Doctors Without Borders USA's CEO On Leadership And Smooth Transitions

Forbes

7 days ago

It's hard to avoid the pictures and news stories about humanitarian crises around the world today. Hunger and disease are hitting a breaking point in Gaza, while the U.S. government is stepping back from what was once a major role in helping establish sanitary conditions and bring health care and food to other nations worldwide. Millions of people are displaced, as wars continue to rage in Ukraine, Sudan and the Middle East.
So why is Avril Benoît, CEO of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) USA, stepping down now? In May she announced she was leaving the post, and the organization will announce her successor in the coming months. Benoît, a 2023 Forbes 50 Over 50: Impact honoree, told me the timing is built in at MSF, which limits its CEOs to six-year terms.
'You're totally throwing yourself into a job that becomes a lifestyle,' she said. 'It's all-consuming in many respects. You're having to consume and experience vicariously, often from a distance, all the harrowing circumstances of a humanitarian crisis. And all of that weighs on you so heavily while you're trying to drive forward and lead. I think the thinking is that by having people potentially return to operations, or give the operational people an opportunity to lead from headquarters, is just a healthy dynamic, especially for an action-oriented organization like us. We really are very passionate. We're impatient, we're hard driving, we're on the ground. And there's only so long, I would argue, that you can really sustain that.'
Benoît's term as CEO of MSF USA concludes almost two decades with the humanitarian nonprofit organization, and she said she's not necessarily leaving it completely behind. The former broadcast journalist has seen a lot in terms of events and management experience.
Today's Forbes CEO newsletter is all about Benoît's leadership at MSF USA, looking at its similarities to other U.S. businesses, as well as key differences; how she's handled major challenges; and what she and the organization are doing to ensure a smooth leadership transition. This is the published version of Forbes' CEO newsletter, which offers the latest news for today's and tomorrow's business leaders and decision makers. Click here to get it delivered to your inbox every week. A SECOND CAREER
Doctors Without Borders USA CEO Avril Benoît. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières
Benoît said she's been helping people for her entire professional life, but the first 20 years were from a different perspective. Her first career was as a radio, TV and print journalist, working for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for two decades. Benoît said she entered journalism with a real desire to contribute to the public good.
On the air, she presented stories that showcased inequality and need around the world. Off hours, she volunteered for a variety of causes and helped them raise money. While still a journalist, she chaired the board of a group of women dedicated to raising money for girls and women worldwide to receive an education.
'I was spending so much time doing that: volunteering,' she said. 'Always just loving the experience of being a volunteer, and wondering can I ever imagine leveraging my background to help an organization and really become one of the doers—as opposed to somebody, as a journalist, who is just chronicling, who's telling the stories, who's trying to amplify—but really get in there. Is there something I can offer?'
Her opportunity came in 2006 when MSF Canada was looking for a director of communications. She landed the job, and became more inspired as time went by and wanted to know more. She learned about the places and situations in which MSF worked, but her education went deeper. She learned about how the organization conducts its operations—how it assesses situations, how teams and logistics are organized, how they negotiate access in the midst of difficult situations.
As the now-59-year-old's children got older and left the house, she had more time to spend with MSF. She worked not only on the operational side of the organization, but also in the field. As she climbed the ladder at MSF, leading projects in South Africa, South Sudan and Mauritania, and moving into organizational communication and fundraising roles, she always believed MSF's field work MSF was its most important duty. As a senior leader of the organization, including as USA CEO, Benoît says she's worked in the field in Ukraine, Sudan, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
'Almost the equivalent of walking the shop floor for a CEO, but not just walking the shop floor. Actually doing the work,' she said. DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES
Avril Benoît speaks to a patient in Katsina, in northwest Nigeria, where a 2024 MSF study found extremely critical levels of malnutrition. © Sarah Nuhu/MSF
MSF is an international organization that brings medical and humanitarian assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters and healthcare exclusion. It's a big company with a huge mission. Benoît's work as U.S. CEO is to provide leadership and support for that mission—from doing advocacy work in Washington, D.C., and around the nation to fundraising. More than 30% of MSF's total global funds come from the U.S., Benoît said, and they do not rely on the federal government for financial support.
Her typical day could include figuring out operational and logistical support for operations—much like the leader of any company, though with potentially bigger consequences, considering many of their operations are in dangerous places. But it could also include ordinary HR decisions.
Because MSF is an international organization, Benoît is also a part of strategic discussions: Where will they invest their funds and how will they take positions on simmering conflicts. These can be tense debates, she said, because the stakes are high and it's difficult to forecast the best course of action to do the most good. And they aren't necessarily limited to executives.
'We foster a culture of debate because we know that whether you're the CEO or you're the water and sanitation technician on the ground, you have a valid perspective to offer,' Benoît said. 'And so to be a leader in the organization means that you have to take space for it, and it's much less hierarchical than perhaps many other organizations.'
Benoît said that sometimes people in the for-profit business world dismiss those leading organizations like MSF because they are paid less, assuming that nonprofit executives and employees must be less competent. That's definitely not the case, she said.
'There's so much to commend this kind of work: that's meaningful and where you not only get the motivation of whatever intrinsic value it gives to you as an individual in terms of dealing with complex challenges of forever being stimulated, of always in a learning organization, but also the extrinsic ones where you're helping others in a very concrete way,' Benoît said. 'There's a lot of value in this kind of organization, and it's one of the reasons that we attract such good people.' RAISING AWARENESS
A building belonging to Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in the southern Gaza Strip last year. Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The last six years have seen wars, humanitarian crises and a global pandemic, creating new challenges for MSF. Benoît said she's tried as a leader to not impose her ideas on how to meet these challenges. The people on the ground who are closer to the situation and can more clearly see what the best solutions would be.
Fundraising has been one of her strong points. From 2019 to 2024, MSF USA raised more than $3.75 billion—an overall increase of nearly 81.5%.
'​​You can always do higher-quality medicine,' Benoît said. 'There are always more needs. There are always gaps in terms of humanitarian assistance available to people in crisis at a time when they need us most. We want to be able to step up. …I never got into all this work thinking I would be so often making the case for support to the public, to small groups and individuals on Zoom calls or in-person. And yet I feel so passionately about the efforts of the organization, and that we do need this help.'
She's also worked to spread the word about what MSF is doing. Many people want to help the world and just need to be asked. And, Benoît said, MSF is a vital proxy organization because they help people in need throughout the world, both in places that people know—like Gaza—and ones that they haven't heard so much about. SMOOTH TRANSITIONS
A Doctors Without Borders ship offloaded migrants rescued in the Mediterranean Sea in Italy in 2024. Roberto Serra -For an organization like MSF, there is never an 'easy time' for change. But Benoît said she has confidence in the organization. She doesn't personally play a role in selecting her successor; that's the job of the board. However, she said, there are what she describes as high-quality people throughout the organization.
The person who should take on the job, Benoît said, should be ready to take on a wide range of challenges. But they should also be able to debate the best solutions, keep themselves on a livable pace in a world that always wants bigger, better, faster, more, and manage expectations for what can be done. And, Benoît said, come into the experience rested, resilient and adaptable.
'One of the things that we're trying to navigate in this moment of volatility and polarization in the U.S. is how to keep being true to who we are, what we do in the world, evolving as necessary for the sake of the patients and the communities, and maintaining that courage of our convictions, of being there for people when they need us most,' Benoît said. 'And there's a lot of effort that we're doing for the sake of my successor, just to make sure when I hand them the torch, the handle is not on fire.' COMINGS + GOINGS Fast food franchise Subway announced that Jonathan Fitzpatrick will join the company as chief executive officer, effective July 28. Fitzpatrick previously worked as president and CEO of Driven Brands, and will be replacing John Chidsey, who left in December 2024.
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Send us C-suite transition news at [e-mail] STRATEGIES + ADVICE
In these times, most business leaders would say they are dealing with a variety of crises. But instead of viewing them as complex problems to solve, it's better to reframe your mindset and look at them as opportunities.
To make better decisions, look at your data insights closely. They can tell you what's been going on with your company, as well as what would best result in growth. QUIZ
An interaction last week between President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell caught on video went viral. What happened?
A. Powell corrected Trump and clarified that Trump actually nominated him to chair the Fed, not former President Joe Biden
B. Powell told Trump his estimates for construction at Fed headquarters were wrong and included previously completed work
C. Powell looked at Trump incredulously as he talked about the economic benefits of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and tariffs
D. Trump called Powell a 'numbskull' to his face, and Powell responded, 'Excuse me?'
See if you got the answer right here.