Crises require collaboration. Unfortunately, the NGOs on the frontlines of crisis response are often incentivized to compete, not cooperate. But what if we turned that formula on its head? During the COVID-10 crisis, a coalition of organizations working in 40+ countries did just that & the results were staggering: hundreds of partners from across sectors were mobilized to aggregate research, rapidly produce and disseminate clinical and implementation protocols, and pool resources for the procurement of essential supplies for community health workers (CHWs). Learn the 5 lessons of radical collaboration that are helping to end the COVID-19 crisis –and will help prevent the next one.
This session was curated in partnership with Community Health Impact Coalition.
Thomas Cole has spent more than 25 years in regenerative agriculture, livelihoods and humanitarian aid work, with extensive field experience across Sub-Saharan Africa- particularly in Mozambique, Uganda and Ethiopia. His focal areas are food production system design, post-conflict recovery, agricultural extension, natural resource management and food security. He spends much of his spare time in these countries researching succulent plants, primarily aloe, euphorbia and sansevieria.
Currently he works as the Global Health Lead for Crown Family Philanthropies, guiding their strategic approach to health systems strengthening. He also works as an agroecology and resilience design advisor for global USAID food security programs and provides technical agricultural support for numerous communities recovering from conflict and disaster. He previously worked as the Africa Region Food Security Advisor for Save the Children and is a co-founder and technical advisor for African Women Rising, a community-based organization empowering thousands of women in post-war Uganda.
He has formally described several new species of aloe and sansevieria and is the co-author of the Field Guide to the Aloes of Uganda. He holds a Masters degree in Humanitarian Assistance from the Friedman School of Nutrition at Tufts University.
Project Director for Strengthening HIVST in the Private Sector, Population Services International
Seasoned leader in public health and PRINCE2 Practitioner with a consistent record of accomplishment in planning and executing ambitious initiatives in the East African region. Exceptional talent in initiating and cementing strategic partnerships with high-level government officials, non-profit organizations and government agencies including USAID, CDC, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, SIDA, CIDA and CORDAID International. Equipped with Global Executive Master's degree in Business Administration with emphasis on Health Leadership and Management as well as a Bachelor's degree in Family and Consumer Studies. Extensive hands-on experience in applying routine data quality assurance, Site Improvement through Monitoring System (SIMS) and participatory methodologies to development. Pivotal player in major initiatives projects including the TSU, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and PEPFAR/LINKAGES-funded initiative, Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored and Safe (DREAMS) Pumwani Initiative, the Technical Assistance for the Implementation and Expansion of Blood Safety Activities and the Local Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS Grants Management Program.
Mallika Raghavan is the Deputy Chief Program Officer. In this role, she directly manages Last Mile Health’s (LMH) work in Ethiopia, Malawi, and Sierra Leone, and provides oversight on program strategy and performance functions in partnership with LMH's Chief Program Officer.
At LMH, she also served as Managing Director of Program Strategy and Performance, where she supported the organization’s programming in Liberia and Malawi and led technical projects on community health systems strengthening. She served as Last Mile Health’s Director of National Community Health Systems from 2016 to 2018, and Deputy Director of Quality & Innovation from 2014 to 2016. In these roles, she helped lead the design, launch, and scale of Liberia’s National Community Health Assistant Program alongside the Ministry of Health
Prior to joining LMH, Mallika worked with the Government of South Sudan on the National Guinea Worm Eradication Program; and in Bihar, India with Project Concern International.
Executive Director, Community Health Impact Coalition
Dr. Madeleine Ballard is the Executive Director of the Community Health Impact Coalition, network of health delivery organizations in 40+ countries working to ensure community health workers get the fair pay, supplies, and ongoing support they need so everyone can have access to high quality healthcare. Dr. Ballard is also an Assistant Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She holds a PhD in evaluation science (EBSI) from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and was previously the founding Program Manager at Last Mile Health.
With the Coalition, she builds the collective action networks required to conduct (i) large-scale research on the practices that enable community health workers to deliver better care to more people and (ii) advocacy to ensure those practices get adopted by health systems everywhere. Join us: www.chwimpact.org
Julius is currently the Co-CEO of Lwala Community Alliance, where he works with communities to catalyze their own change through innovative programming that is going to scale, influencing health systems and putting communities at the center of their own development. He believes that when communities lead, change is lasting. As a community health enthusiast, he leads pro-CHW efforts in Kenya working closely with the MOH and community health actors through the Community Health Units for Universal Health Coverage (CHU4UHC) of which he is the chair. He has also offered capacity support to nonprofits across Africa and globally. Julius holds an MA in Political Science and Public Administration from the University of Nairobi, is a published author and a member of several professional associations. He is a voice for locally led development, an advocate for trust based philanthropy and sits on the boards of foundations and local organizations.
Jennifer (Jenny) Schechter has a deep passion for making sure quality healthcare reaches the people who need it most. Jenny began working in Togo as a Peace Corps volunteer in 2004 where she was privileged to partner with a community-based association of people living with HIV/AIDS, called AED-Lidaw. Integrate Health grew out of this partnership. Since taking on the role of CEO in 2012, Jenny has helped to expand Integrate Health’s impact in the fight to end preventable deaths of women and children. Working in the West African nations of Togo since 2004 and Guinea since 2022, Integrate Health collaborates with communities and the Ministry of Health to implement and test proactive, integrated, community health delivery innovations. Jenny is a recipient of the Rainer Arnhold Fellowship with the Mulago Foundation, a recipient of the Sargent Shriver Award for Distinguished Humanitarian Service, and a recipient of the Cordes Fellowship.
Deputy Director, New Country Expansion, Living Goods
Jennifer Foth, MPH is a public health professional with nearly 10 years of experience in health systems strengthening and providing technical assistance to governments and multi-cultural teams across Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. As the Deputy Director, New Country Expansion for Living Goods, Jennifer is responsible for operationalizing and overseeing Living Goods' government partnerships in new countries, as well as developing Living Goods' strategy, approach, and criteria for expansion.
Prior to Living Goods, Jennifer worked for the Global Vaccine Delivery team at the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), supporting teams across 7 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia to strengthen immunization program planning and accountability and developing CHAI's strategy for supporting Gavi transitioning countries. Jennifer also served as a Global Health Corps Fellow with the Millennium Villages Project (MVP) in Malawi from 2012-13, supporting MVP clinics in Malawi, Ghana, and Uganda to implement improved supply chain management processes.
Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from Middlebury College and a Master of Public Health from the Boston University School of Public Health.
Community Health Worker, Ministry of Health - Kenya
"Euniter is a mother of three and is married in Lwala village in North Kamagambo-Migori County. While working closely with her mother in law who was an unskilled nurse at the community, Euniter felt a strong desire to bridge the gap between poor community members who could not afford to acquire formal health care services. She decided to involve herself in Lwala Community Alliance’s health interventions where she acquired knowledge and gained relevant skills that enabled her to manage community health issues at the community level in a more efficient way.
Euniter has undergone training on integrated programs in various community interventions including sexual reproductive health, maternal child health, water sanitation and hygiene, nutrition, HIV/AIDs and early childhood development. These programs are vital in the wellbeing, development and sustainability of the community and health outcomes. She is a team leader in charge of 96 community health workers in North Kamagambo where she is responsible for planning and coordination of all community health and clinical activities. As a community member, she plays a critical in recruiting community health workers and mentoring youth peer providers.
Euniter possesses true passion for community work and her commitment and contribution has been
recognized by Lwala community. In addition to her role as a team leader, she is now a trainer of trainers at Lwala Community Alliance."
