Harvard-Radcliffe Club of Westchester

November 5  - One Idea, Global Impact:
The Afya Story
7:30 PM - 9:00 PM Thursday, 5 November, 2026 (Timezone: Eastern)
Join us as we welcome Danielle Butin, founder and CEO of Afya Foundation, who will discuss AFYA's impact and mission to redistribute surplus medical supplies to compromised health systems worldwide.  Our discussion will be moderated by Westchester Harvard-Radcliffe alumnus Peter Gelfman AB'85.

Since 2007, the Afya Foundation has diverted over 13 million pounds of medical supplies, valued at $65 million, from landfills, redirecting them to communities in need across 89 nations and 24 U.S. states. Founder Danielle Butin will take us inside this remarkable work: from disaster relief and under-resourced clinics abroad, to local health equity efforts right here at home. But the story doesn't end there. Danielle will also share the layers of innovation that have emerged along the way, including volunteer networks, strategic partnerships, and a data-driven initiative with Harvard MBA students-all fueling Afya's next chapter. In a moment when the need for creative solutions has never been greater, come discover how one local idea became a global movement, and how you could be part of what comes next.

 

Danielle N. Butin, MPH, OTR, had an epiphany on the plains of the Serengeti that would change millions of lives. A former healthcare executive, she saw firsthand how many usable medical supplies were discarded in the U.S. due to federal regulations. In 2007, she founded the Afya Foundation to rescue and redirect these supplies to under-resourced sites globally and locally. Since then, Afya has diverted 13 million pounds of medical supplies, valued at $65 million, from landfills, shipping them to 89 nations and 24 U.S. states.

Her work has been recognized by the New York State Senate, the Clinton Foundation, Eli Lilly, and the Greater New York Hospital Association, among others. She's been featured in Real Simple, MORE, Family Circle, and Town & Country, appeared on the Katie Couric Show, and delivered a TEDx Talk, "There's Always Another Way." Her memoir, Wild Hope Now, tells Afya's full story.
Butin holds an MPH from Columbia University and a B.S. in Occupational Therapy from NYU, where she now serves on the Steinhardt Dean's Alumni Advisory Board. A Scarsdale High School alumna, she also has ties to Harvard: she completed the Harvard Business School Strategic Perspectives in Non-Profit Management program last summer on a scholarship sponsored by the Harvard Business School Club of New York City, collaborated with a team of Harvard MBA students on an Afya analytics project now seeking publication, and has long been mentored by a Harvard Business School alum who stayed connected with Danielle and Afya long after his initial project work was completed.
 

Peter T. Gelfman, our event moderator, is an attorney who lives in Scarsdale, NY and Chilmark, MA with his wife, Marnie, graduated from Scarsdale High in 1981 and is a member of the Harvard College Class of 1985. He has been a long-time Life Member of the Harvard Radcliffe Club of Westchester and a former member of its Schools Committee. Peter has been an informal legal advisor to The Afya Foundation since its inception in 2007, and he joined the Afya Board of Directors in September 2025.