Departing Save the Children CEO Talks about Oprah, Haiti and Hope

When Oprah Winfrey recently revealed her favorite all-time guest on her long-running talk show, the individual came as a surprise to many people.

But not to Charles MacCormack.

MacCormack, president and chief executive of Save the Children, knew that Oprah would tell favorite interviewee Tererai Trent that she was donating $1.5 million to build a school in Trent’s home village in Zimbabwe.

Oprah's gift announcement in late May was the culmination of years of dialogue between executives at Westport-based Save the Children and The Oprah Winfrey Foundation.

The financial and publicity boon is another positive note for MacCormack, who is taking stock of the charity’s achievements as he prepares to hand over the reins after 18 years in charge.

"When I came here we weren’t even counting the number of children we were impacting," said MacCormack, in an interview with Patch. "It wouldn’t have been more than 10 million. Last year we reached over 100 million children."

The charity provides aid in the United States and more than 50 countries worldwide. The programs range from long-term education and sanitation initiatives in Haiti, to emergency child protection efforts in the southern U.S., following the recent devastating tornadoes.

"Everything we do is because of the generosity of Americans," said MacCormack, who lives in Easton. "Americans really do share [their] good fortune."

Save The Children pulled in some $550 million in funding in 2010, its highest level ever. Half the charity’s income now comes from private sources, including individual philanthropists and corporations as diverse as IKEA and luxury jeweler Bulgari.

The charity’s growth has been marshalled from its Wilton Road headquarters since 1972, when its previous offices in Norwalk burned down.

The children’s organization, which was established in the United States in 1932 and predates the founding of UNICEF, employs 250 staff in Westport and another 150 in Washington D.C. Worldwide, the nonprofit has more than 6,000 employees.

MacCormack runs Save the Children from a second-floor corner office at the HQ, however he spends weeks away at the front line of the charity’s aid efforts. He has made on average 15 overseas trips annually and last year he made four trips to Haiti alone, following the catastrophic earthquake.

MacCormack said he doesn’t get despondent in the face of such tragedy.

"I see hope and positive kinds of things even in the grimmest of circumstances," said MacCormack, 69. "What I see, even in Haiti, are schools and clinics and play areas and kids learning and being well nourished."

"When you have a bad situation and you feel like there’s nothing you can do about it, that’s like a definition of stress," he said. When your organization is helping children and parents by the million, on the other hand, "that’s a very positive feeling," he said.

MacCormack announced in January that he would be leaving the charity that he's been at the heart of since 1993. When he leaves Save the Children, he told Patch he will pursue work in maternal and child health, write a book and teach at a university to be decided. He also has commitments with a string of other humanitarian and international agencies.

Before departing Westport, he will ensure a smooth handover to his successor, who is likely to be announced in the coming weeks. Part of that transition will be introducing the new boss to the charity’s key supporters and advocates, including Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

"We have hundreds and hundreds of important friends all over the world," said MacCormack, who holds doctorate and master’s degrees from Columbia University. The new chief executive needs to "establish that personal link," he said.

Oprah Winfrey is another important ally.

"We began talking to Oprah and her staff when they first began thinking about a foundation" four or five years ago, said MacCormack.

Save the Children recommended a grassroots education project but Winfrey opted instead to establish a girls’ school in South Africa. Save the Children executives persisted. "We kept the dialogue going," said MacCormack. "They heard us."

After the new boss has shaken hands with the charity’s key supporters, MacCormack said he’ll step away from the organization, leaving the chief executive to set his or her own direction.

Still, he did have some advice for the incoming CEO in Westport.

"Support the good people that are here. Give them a chance to shine."

"Our success will come from the team and not from any single person, just has been the case all the time that I’ve been here. It’s a great team."