Healthy children are at the heart of a thriving community.
StepByStep Worldwide uses the first 1000 days of a child's life as the starting point for a range of health, education and livelihood interventions that, step by step, connect mother's health to child development to community well-being.
StepByStep designs and delivers child-grounded, community-centered, last mile-focused, technology-enabled health, education and livelihood solutions that put last-mile communities on the path to a better life.
What we do
Health
Lack of access to healthcare information and services is often the norm in last mile communities. We work with community leaders and local NGOs to bring information, training and services related to maternal health, infant care, family planning and nutrition to these communities. Our goal—to prevent stunting and other ailments in children under three. Renewable energy and ICTs enable us use m-health tools to reach remote locations so that patients don’t have to walk long distances to access the care they need.Education
So that children in the last mile are reading-ready, we work with communities to design early childhood development (ECD) interventions that stimulate young brains, and literacy programs for their moms so that they can read to their babies– interventions known to prepare toddlers for learning to read.
Livelihoods
Viable work options are scarce in remote locations and yet money is still needed for school fees and medical care and nutritious food for children in these last mile communities. We work with NGOs, the government and the private sector to build skills and create opportunities in the last mile through workforce, entrepreneurship and basic business training. We also work with farmers associations to organize smallholder farmers into effective businesses.
Who we are
Our History
StepByStep was founded by Audrey Bracey Deegan based on the notion that an integrated series of interventions that give children an healthy start in their first three years of life can jumpstart the well-being of a whole community. After years working in corporate and government roles, engaging in development largely through board and client activity, Audrey decided to go back to her roots in international development and meld her experience in program, strategy and community-based change to rethink how services are delivered in the last mile. It was from that shift in thinking that StepByStep was born.
Our Approach
We are:
Child-grounded
All projects, whether health, education or livelihoods, connect to the childCommunity-centered
The community designs the interventions using practices, tools, technologies and expertise made available by StepByStepLast Mile-focused
Remote, under-resourced communities are our target marketTechnology-enabled
Mobile renewable energy (MRE) and internet communications technologies (ICTs) allow us to provide services deep in last mile communitiesOur Team
Audrey Bracey Deegan, CEO
Audrey has over 25 years experience driving strategy, capacity-building and strategic change in government, non-profit and for- profit organizations. She has advised social sector leaders in global relief, community engagement, and international development as well as global for-profit leaders in the oil and gas, financial services and manufacturing sectors to identify opportunities, chart analytically sound strategies, build essential capacity, and measure impact. Audrey brings to this work a deep understanding of organizational and programmatic functions, having held senior positions in the public, private and social sector, both domestically and internationally. She worked most recently with tomato farmer associations in Tanzania to improve profitability and growth; a health and education NGO in Haiti to expand and deepen its impact in remote locations; and a global youth organization to bolster its fundraising skills and capacity. Before coming to StepByStep, Audrey held a number of senior leadership positions with Plan USA, Deloitte, Textron, McKinsey, OMG, OPIC and JP Morgan. She has also been an entrepreneur, co-founding both Hudson Chesapeake and Last Mile4D. She is an honors graduate of Princeton University with a bachelor’s degree in international politics, and holds a joint J.D./Masters in Foreign Service degree from Georgetown University, where she is also an adjunct professor in international business strategy.Advisory Board
To be confirmed
Partners
- HOPE
- HRA
- Tech4Life
- ChildsLife
- ICRW
- Plan International
- CRS
Clients
- United Nations
- United Way Worldwide
- Points of Light Foundation
- Internal Revenue Service
- Department of State
- Department of Health and Human Services
Project Areas
- Maternal Health
- Infant Health
- Early Childhood Development
- Youth Nutrition
- Literacy
- Association Development and Strengthening
- Workforce Development
- Entrepreneurship
- Governance
