Water, Women, World
Christina Fonfé BEM is No.10 in more than a popularity contest
The first Women in Global Health list published a list of 100 leading women working in global health.
At the World Conference on Drowning Prevention in Vancouver, Canada, a Twitter campaign was run to find a list of the 36 leading women in drowning prevention.
Why 36? Because some amazing women work to prevent 360,000 drowning deaths every year and that’s something to shout about.
The aim of Women in Drowning Prevention is to increase visibility of women working in drowning prevention, highlight the contribution of women in advancing both research and practice and to offer role models to young women.
- Elizabeth “Tizzy” Bennett – Oversees the Drowning Prevention Program at Seattle Children’s Hospital with expertise in preventing drowning in at-risk immigrant populations
- Jennifer Blitvich – Australian professor with expertise in injury prevention and risk management in aquatic environments
- Ruth Brenner – American expert on portable pools and child drowning
- Barbara Byers – Public Education Director of Lifesaving Society in Canada
- Tessa Clemens – Canadian Researcher at Sick Kids Hospital leading on non-fatal drowning
- Kathy Collingsworth – Founder of Joshua Collingsworth Memorial Foundation, drowning prevention charity in Nebraska, USA
- Shelley Dalke – Canadian Red Cross Director of Swimming and Water Safety Programmes
- Joan Duncan – Canadian long-time advocate for women and youth representation in drowning prevention
- Mai Elamin & Sabrina Kashif – General Secretary and Vice President at Nile Swimmers working together to promote women and water safety in Sudan
- Christina Fonfé – Founder Sri Lanka Women’s Swimming Project
- Suchada Germongkolgam – Programme Manager for National Drowning Prevention Programme in Thailand and advocate for nationwide drowning prevention strategies
- Fiona Gosling – Founder of Josh the Otter Foundation, drowning prevention charity in Nebraska, USA
- Emma Harrison – Operations Manager at Royal Life Saving Society – Commonwealth
- Natalie Hood – Australian doctor with focus on drowning physiology and treatment
- Rebecca Ivers – Director of Injury Division at The George Institute
- Jagnoor Jagnoor – Head of the Injury Division at The George Institute, India Office with focus on drowning prevention in LMICs including Bangladesh
- Olive Kobusingye – Ugandan doctor and researcher with focus on LMIC injury and drowning prevention
- Justine Leavy – Australian academic with focus on collaboration for evidence, research and impact in public health
- Caroline Lukaszyk – Public health researcher working on community drowning prevention programmes for different cultural contexts
- Jo-ann Morris – Co-founder of Samuel Morris Foundation and water safety advocate with focus on improving understanding of burden of non-fatal drowning
- Helen Morton – Royal National Lifeboat Institute International Head of Advocacy
- Lauren Nimmo – Senior Manager for Promotion and Research at Royal Life Saving Western Australia
- Joan Ozanne-Smith – Australian public health researcher with focus on injury prevention
- Amy Peden – Researcher at Royal Life Saving Australia leading on non-fatal drowning and river drownings in Australia
- Linda Quan – Emergency medicine doctor and drowning prevention researcher at Seattle Children’s Hospital with an interest in at-risk immigrant communities
- Ana Catarina Queiroga – Portuguese drowning prevention researcher and co-founder of the International Drowning Researchers’ Alliance
- Nadina Riggsbee – Children’s health advocate who initiated the Swimming Pool Fencing Law in USA after her toddlers drowned in a backyard pool, one fatally and the other non-fatally
- Rebecca Wear Robinson – American drowning prevention advocate and CEO of Make The Minute Matter
- Colleen Saunders – South African researcher and chair of Lifesaving South Africa’s Scientific Advisory Committee
- Bhagabati Sedain – Nepalese social scientist collecting drowning data in Nepal to identify appropriate interventions
- Pamela Simon – National Learning and Development Manager at Surf Life Saving Australia
- Jenny Smith – UK lecturer in sport and exercise psychology who consults for Amateur Swimming Association and Royal Lifesaving Society UK
- Carolyn Staines – Australian researcher in forensic medicine
- Teresa Stanley – New Zealand researcher with focus on water competence and drowning risk education
- Elizabeth Towner – Expert adviser to the World Health Organisation’s Panel on Injury and Violence Prevention
- Asma Ul Hosna – Training Coordinator for Saving of Lives from Drowning at Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh
It is, of course, only fair to mention, in deference to much greater achievers than us, that the names are, naturally, in alphabetical order!
If Christina has anything to suggest for a 2021 New Year’s Resolution it is:
Learn to Float-and-Breathe!
Click to download printable Microsoft Word version
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