Wax & Gold Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit humanitarian organization committed to supporting and advocating for every mother and her newborn’s fundamental right to essential healthcare.
What Is In a Name?
Wax and Gold is an ancient Ethiopian literary technique that uses words with both literal and hidden meaning. The Wax portrays the apparent or expected message, while the Gold reflects the hidden or implied message. The “Wax” in our name represents our core mission and commitment to developing sustainable health care programs for newborns. The “Gold” represents our novel approach to developing, innovative programs and commitment to collaboration. We work in Ethiopia alongside local professionals, learning what their challenges are from their perspective and hear their suggestions and concerns before designing or recommending a solution, so the change comes from within. We mentor them over several years and empower them to share what they’ve learned with other professionals in Ethiopia expanding our programs’ reach.
Our Mission
Our mission is to develop evidence-based and sustainable healthcare programs in resource-limited settings aimed at improving maternal newborn health (MNH).
Our Vision
We envision a future where a neonate born in Ethiopia—or any other resource-limited setting—has the best possible chance for survival and a healthy future, and where healthcare professionals caring for newborns and their mothers have the training, support and resources to provide the best care to their most vulnerable patients.
Our Values
- Multidisciplinary teamwork. Neonatologists, neonatal nurse practitioners, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurses, respiratory care practitioners and biomedical engineers work together towards a common goal.
- Onsite training. Extensive training is conducted in the host hospital and includes didactic, simulation, videos and hands-on experience. Pre-specified measures are used to evaluate competence of trainees, and ongoing mentorship reinforces the training.
- Cost-efficiency and collaboration. We work within the hosting hospital’s existing infrastructure on programs identified by the hospital leadership as vital. The hospital invests a small amount of money, the trainees invest their time, and our team and volunteers donate time, expertise, equipment and supplies, ensuring that all are fully invested in the process.
- Leadership development. We recognize, support and mentor leaders within each training program so they can take the lead in future training of professionals from their hospitals and other hospitals and health centers.
- Monitoring and evaluation. Change cannot be measured without accurate data. Before a program is launched, we develop strict guidelines specifying the outcomes to measure and monitor. These metrics help us evaluate the program’s impact and work with our partners to make critical decisions.