Case study: Fistula Foundation CEO’s tale of compassion from Madison Avenue to Africa and Asia
No Woman Left Behind: A Journey of Hope to Heal Every Woman Injured in Childbirth by Kate Grant is a compelling personal journey of compassion.
This soon-to-be-released memoir recounts Grant walking away from a promising New York advertising career to begin a modest start-up that becomes the global leader in fistula treatment.
She shares vivid firsthand accounts of surgeons toiling in remote corners of Africa and Asia to fix this childbirth injury that leaves women incontinent and often shunned by their communities.
So keep reading to find out more about Grant, how she started the book plus suggestions for your own creating…
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Kate Grant’s No Woman Left Behind
A story of hope and healing
My book, No Woman Left Behind, is largely about my journey over the last two decades building the Fistula Foundation.
In short it is an organisation dedicated to helping poor women in Africa and Asia injured in childbirth get life-transforming surgeries.
It starts as I abandon my career on Madison Avenue to find a professional path that speaks to my heart.
During a trip to a hospital in Ethiopia treating women with childbirth injuries, I find my way.
Next I take readers across the globe to Kenya, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Congo and introduce them to courageous women facing formidable injuries. This includes the dedicated doctors who give them a new lease on life.
Also I explore the systemic challenges that perpetuate maternal health disparities that lead to women too often being injured or dying in childbirth.
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Why start this memoir?
The day a woman gives birth is the day she is most likely to die or be seriously injured.
Undoubtedly the largest health disparity in our world today between rich and poor is in the odds of dying or being seriously injured simply for trying to deliver a baby.
Certainly it does not have to be this way.
The Fistula Foundation is dedicated to treating women injured in childbirth.
During the past 20 years the Foundation has grown from supporting one hospital in one country to being the global leader in the treatment of childbirth injuries.
Firstly I wanted to share my story with the hopes of opening new hearts and minds to the needless suffering of our sisters a continent away.
Second, to invite others to join us on our journey to provide surgeries that can truly transform women’s lives.
Finally, I thought people seeking their own path of meaning and purpose may see themselves in my story.
Support for the book
My family and friends have been uniformly supportive of my work with the Fistula Foundation.
Indeed my late parents, in particular, were often the ‘wind under my wings’.
No Woman Left Behind is dedicated to them and to my son.
But the decision to write the book was a personal one.
At first I wasn’t sure I had a book in me, however, as I plugged away, chapter by chapter, a book emerged.
Also I had the moral support of my friends at every step of the way.
Starting No Woman Left Behind
Pulling the chapters together
I was working full-time running the Fistula Foundation and writing.
That meant, it was by fits and starts the book was completed, writing on weekends and occasional vacations.
From start to finish it took nearly three years to produce the final manuscript that went to the printer.
Related article – First draft: Don’t start writing a first draft before reading this!
Beating barriers to find rewards
The hardest part about writing No Woman Left Behind was getting started.
In the beginning, I was in a deep hole of grief, having lost my much-loved parents in quick succession.
However, over time, writing proved to be cathartic.
Also it gave me a place to put my energy when I was not in a mood for socialising.
I had an initial draft done nearly a year before the final draft.
The final year editing the manuscript down was humbling and sad as I cut pieces I’d pained over but that didn’t really add to the book.
In the end though it was satisfying to produce a draft I felt was solid.
Indeed the writer Mark Twain once wrote: “A successful book is not made of what is in it but what is left out of it.”
Related article – Revising and editing: How to take the headache out of editing a life story
Takeaways from No Woman Left Behind
Best part of the story?
My favorite part of No Woman Left Behind is describing the early years building the Foundation.
We were a start-up, flying by the seat of our pants, so to speak, making it up as we went along and aspiring to be ‘lean but never mean’.
Certainly it was deeply satisfying to see how a small team could help women too often forgotten get care they needed.
Helpful ideas for new writers
Just start.
Like so much else, the work, in this case the writing, will teach you as you go.
One thing I wish I had done earlier in the process was to get a good editor to help me.
Indeed I wasted time writing pieces a good editor could potentially have helped me avoid.
Related article – Ask Nicola Q&A: Your most burning book questions about types of editors
Final say
No Woman Left Behind: A Journey of Hope to Heal Every Woman Injured in Childbirth by Kate Grant is an inspiration for how to create a life of purpose.
In short it is the unlikely story of how one woman leaves Madison Avenue, New York, to tackle the global maternal health crisis head on.
So grab a hard copy or audio version from Amazon, Bookshop or Barnes and Noble (officially released June 24, 2025).
Importantly 100 per cent of the She Writes Press book’s profits will go to the Fistula Foundation’s Love a Sister program to fund free surgeries for poor women injured in childbirth.
Also find out more and connect with Grant through the Fistula Foundation website.
Happy writing!
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Your say
During your life did you change careers like Grant? I’d love to hear about it. Send me an email or leave a reply in the comments section at the end of this article.
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