From her bio on the CARE website, we learn more details about Dr. Gayle, a well-educated medical doctor and Master of Public Health, who runs this respected global anti-poverty organization:

She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Public Health Association, the Institute of Medicine and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Gayle currently serves on the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships and the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board.

Three of the organizations that Dr. Gayle cites above, the American Public Health Association, the Institute of Medicine and the American Academy of Pediatrics have spoken out forcefully about their concerns with the overconsumption of soft drinks and their contribution to obesity and related chronic disease. Yet, this doesn’t seem to have made an impact on Dr. Gayle.

Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company says this about Dr. Gayle:

“Helene brings a global mindset and a deep understanding of health and humanitarian issues to our Company. Her expertise and insight will be invaluable as we continue to expand our global initiatives around sustainability and women.”

I suspect Mr. Kent wants Dr. Gayle on the Coca-Cola Board for a number of reasons. When companies like Coca-Cola donate money to high-profile non-profits like CARE and form cozy relationships with their leaders, they do so because they want their brands associated with something charitable. Coca-Cola’s association with CARE gives it positive press, particularly in emerging markets, and helps create a positive public perception about the brand, which can lead to increased sales.

Coca-Cola has other reasons for aligning itself with one of the world’s top anti-poverty organizations. Just this week, Coca-Cola was one of the world’s ten food giants named and criticized in Oxfam’s “Behind the Brand” report. Oxfam’s goal with “Behind the Brand” is “to provide people who buy and enjoy these products with the information they need to hold the Big Ten to account for what happens in their supply chains.” The ten corporations were graded on treatment of workers, farmers, women, land and water, around the world. They were also graded on their treatment of the climate, and overall transparency.

Coca-Cola was cited for particularly poor performance on land rights and support for farmers. On women, climate, transparency and water it was given a grade of “Some Progress” (which falls below grades of “Fair” and “Good.”) And Coca-Cola received a grade of “Fair” on workers. No doubt Coca-Cola hopes that having CARE’s Dr. Gayle on its Board of Directors helps burnish its reputation on sustainability and treatment of the world’s poorest citizens — while it aggressively introduces and markets Coca-Cola’s non-nutritious drinks into more and more impoverished countries and communities around the globe.

In Michael Moss’ New York Times Magazine article, “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food”, he quotes a former Coca-Cola executive, Jeffrey Dunn, who feels remorse for the time he spent in Brazil, pushing increased consumption of Coke among the many Brazilians living in poverty. According to Dunn, the company’s strategy was to offer Coke in more affordable 6.7-ounce bottles, at 20 cents each. On one trip, as he walked through an impoverished community, he had an epiphany:

“A voice in my head says, ‘These people need a lot of things, but they don’t need a Coke.’ I almost threw up.”

Dr. Gayle, the last thing the impoverished people you work with need, is a Coke. By accepting Coca-Cola’s funding and serving on their Board of Directors, you are helping to healthwash Coke’s brands and expand sales of sugary, non-nutritious drinks to the very people you want to help. Please, do the right thing and withdrawal your nomination to serve on Coca-Cola’s Board. And please work to ensure that CARE no longer accepts funding from the Coca-Cola company. You and CARE are complicit in helping Coca-Cola market their unhealthy drinks to the very people who need them the least.