Mission Statement
PKD Foundation Vision and Mission
It grew from the belief "We need to become an organization that accelerates growth." The idea was to develop a strategy to make the PKD Foundation more efficient, able to strengthen our service to members and determine ways to bring new people and ideas into the mix. After 18 months of organizing, planning, meetings, writing and rewriting, it was done. The PKD Foundation had a new Strategic Plan.
Creating a plan of this magnitude is no simple task. A group consisting of a cross section of PKD Foundation Board of Trustees and Advisory Committee members worked diligently to sculpt the future shape of the foundation. One of their first actions was to develop a vision. This vision became:
"No one suffers the full effects of PKD." From that vision, the committee looked to identify core strategic functions - those items essential to address member needs and help the foundation grow. The committee studied these functions and made recommendations on which should become priorities of the PKD Foundation.
Some of the key components included:
- Lead an aggressive research strategy that finds a cure while helping current patients by expanding research areas and methodologies funded by the PKD Foundation.
- Dramatically increase revenues for PKD research
- Expand PKD operations and relationships by locating our resources closer to those affected by PKD.
With a firm grasp of what was needed to accomplish the goal, the Committee developed a Mission Statement for the foundation: A guiding light for our efforts and actions during the next three to five years.
"Promote research to find a cure for PKD and improve the care and treatment of those it affects."
The PKD Foundation Board of Trustees overwhelmingly approved this new strategic plan and will use it as a "roadmap" to aggressively strengthen PKD research, increase funding supporting research, and expand our operations across the country.
We are optimistic about what this strategic plan and the future hold for the PKD Foundation. More importantly, we are excited by what we believe achievements from this plan will mean for people affected by PKD. We feel it will help us achieve our vision: "No one suffers the full effects of PKD."
Description
Polycystic Kidney Disease is the most common genetic, life threatening disease affecting more than 600,000 Americans and an estimated 12.5 million people worldwide - regardless of sex, age, race or ethnic origin. In fact, PKD affects more people than cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, hemophilia, Down syndrome and sickle cell anemia -- combined.
Polycystic means multiple cysts. In effect, PKD denotes multiple cysts on each kidney. These cysts grow and multiply over time, also causing the mass of the kidney to increase. Ultimately, the diseased kidney shuts down causing end-stage renal disease for which dialysis and transplantation are the only forms of treatment.
PKD comes in two forms. Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) is the most common, affecting 1-in-400 to 1-in-500 adults. Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease (ARPKD) is far less common, affecting 1-in-10,000 at a far younger age, including newborns, infants and children.
