Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Litten.
Hi Michael, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was working for Philips Children’s Medical Ventures, as the Manager of Education Programs, focused on providing continuing education for the clinicians who care for the most fragile vulnerable little people, premature infants. During my time in that role, I recognized, sadly, to often one of the first budget items to get cut was for clinician education. Given that reality, I decided to start the Foundation for Premature Infants, Inc. (501) (c) (3). Our mission is to advocate for the right of all premature infants to be cared for in a developmentally and age appropriate supportive manner by providing continuing education for the clinicians who care for these fragile vulnerable little people.
We received our official letter from the IRS recognizing our tax exempt status as a not for profit organization on January 4th 2011. Since then we have been raising money in small amounts and giving it back to clinicians who care for premature infants in Neonatal Intensive Care Units, literally, around the world.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I naively believed, since I was marketing education programs to provide continuing education for clinicians caring for premature infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units, my employer, Philips Children’s Medical Ventures, would be supportive of my Foundation for Premature Infants, Inc., sadly, I was wrong. The Director of Human Resources told me the company viewed my role with FPI as a “conflict of interest” with my job, as Manager of Education Programs, and gave me two choices, close down the foundation or lose my job, Wow, I didn’t see that coming.
I struggled with what to do for a short period of time and decided to embrace the genius of the AND, I put the Foundation for Premature Infants in “hibernation” and kept my job. Ironically, a couple years later Philips had a reduction in force and my role was eliminated, the same fate that befell continuing education in many hospital NICU’s across the country.
Praise God, FPI lives on and Philips Children’s Medical Ventures is no more.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
God has blessed me, beyond measure, to be able to follow my passion, in what I call preferment, not retirement, as in I am doing what I prefer to do,
Which, since 2011, is running the Foundation for Premature Infants, Inc. Our mission is to advocate for the right of all premature infants to be cared for in a developmentally supportive and age appropriate manner and our vision is to ensure that the premature infant Bill of Rights is the standard of care for all babies born prematurely, 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, on all shifts, in every Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in the world.
And, since, 2018, hosting, as The Last DJ, a podcast, Ride The Vibe. The show features an “old school” listening party format. We encourage listeners to sit back with a glass of their favorite beverage, while we play a sample of the guest’s original songs and then chat with them about all things music, think digital liner notes. The show features a wide range of local, national and international artists. In the studio we enjoy Cathead Distillery and Drinkmate beverages, the theme music is provided by my dear friend, Peter Perkins, the majority of the guests are introductions from the amazing Lucy Piller, All Right Now Entertainment, and the show is produced by Wahid Gomes and Mike Nathcus.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
There is more need now than ever for not for profits, like the Foundation for Premature Infants, Inc. and that trend will only accelerate over the next 5-10 years.
And, the same can be said for podcasts, they are where people are gravitating for their listening pleasure, enjoyment and information. The days of state controlled lame stream media dictating the propaganda are bless fully coming to an end.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.foundationforprematureinfants.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foundationforprematureinfants
