbeam has been a long term supporter of ColaLife. You will see from this video that he shares the ColaLife philosophy and our attitude to big business. When this was filmed (June 2009), Don was Honourary Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney. He talks about ColaLife in the context of ‘making the most of what is already there’ to improve public health, or ‘going with the grain’. He says:

“I’ve been working . . . with a campaign to try to persuade Coca-Cola who have frankly the best distribution network in Africa to use their distribution network to deliver essential medicines. They can deliver Coca-Cola to pretty much any corner of Africa and we in public health seem to be miserable at achieving the same goal so why not try to work with the grain.”

Professor Nutbeam’s summary boigraphy reads like this:

DON NUTBEAM PhD FFPH

Don Nutbeam is currently Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton and a Professor of Public Health. His career has spanned positions in universities, government, health services and an independent research institute. From 2003-9 he was in senior academic roles in the University of Sydney, and prior to this he was Head of Public Health in the UK Department of Health. His research interests include public health intervention research in schools and communities as well as studies of health literacy, and adolescent health behaviour. He has published widely on these topics. He has substantial international experience in both developing and developed countries, working as an advisor and consultant for the World Health Organisation over a 20 year period, and as consultant and team leader in projects for the World Bank.

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Dr Ian Goldman

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Dr Ian Goldman

About ColaLife Ian says:

Having worked in many countries in Africa it is extraordinary how Coca-Cola reaches into the remotest areas. How wonderful if this distribution system could work for life-saving items. What ColaLife is trying to do is admirable, using the power of the multinationals not just for profit but for good. And the dedication of people like Simon to make this happen is inspiring. Viva ColaLife viva!

Here’s Ian’s brief biography:

Ian specialises in strategic and development planning and the facilitation of short and long term change processes. His main areas of work have been rural development, decentralisation and community-driven development, local economic development and promotion of sustainable livelihoods approaches. He has worked in 18 countries, particularly in South Africa, the UK, Zambia and Mexico, working with all levels of government, civil society and the private sector.

Ian qualified as a soils/agronomist. He worked in Zambia from 1982-7 strengthening the capacity of Serenje District Council to plan and implement a decentralised rural development programme. From 1988-1995 Ian was at the National Rural Enterprise Centre, a UK NGO, working in rural economic development. Ian returned to South Africa in 1995 as a Management Adviser with the Free State Dept of Agriculture in South Africa, assisting the Minister with reforming the rural sector. He wrote this up for his doctorate, awarded in 2001. From 1998-2009 Ian founded and became CEO of Khanya-African Institute for Community-Driven Development (khanya-aicdd). Khanya works with action-learning partnerships in Southern and Eastern Africa to transform development systems to promote sustainable livelihoods and community-driven development. In October 2009, Ian became Team Leader of an EU-funded Monitoring and Learning Facility on Pro-Poor Policy with South Africa’s Presidency, with a particular focus on rural development. He is also a trustee of the Mvula Trust, South Africa’s leading water and sanitation NGO.

Ian is married to Judy, has two adult daughters, and loves gardening, South African jazz, and is about to qualify as a facilitator of Biodanza, a system of music and movement.

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