Women Making a Difference

A Profile of Kathleen Kay (1959-2007)

Kathleen Kay Source: Family Health International

HIV-positive communities around the world lost an uncompromising advocate when Kathleen Kay passed away in December 2007. Kathleen was the India Country Director for Family Health International (FHI), a nongovernmental organization active in international public health. A devoted global health activist, Kathleen worked relentlessly to improve the quality of life of marginalized populations, especially women and children. In a 1992 address to her former high school in Woy Woy, Australia, she told students, "Don't accept labels from others or yourself, and don't demean any other human being by giving them." She lived by these words.

Kathleen was dedicated to helping women who were rejected and stigmatized by their families and communities. In January 2007, she helped organize the Atmavishwas ("faith within") event in Mumbai. The gathering sought to help commercial sex workers make informed choices and to acknowledge the contributions of participants in Aastha, an HIV-prevention project in India. Approximately 15,000 sex workers attended this historic event and affirmed their commitment to HIV prevention.

Over the course of two decades, Kathleen developed a reputation as a distinguished expert in health policy and a leader in international HIV work. Her strong sense of social justice and a genuine concern for others inspired her to pursue nursing and a professional degree in public health. From 1987 to 1990, Kathleen worked as a special assistant to Jonathan Mann, the pioneering director of the World Health Organization's Global Program on AIDS. In those early days of the epidemic, Kathleen's work was central to her personal and professional identity. Together with Mann, Kathleen helped to build the foundation for the global response to HIV/AIDS.

Kathleen subsequently led the Indonesia HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Project – Australia's first bilateral HIV effort in Indonesia. She also worked as a consultant on HIV policy for the Harvard AIDS Institute, the National Institutes of Health, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, and many other organizations.

Kathleen guided FHI's India office for six years, helping to shape the country's HIV program into one of the largest and most diverse initiatives in the organization. She assembled a talented group of people and helped the office become a technical leader in the region. Under her direction, FHI's work in India was known for providing services to a wide range of people – from HIV-positive children to sex workers and their clients – and for building the capacity of organizations such as the Indian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS.

Kathleen was "extremely committed to being a mentor," says Jeanine Bardon, who directed FHI's Asia-Pacific office during most of Kathleen's tenure in India. She "will be remembered by her staff for all that she did to help them advance as professionals and to be better people."

Kathleen developed a strong work ethic as a child when her parents enlisted her help in running the family's fish and chips shop. She drew on this experience in her professional life, working long hours and demonstrating tremendous dedication. This characteristic made an impression on her colleagues. "Often if you wrote her an e-mail past 10:00 pm her time, she would respond within minutes. I really think she was as disciplined with herself as she was because she just wanted to help as many people as she could in the time she had. She was a one-woman tour de force of effective planning and activity," says Gretchen Bachman, an FHI senior technical officer.

Gail Goodridge, director of FHI's ROADS Project in Nairobi, remembers having dinner at Kathleen's home, surrounded by boxes of unpacked household effects. "I'm going to get this place in shape," Kathleen declared, dashing from one room to the other. Even so, Goodridge says, "I had the feeling that in the trade-off of unpacking boxes versus meeting a deadline to start a new HIV program somewhere, the boxes would lose. Kathleen had a clear sense of what was important, and at the top of that list was saving lives."

Kathleen was a dedicated daughter, sister, aunt, and friend. Marie-Paule Bondat, who knew Kathleen for 20 years, remembers her as "loyal and devoted – even in the midst of working so hard." Although her life was very busy, she made sure to keep up with what was going on in the lives of those who were closest to her. "If you got married, she came, and if you were a part of her life, she was very devoted," recalls Bondat.

This loyalty to family and friends was rooted in her strong sense of identity. Even when living abroad, Kathleen sought out Australian newspapers and maintained strong opinions about Australian politics. "She was very much an Australian," says Bondat, and "this strong sense of belonging – to family and to Australia – allowed her to be devoted to everybody else and to be a person of the world."

Kathleen was known for her infectious laugh, her relentless drive, and her capacity to care for others. "Kathleen had a gigantic heart with a concern for everyone, and a real sense of fair play and justice," says Gina Dallabetta, a senior program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in India. Dallabetta remembers Kathleen working many days to help an FHI staff member who had been denied a visa for India. "She cried over the unfairness of it."

Kathleen died unexpectedly in her Delhi home. She was 48. Stephen Mills, FHI's country director in Vietnam, says, "Only a couple of weeks before she died, she emphasized that we should never be satisfied with mediocrity but strive for excellence. She pushed all of us in that direction and never tired of the fight."

Story provided by Family Health International

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