Phil Harvey Steps Down As President of DKT
DKT International
November 21, 2013
To: Friends and Colleagues
In a move that is probably overdue, I will be resigning as president of DKT International at the end of this year. Chris Purdy will take over as DKT’s president and CEO in January.
Many of you have had a chance to meet and work with Chris, especially in the past two years in his role as executive vice president. He is uniquely equipped to lead DKT, both because of his recent work here and because of his in-depth experience managing and building DKT’s programs in Ethiopia, Indonesia and Turkey. I know that DKT will flourish and grow with Chris at the helm.
I won’t disappear. I will remain as chairman of the Board, and will remain intensely interested in everything that happens at DKT. But I will no longer be involved in the day-to-day management of the organization.
When Tim Black and I jumped into the family planning business in 1969 we were (still are) fans of Robert Townsend’s book “Up the Organization.” Townsend asserts that no one should be in charge of any organization for more than seven years. While I have systematically violated that rule for four decades now, there is important value in changing leaders; fresh ideas and new energy are good for any organization.
I am making this change happily, and with complete confidence that DKT will continue to be a leading organization for delivering birth control to many millions of deserving couples throughout the world. I will assist with that in any way that I can.
With all best wishes,
Phil
Philip D. Harvey
President
DKT International
