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CARING FOR THE MOST VULNERABLE AMONG US
AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN E. MCINERNEY III, PRESIDENT AND CHAIR OF THE BOARD, MALTESER INTERNATIONAL AMERICAS
John McInerney was named president of Malteser International Americas (MIA) in 2021. A Member of the MIA board since 2018, he was invested into the Western Association of the Order of Malta in 2001, served on several Western Association Committees –including Membership, Hospitaller, Investiture, and Development – and was previously a Location Officer in his hometown of San Francisco. Under his leadership, MIA provides long-term assistance to strengthen and improve the health and resiliency of local communities throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Here John talks about the Order’s humanitarian work and his commitment to the mission.
How would you characterize your journey of service from your investiture in the Western Association of the Order of Malta in 2001, to your current role as President and Chair of the Board of Malteser International Americas?
The hand of God.
Like all of us, I joined the Order to work side by side with fellow Members serving our Lord’s sick and poor. However, along that path doors opened for me to contribute in other capacities, including on local positions and committees. Those jobs introduced me to many Members and the wide variety of opportunities to serve.
As one example, on the 2015 Lourdes Pilgrimage, a Member introduced me to three of the High Charges; three months later I found myself in Italy gathering information and advising the Receiver on a portion of the Order’s real estate portfolio. During that visit we also met many European Members of the Order, and I learned much about the Order’s patrimonial properties and history. The following March I was in Malta attending the International Hospitaller Conference and Malteser General Assembly where we met and developed relationships with Members from around the world, including those holding positions with Malteser International and MIA. These annual trips continued and in fall 2018, our past president, Richard Grant, asked me to serve as one of the two appointed Western Association members on the MIA board. General Thomas Wessels, then the MIA president, drafted me to be his vice president and has been a great mentor. I succeeded him two years ago.
How have you and your family been involved in Malteser International relief efforts, both in the Americas and around the world?
About eight years ago Bill Regan, past president of the Western Association and an early director of MIA, gave a presentation on Malteser International’s relief programs in the Americas and around the world. My wife Sally and I were immediately hooked on the incredible humanitarian work these two entities were bringing to the most vulnerable through the professional hands of the Order.
MI and MIA are professionally run and staffed operations of the Order, so initially we were only financial supporters. In my relatively short time in MIA leadership, we have grown from a $3 million per year operation to nearly $20 million per year serving a much larger group of beneficiaries. MIA’s primary goal is the delivery of best-in-class services to an ever expanding group of beneficiaries in Central and South America and the Caribbean. Sally and I have had the privilege to observe first-hand the programs MIA operates, and to meet our beneficiaries and staff.
As MIA president, I also hold a board seat with Malteser International in Cologne and travel to Europe for quarterly Board and planning meetings. In addition to the Americas, MI operations span the Middle East, Africa, Southeast
Asia, and Eastern Europe. Since 2018, MI’s humanitarian development programs and disaster relief operations have doubled in size and scope –– from 60 million Euros a year to 130 million Euros in 2023, with large-scale international relief operations currently underway in Ukraine, Lebanon, and Syria/Turkey.
A key objective of my position is to educate and familiarize our Members with all of the Order’s humanitarian relief efforts. When Members learn about our important work around the world, it is my hope that they are inspired to give and help us do even more.
How can Order of Malta Members help vulnerable individuals affected by crisis, migration, and malnutrition around the world?
Volunteering is a powerful and essential way to give back and part and parcel of the Order’s values-based ethos. One long-serving Bay Area Member, Charlotte Kiesel, has been particularly interested in MIA’s work in Haiti and has made several visits there. However, Members should be aware of the distinction between the charitable work we do as non-professional volunteers in our many locations, and the professional humanitarian work performed by the staff of Malteser International and MIA according to strict universal standards.
That said, both MI and MIA hope to have international Member volunteer service programs in place by 2025. We are in the process of working through the many logistics, training, and security requirements these onsite volunteer programs will involve.
What else would you like people to know about the work of Malteser International and Malteser International Americas?
Many of our Members are unaware that MIA is the humanitarian relief arm of the three American Associations which are tasked with fulfilling the mandate of the Sovereign Council to provide care for the forgotten and excluded. I would like to see our Members and friends enthusiastically acquaint themselves with the broader activities of the Order and our fabulous work by regularly perusing the posts on the international website: www.orderofmalta.int, and also visiting the two Malteser International sites, www.orderofmaltarelief.org and www.malteserinternational.org. We want Malteser International and Malteser International Americas to be part of our Members DNA!
