( CNN ) -- With a budget of $ 1.6 billion a year , a global staff of 14,000 and operations in 120 countries , Jasmine Whitbread could be in charge of a multinational corporation . In fact , she is head of the charity , Save the Children International . As the first global chief executive of the world 's largest kids ' not-for-profit , she leads the organization with the business acumen and astute professionalism of a Fortune 500 company . Founded at the beginning of the 19th-century by two sisters devoted to protecting children , its mission is to respond to humanitarian crises from Oklahoma to Syria . But in the long term , the organization 's remit is centered around improving the way children are treated across the world . `` We want to play a role as a catalyst to really challenge some of these fundamental wrongs that ca n't be allowed to continue into the 21st century , '' says Whitbread . And with Whitbread at the helm , the charity is doing just that . In 2011 , Save the Children increased funding and expenditure by 10 % and helped 125 million children . `` Children should n't be going to bed hungry , they should n't be missing out on a basic education , these things are not expensive , they are not hard to solve . '' There 's no room for vague ideas of `` wanting to do good '' in a charity like Save the Children . `` We are just trying to help here , '' she says . `` I have heard that refrain from too many organizations and too many quarters where that help is actually doing harm so , I 'm under no illusion that just the will to do something good ( is ) enough . `` We 've got to be incredibly professional , we 've got to be very impartial in our work and not be drawn on one side or the other . `` You ca n't just expect to be praised for doing good , you 've got to be running a professional organization . '' Alongside her visits to crisis-hit countries , she has met with business leaders at the World Economic Forum ( WEF ) in Davos . `` I do think it 's a business where our bottom line is children 's lives , '' says Whitbread , 49 . `` We have to be the most efficient we can possibly be , we ca n't afford to be sloppy and just trying to do the right thing . '' To engage with business leaders in Davos , Whitbread needs to emphasize the economic case for the charity 's work . `` If I went around talking about children , I do n't think that I would get very far , '' she says . `` But if I talk about young people , democratic dividend or the fact that many of these countries are now emerging markets with increasingly young potential workforces , business people can relate to that . It all depends on how you pitch it . '' WEF is not only an opportunity to make the business case for the welfare of children , but it 's also an ideal forum to strike up relations with companies keen to give back and be a part of the solution . This includes accepting pro-bono work from the likes of Boston Consulting Group to forming corporate partnerships with Bulgari , GSK , IKEA , Reckitt Benckiser and Unilever . Save the Children has been criticized in recent years , accused by some of being inefficient after Haiti 's 2010 earthquake . `` If there is genuine criticism then we look at ourselves and say 'Ok , how could we be better coordinated ? How could we be more efficient ? ' '' However , she added : `` Haiti was such a difficult place to be working with in the first place . Children were n't going to school , children were going to bed hungry before the earthquake . We did n't do a good job of managing the very high expectations that were n't going to be met . Watch : A crusader for children worldwide . `` We have got enrollment in school up to rates that were never the case before the earthquake , so I also think that sometimes the criticism can be unfair . '' Whitbread grew up on the outskirts of London and -- apart from a spell volunteering in Uganda in her 20s -- she worked in business until the age of 36 . In 1999 , she left her job with Thomson Financial and moved her young family to Senegal in west Africa to become regional director for Oxfam . After six years with Oxfam , she made the switch to Save the Children , first as chief executive of the UK branch , and in 2010 , became the organization 's first international head . Since taking the post , Whitbread has worked to merge much of the work of the not-for-profit 's 30 national organizations . It is not a job that affords much rest . Just back from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone , Whitbread is about to leave for North Korea . `` I try and keep the trips quite short because I do want to get home and spend some time with the family , '' she says . `` One of the great things about the work that I 'm doing now is it 's appropriate to bring one of my kids along sometimes . So my daughter came with me to India , my son to China , they 've seen quite a bit of the world . ''
Jasmine Whitbread is the first international chief executive of Save the Children . The charity raises $ 1.6bn a year and works in 120 countries . In 2011 , the organization helped 125 million children . Our bottom line is children 's lives , says Whitbread .