The John Dau Sudan Foundation merges with the American Care for Sudan Foundation

On June 18, 2008, The American Care for Sudan Foundation (ACSF) and the John Dau Sudan Foundation (JDSF) agreed to merge into one organization in their joint pursuit of transforming healthcare in Southern Sudan. The new entity will be called the John Dau Sudan Foundation.

ACSF was formed initially under the leadership of John Dau and the dedication and hard work of a group of members of the First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles to build the Duk Lost Boys Clinic in Duk Payuel, Southern Sudan in early 2007.

JDSF Founder and President John Dau will lead the organization into this new phase and continue to play a significant role guiding the entity's fundraising and strategy. Bill Coplin, Director of the Public Affairs Program at Syracuse University's Maxwell School, has been appointed Chairman of the Board of the new organization and four of the previous ACSF Board members are now on the seven-member Board of Directors.

"I see the merger with ACSF as a necessary step to create an integrated team to acquire the resources and implement programs to transform healthcare in Southern Sudan," said Coplin.

The merger of the organizations was approved by the boards of JDSF and ACSF. The merger is targeted to legally take effect by the end of 2008, but the organizations will begin merging operations immediately under the JDSF board of management. The new organization will be headquartered in Syracuse, New York.

"This merger allows for the strengths of both of the foundations to be combined, creating a solid framework to bring health care to my homeland in the decades ahead," said Dau. "My attention will no longer be divided as JDSF will be my only focus."