Dr. med. Marco Steiner

2023 Foundation Board MST

Dr. med. Marco Steiner
President, Foundation Board


Looking ahead to the next decade and beyond 

Since joining the Foundation Board in 2018, I have been delighted by the great progress we are making, executing our strategy towards a world in which every child is granted an optimum start in life through the benefits of breastmilk. This progress has been attained thanks to our project partners, sage advisors and the tireless commitment of the Foundation Board and Team. 

So let me pause to wholeheartedly thank all who have contributed to the first 10 years of the Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation. Everything achieved thus far would have been impossible without your dedication of time, heart and intellect to our cause. 

In mid-2023, I became President of the Foundation Board. As a practicing gynecologist and obstetrician, I am honored to lead the Foundation into its next chapter. 

We will continue to work on several persistent challenges: broadening the range of available funding approaches, exploring how to build robust funding coalitions that are tailored to different implementational needs, and learning more about decision processes and the mechanics of behavior change around breastfeeding. We will further evolve the method behind the operationalization of breastfeeding policies, and we will continue to seek answers to crucial, practical questions such as, “How do we bring know-ledge into practice, and how can we make it easily accessible to the practitioners and families that really need it?”

While we do this, we will apply the findings already gained to accelerate improvements in breastfeeding environments for families here in Switzerland and in the Global South. 

Whatever question or challenge we target, a few fundamentals will not change. The Foundation will continue to branch into new, innovative endeavors, deepening our roots at home and abroad. We will continue to bring stakeholders together, breaking down boundaries between individual areas of expertise to find original solutions. And we will continue our quest to make breastmilk the norm for infant feeding again. 

Uniting behind this purpose reflects our belief that, together, we have the greatest agency. When we collaborate to ensure breast-milk is truly valued and families are supported, opportunity expands: children and mothers lead healthier lives, human capital improves and poverty declines. This is our chosen path to contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

As I lead the Foundation into its next decade, I invite everyone who is genuinely interested in improving lives through breast feeding to join us. It is truly exciting when brilliant minds come together to improve mother and child health globally, and I am very proud to be a part of this journey.