Smile Train CEO feted for Impactful surgical partnerships

College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA) President Prof Laston Chikoya awards Honorary Fellowship to Smile Train President and CEO Susannah Schaefer as Secretary General of COSECSA Prof. Abebe Bekele looks on. [Courtesy, Smile Train]

Smile Train Chief Executive Officer, Susannah Schaefer has been feted with Honorary Fellow of the College of Surgeons of East, Central, and Southern Africa (COSECSA) for impactful surgical partnerships across Africa.

The honour underscores Smile Train’s longstanding commitment to empowering local medical professionals and strengthening surgical systems across the African continent.

“I receive this distinction with deep appreciation, but most importantly, I accept it on behalf of the patients with clefts whose lives we continue to transform through our work around the world,” said Schaefer.

With the theme of ‘Meeting the Surgical Needs in Africa through Teaching and Training’, the conference she said, aligns with Smile Train’s core model of building sustainable, scalable cleft care systems by training and supporting local providers.

During the ceremony, 11 Smile Train-sponsored surgeons graduated as COSECSA Fellows in Plastic Surgery, Pediatric Surgery, and Post-Fellowship Surgery, marking a significant milestone for local surgical capacity building.

Prof Laston Chikoya,  COSECSA President said Smile Train’s longstanding partnership with COSECSA exemplifies the power of African-led solutions.

To date, he said, the collaboration has supported 26 surgical fellows in Plastic Surgery, Pediatric Surgery, and Post-Fellowship training.

“The trained surgeons not only serve in their communities but also mentor peers, drive surgical research, and influence national health policies,” he said. 

Globally, Smile Train has supported over two million cleft surgeries worldwide since its inception in 1999, with nearly 200,000 in Africa since beginning work on the continent in 2002.

Smile Train’s worldwide partner network comprises more than 20,000 medical professionals, including surgeons, anesthesiologists, orthodontists, nutritionists, and speech therapists.

Since its founding, Smile Train has trained over 100,000 medical professionals to better care for their communities.

In June 2025, Smile Train marked a major milestone with the opening of the National Cleft Care Center in Kumasi, Ghana, Africa’s first Smile Train Cleft Leadership Center (CLC).