Q: Tell us about the rationale for the World Heart Federation’s new strategy:

Helen Alderson: The most important thing for people to know is that this is a strategy of continuation and growth for the World Heart Federation. Our vision is still for people from around the world to live longer and better lives through the prevention and control of heart disease and stroke – and we are maintaining a focus on low- and middle-income countries. The next thing that is important for people to know is that we want to place our members – the heart foundations and societies of cardiology from around the world – right in the middle of our organization and in our mission statement. So we are working with them, we are uniting our members, and together we are leading the global fight against heart disease and stroke.

Q:  Why do you need a new strategy at this point?

Helen Alderson: In the life of an organization it is always necessary to review the strategy at regular intervals and the last time the World Heart Federation did this was five years ago. Obviously the environment has changed since then – and the organization itself has changed – so we entered the strategic planning process with a view to looking at the current situation, seeing the extent to which the current strategy matched where we needed to go. We want to grow the organization, to get to the next level and we took it from that point of view. It is not that the original strategy was not good anymore; it was just that we needed to revisit, refresh it and revamp it and I think get the inspiration back into it again.

Q: What process did you go through to develop the new strategy?

Helen Alderson: It was actually quite a long process, it took nearly two years. First, we did an assessment of the external environment in which we live and work. We then carried out a very extensive consultation with our stakeholders –  principally our members of course, but also partner organizations and funders to get their view of the World Heart Federation, where we should be going and how we should be meeting their needs. We did some internal work as well: workshops with staff, the Executive Committee and the Board. We also looked specifically at governance. Then we developed the strategy, looking at the organization – where we wanted to be, what was our vision, what was our best mission statement to reach that and then what should our strategic goals and priorities be. With this we developed a first draft of the strategy; that took about a year. Then we went back to our members with the draft and a fairly comprehensive questionnaire concerning how they felt about the strategy, how relevant it was to them, how they wanted to work with us and so on. Based on their input we finalized the strategy and now we are ready to communicate it.

Q: What impact do you expect the new strategy to have, and how would the World Heart Federation change as a result?

Helen Alderson: One of the things we want to change very much is the way that we work with our members, putting them as I said at the centre of the strategy and the work of the World Heart Federation. We don’t want to start reinventing things, but rather we are the platform, the source of information, the place where members can find information, share practices, learn from each other and work together on global projects.

Q: What do you expect members to do to contribute to this new strategy and the future development of World Heart Federation?

Helen Alderson: The members are our arms and legs; they are the organizations working on the ground. Just to take one example –  tobacco control –  many member organizations are already working very closely with other health groups to implement the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, to carry out effective tobacco control in their own countries. Our role is to bring this together with what is being done at an international level, so that other members can learn from each other what is being done. We also collect data on what’s being done across the world by our members, and help build the capacity of those that need this kind of assistance so that they can work towards the implementation of the World Heart Federation strategic goals which are very much linked to their goals. Our role is to know what is being done and to promote what our members are already doing in this area.

Q: What about the interaction between World Heart Federation and its partners and sponsors. What impact do you think that the new strategy will have there?

Helen Alderson: I would say the new strategy reinforces our ability to work as a partner. If we take tobacco control, we have taken an organizational decision that tobacco control is one of the key strategic objectives of the World Heart Federation. We have a mandate from our board and our members to move ahead on this. If we take another strategic objective, promoting cardiovascular health on the global health agenda, the board has now decided that this is an overarching strategic goal for the World Heart Federation. I think the new strategy provides us with greater legitimacy to do this.

Q: To what extent does the future success of World Heart Federation depend on your members and your partners?

Helen Alderson: Well it depends totally on them. We are a federation so if we don’t have our members we don’t exist at all. The implementation at national level and at regional level is carried out by the members so our future success depends totally on the members. In terms of how we work with our partners on a global level, working with partners multiplies the impact that we can have. If we go at it alone we are very small. If we work with partners and get funding from supporters, then we can have much more of an impact.

Q: You have recently announced that you will be leaving the World Heart Federation. How confident are you that this strategy will put in place a solid basis for the future of the organization despite the fact that you will not be there to usher it through?

Helen Alderson: I am very confident, because this is not my strategy – it is a strategy of the organization that has gone through a very thorough process and has been adopted by the Board and has also been given approval by the members. Now that there will be a change of CEO, I see the strategy as an element of stabilization. For the new CEO coming in, the direction has been given as to where the organization wants to go for the next five years.