MISSION: GLOBAL GOOD BY JACK ROTH
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When a professional loss left him in a “difficult place,” Scott Marcello found a cause for both personal healing and service devotion — health care in sub-Saharan Africa.
isten to Scott Marcello ’84, MAcc ’85, and the work he does sounds like a natural part of being an engaged global citizen. Yet, in reality, it goes so far beyond.
Marcello is president of African Mission Healthcare, where he has dedicated himself to leading the transformation of health systems in Africa. That alone can fairly be considered a herculean task. Further, from his office in DeLand, not far from the Stetson campus (and often from the road), Marcello works tirelessly not only regarding health care, but also to realize overarching positive change for all people of sub-Saharan Africa. Look at a map. The potential sphere of influence is huge. The AMH story began with two men not named Scott Marcello — a missionary medical doctor, Jon Fielder, and his good friend Mark Gerson. Together, they saw the value of Christian mission hospitals in providing high-quality, compassionate health care for the hurting and forgotten across sub-Saharan Africa, a region, geographically, that encompasses all African countries that are fully or partially located south of the Sahara Desert. Starting in 2002, Fielder and Gerson gradually expanded their efforts, working with a greater number of hospitals and becoming involved in additional projects. During fall 2010, they launched African Mission Healthcare, or AMH. Among the initial goals was to attract others to their cause. Marcello was one such person. “My wife, Dené, and I met Dr. Fielder in 2006 during a shortterm mission trip to Kijabe, Kenya, where we saw firsthand the work he was doing and the positive impact his work was having,” Marcello described. “At that time, Jon and a small team at Kijabe Mission Hospital were focused on providing and improving care for patients suffering with HIV across much of Kenya. From those initial interactions, Dené and I developed a friendship with Jon and his colleague, Jonathan Mwiindi, and began supporting their work.” Marcello’s efforts haven’t stopped. In spring 2011, he joined the AMH board. Since that time, he and Dené ’87 have been both digging into their wallets, to help support AMH financially, and rolling up their sleeves.
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STETSON | Spring 2020
Marcello has served as president of the organization since September 2017, when he began with AMH full time. In 2019, Dené joined the organization as the manager of finance and administration.
PERFECT MARRIAGE When one door closes, as the saying goes, another one opens. That best fits how Marcello found his way to AMH. In 2017, he lost a lofty senior position with a large accounting firm in New York. Admittedly one of the most traumatic and embarrassing events of his professional life, the loss left him in a “difficult place,” wondering how he might move forward in both career and life. From those circumstances emerged a chance to help others. “After months of waiting and prayer, I felt a growing passion to become involved with a not-for-profit organization that would allow us to serve others and have a lasting impact on people’s lives,” Marcello explained. “That opportunity came through AMH, which at the time was growing rapidly but struggling to keep up with the health care needs of the people. In order to grow successfully, AMH needed to strategically scale the organization and expand its capacity, and we were in a position to help.” Call it right place, right time. Thanks to the leadership of Fielder (chief executive), Mwiindi (executive vice president of operations), Kenneth Miriti (vice president of programs) and Gerson (board chair), AMH had significant building blocks in place and a clear direction. AMH, however, needed more. Although there was direction, AMH lacked strategic vision, along with key operational processes and the business infrastructure necessary to continue the expansion of human and other resources. Enter Marcello and with an assist from Stetson. “My education at Stetson, as well as the wide range of experiences I enjoyed during my professional career, allowed me to develop skills and capacity to address these areas,” said Marcello. “While health care was a new industry for me, my financial, business and leadership experiences were a strong complement to the skills of the rest of the team.”
