Honoring Ira Stollak upon His Retirement

Henry Perry and Andrew Herrera

February 2023

Ira Stollak has been Curamericas Global’s secret weapon now for 15 years. When Teresa Wolf and I first interviewed Ira for the position of Senior Program Manager in 2006, we both were convinced that he was the right person for the job. We made him an offer, but he declined it because of limitations of the health insurance program that Curamericas had at that time. We offered the job to our second choice who came and worked with us for a year but then left, so we got in touch with Ira again and he was still available – and our health insurance program had improved, so he was able to join us at that time. Having Ira involved and take leadership for our programs was a pivotal step for Curamericas Global as it expanded and replicated programs

Ira took to our census-based, impact-oriented (CBIO) approach like a duck takes to water. He was captivated by our history, by John Wyon and Carl Taylor, and our commitment to community partnerships, enabling communities to lead the way, and using locally acquired data to ensure that progress was equitable and just. He traveled to Bolivia to learn from experts like Mitma and Dardo Chavez and still talks about how that experience shaped his “second career”. Ira’s baptism into Curamericas was by traveling to Liberia and leading the development of a proposal to the Child Survival and Health Grants Program of the United States Agency for International Development for $1.5 million dollars over 5 years, which was funded. He then was sent to “boot camp” to learn about CBIO on the ground from our colleagues in Bolivia.  He often refers to how impressed he was by the programs in Montero and the leadership of Mitma and Dardo Chavez. Once the Liberia grant started, Ira was back there working with the staff there providing training in CBIO.

There was a unfortunate hiatus in Ira’s employment with Curamericas between 2010 and 2013 due to circumstances beyond Ira’s control, but in 2013, when Curamericas Global needed him most, he responded with gusto helping us to rebuild. He developed a plan for getting Curamericas Global back on course, including providing the leadership and mentorship that enabled him to help our colleagues in Liberia produce a spectacularly successful project that the external evaluator estimated had produced a decline of 63% in the under-5 mortality and saved the lives of 500 children by reducing the percentage of malnourished children from 67% to 23%, by increasing the percentage of children who received prompt medical treatment for malaria and pneumonia from 2% to 86% and from 42% to 97%, respectively. After extensive trainings of our team in Liberia, the staff there asked Ira, “why has no one ever shared this with us before?”  

From 2013 to 2015, Ira performed a spectacular job in providing support to Mario Valdez and his team in Guatemala to bring our child survival and operations research grant there to a spectacularly successful conclusion – the prevalence of stunting among two-year olds declined from 74.5 to 39.5%, population coverage of key child survival interventions improved dramatically, and estimates were the maternal mortality declined by 70%. Ira proved to be a master at guiding our field staff and graduate public health students from the United States in the collection and evaluation of monitoring and evaluation data, as documented in 10 papers just recently published in the International Journal for Equity in Health. Over the past 5 years, Ira has been an indefatigable support to the Guatemala team and to Andrew and Barbara Providing technical leadership training staff in French for our newest project in Haiti.

It has been Henry’s enormous privilege and joy to work with such a talented and committed public health professional who cares so deeply about saving lives of impoverished and marginalized people in a way that is just, equitable and empowering AND who realizes the power of CBIO to help our organization achieve this goal.

Ira, congratulations on your retirement – but we aren’t done with you yet!! As a new member to our Board of Advisors and lifelong friend, we will continue to count on your passion and commitment so that the people we serve will benefit!!

Quotes from people who knew Ira well:

Andrew, our ED, likes to say that he is standing on the shoulders of giants.  And one is Ira Stollak who stepped up to oversee our international projects at almost a moment’s notice. In 2013 two major grants had ended and our future was not guaranteed. Ira presciently convinced the board that Curamericas “Must continue!”  In retrospect, this crisis was integral in steering Curamericas to develop a new business model: “Curamericas 2.0” avoiding future dependency on large grants.  – Wes. J.

Ira, what a gift you have been to the impactful work of Curamericas, to the Mayan communities in Guatemala in particular, and to me personally. You embody the word “gusto.” You have poured yourself fully into improving the lives of vulnerable populations with your fierce determination, passion and tireless fervor, and tremendous set of skills and expertise. You left an enduring imprint on me as a young professional and you continue to inspire and motivate me towards improving global health outcomes, empowering the marginalized, and pursuing a more just and equitable world. Muchas gracias y mis mejores deseos. ~Erin P.

Ira, el equipo de CURAMERICAS GUATEMALA siempre admiro tu entrega, energía y motivación en dar a conocer tus conocimientos sobre salud integral y especialmente en la parte de salud materno infantil, nosotros como tus alumnos y tu como nuestro gran maestro hemos aprendido mucho de las estrategias a mejorar para que las familias y las comunidades tengan una vida y salud integral, en cada una de las intervenciones tenemos lecciones aprendidas de ti, Gracias por habernos ayudado por mucho tiempo y siempre por darnos el ánimo de seguir arriba y adelante, hemos sabido que seguirás en la junta de asesores de CURAMERICAS GLOBAL que bueno porque seguiremos aprendiendo de ti. Te deseamos lo mejor en esta etapa y seguro siempre estaremos en comunicación. Saludos.

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