President Johnson Shares Women and Children’s Initiative in San Diego

Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shared details of a recently launched global women and children’s initiative with community leaders in San Diego, California, on Saturday, June 29, 2024.

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About 40 women, including local government leaders and representatives of nonprofit organizations, gathered at the La Jolla Institute for a roundtable discussion. President Johnson gave the civic leaders a handout, “25 Ways to Participate in the Global Initiative for Women and Children,” showing how they can get involved in the effort.

“These things are very simple, like mentoring a woman on the path to self-reliance, or perhaps reading with a child aloud, or identifying what the barriers are to appropriate child nutrition in your community, and then identifying the resources that can be used to tackle those challenges,” she explained.

This is the second time in a year that General Officers from the Church of Jesus Christ have met with the women in San Diego. A smaller group gathered at the Mormon Battalion Center last September to share ideas of how they can work together to serve their community. The women have now formed a group called Women in Service Everywhere (WISE), which meets quarterly.

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“We really wanted a place for all of us to come together to share, to be able to put our resources together,” explained Lisa Murphy, a Bahá’í representative from San Diego’s interfaith community and an original member of WISE.

“It’s really important for women to collaborate because we have a unique perspective that’s important for the community to see,” said Murphy. “It’s also important for us to have diversity with the women that we bring together, not only from their different faith backgrounds, their different ethnic backgrounds, but also the expertise that they have being able to bring professionals to different spaces.”

In June, the Church of Jesus Christ launched the global women and children’s initiative to improve the health and well-being of 12 million children and 2.7 million women in 12 high-need countries.

President Johnson and other Church leaders have collaborated with Relief Society sisters and like-minded groups since the effort began.

“The simple things that they can be doing in their homes, in their [congregations], in their communities will bless the lives of women and children and make them part of our global cause,” said President Johnson.

Lauren Foulger, founder of The Humble Village, said she loved President Johnson’s message. “I do global health in Guatemala, and it’s right in line with what we’re doing there. … There’s such power and change that can happen when we as sisters gather and work together to create change.”

The four pillars of the Church’s global initiative are nutrition, maternal and newborn care, immunizations and education.

“I love that the global message also helps the local message and that we can all serve together, and we can all help each other no matter where we’re at,” said Mia Roseberry, cofounder of Wounded Warriors Homes and an original member of WISE.