Dr. Kay Taylor Honored for International Health Care Work

Civic Ventures announces that Dr. Kay Taylor, from Oakland, California, is named a 2011 Purpose Prize fellow just weeks before UC Davis awards her the prestigious Emil M. Mrak International Award. Both awards acknowledge Dr. Taylor's determined efforts to prevent cervical cancer in women in developing countries with Prevention International: No Cervical Cancer (PINCC), a nonprofit organization she founded in 2005. Several times a year, Dr. Taylor and a team of volunteers travel to East Africa, Latin America, and India to set up sustainable cervical cancer prevention programs, by training doctors and nurses to screen and treat women. PINCC's programs have saved hundreds of women from dying of this preventable disease, as about 5,000 women are seen and treated during the training campaigns each year. Thousands more have been affected who now have access to this important part of women's health care.

The Purpose Prize honors Americans over the age of sixty for making an extraordinary impact in their encore careers. Funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies and the John Templeton Foundation, The Purpose Prize is a program of Civic Ventures' Encore Careers campaign, which aims to engage millions of boomers in encore careers combining personal meaning, continued income and social impact in the second half of life.

"While Purpose Prize fellows are helping to solve a wide range of pressing social problems, they have one thing in common," said Marc Freedman, CEO and founder of Civic Ventures. "They - and millions of others in encore careers - are turning personal passions and decades of experience into invaluable contributions across sectors, continents and generations, often through entrepreneurship."

The Emil M. Mrak International Award honors a UC Davis graduate who is distinguished in his or her career in service outside the United States. This prominent award is given to one alumnus who has both internationally advanced his/her profession and has shown a commitment to public service and the global community.

Dr. Taylor leads her PINCC team of volunteers and loyal small staff into the New Year with cautious optimism. To date, PINCC has set up twenty sustainable cervical cancer programs in seven counties, trained over 300 health care workers, and is currently working at 14 more sites. However, with the constant threat of a struggling economy, traditional nonprofit supporters are giving less and less. Nonprofits like PINCC are feeling the effect and struggle to meet the financial demands of their program, while striving to open campaigns in new countries. One such country is Cameroon, whose doctors and nurses have been waiting for training for a year, asking for PINCC to help them save the women in their country.

Dr Taylor is hopeful that recognition from the Purpose Prize Fellowship and Emil M. Mrak International Award will bring new awareness to her mission to prevent cervical cancer. Her compassion for others and determination to provide women with adequate health care worldwide has earned her recognition and respect from her peers. When asked how she felt about being honored with these awards she said, "Naturally, I'm honored and grateful; but PINCC is so much more than one person! The many doctors and others who pay to work on our campaigns deserve a big part of the praise. I'm so grateful to all the people that have helped make our work a reality."