Business Wire India
As part of her virtual Mentorship and Leadership Platform, “Beyond Power; Leadership, Global Influence and Impact,” Senator Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation, has published a new leadership article titled “Leadership Beyond the Obvious: How I Worked to Transform Fertility Care and Break Infertility Stigma.” Through the article, Dr. Kelej reflects on her leadership journey in creating and driving the “Merck Foundation More Than a Mother” movement, and how she looked beyond the immediate challenges in fertility care to address the deeper social, cultural, and communication barriers surrounding infertility. She shares how this approach helped create a broader culture shift alongside strengthening access to fertility care and building healthcare capacity.
To read the full article and access the platform, visit:
https://rashakelej.substack.com/p/leadership-beyond-the-obvious-how
Senator Dr. Rasha Kelej (Ret.) shares, “Lasting change rarely comes from solving only the problem you can see. A leader must identify—and then work on—the many layers surrounding it. This is one of the most important leadership lessons I learned through creating the “Merck Foundation More Than a Mother” movement.
For me, leadership meant looking at the problem from every direction. If there were no trained specialists, we had to build medical capacity. If stigma prevented women and couples from seeking care, we had to change perceptions. If misinformation was being reinforced through public narratives, we had to engage and train the media. If deeply rooted cultural or religious beliefs created resistance, we had to enter those conversations respectfully. And if conventional health communication could not reach everyone, we had to engage artists and creative communities to help carry the message.”
Dr. Kelej personally visited communities across Africa, including rural areas, where she witnessed first-hand how infertility could become a devastating source of social stigma, particularly for women who were too often blamed, discriminated against or isolated for a condition that may have had nothing to do with them. She also encountered cultural and religious resistance to fertility treatment in some communities.
These experiences reinforced her understanding that transforming fertility care and breaking infertility stigma required working across multiple layers at the same time.
Dr. Kelej shared, “We built medical capacity, providing more than 800 scholarships to healthcare providers from 42 countries as part of our “More Than a Mother” movement, including supporting the training of the first local fertility specialists and embryologists in many countries where such specialized local expertise had previously been unavailable.”
“But I knew that training doctors alone would never be enough. We partnered with Africa’s First Ladies as Ambassadors of “More Than a Mother” to help influence communities and create a much-needed culture shift. We engaged Ministries, healthcare professionals, religious and community leaders. Together with local media societies, we trained journalists and media professionals to communicate about infertility accurately, sensitively and responsibly.” She further added
In the article, Dr. Kelej emphasizes that the “More Than a Mother” movement was much more than a medical training program. Under her leadership, it focused on building an ecosystem that strengthened local medical expertise while simultaneously creating the social understanding and acceptance needed for women and couples to seek and benefit from fertility care.
The article is available through Dr. Rasha Kelej's Mentorship and Leadership Platform, "Beyond Power; Leadership, Global Influence and Impact," through Substack, that has been launched to create an accessible resource designed to inspire, guide, and support future leaders, particularly women and young future leaders in Africa, Asia and Global South Countries. The platform is accessible to all, ensuring that aspiring leaders from diverse backgrounds can access valuable mentorship, leadership insights, and practical guidance.
Link to Dr. Rasha Kelej’s Mentorship and Leadership Platform: https://open.substack.com/pub/rashakelej
The articles can be freely accessed on Dr. Rasha Kelej’s website: https://rasha-kelej.com/
The links of the articles can also be accessed on Merck Foundation Website: https://merck-foundation.com/
The links can also be accessed on the Social Media channels of Dr. Rasha Kelej and Merck Foundation.
Through her Mentorship and Leadership Platform, Dr. Rasha Kelej is committed to sharing her 32 years of knowledge and experience to support and guide aspiring individuals in unlocking their hidden potential, achieving their professional and personal goals, and becoming the leaders of tomorrow.
To learn more about Dr. Rasha Kelej’s journey, visit her Social Media Handles: Instagram, Facebook, X, and YouTube.
And Merck Foundation Social Media Handles: Facebook, Instagram, X, and YouTube.
