On February 4, 2020, Devex and Chemonics will convene a group of senior thought leaders to host an exclusive conversation with Ambassador Birx aiming to shed light on what's in store for PEPFAR in the year ahead. The timely discussion led by Raj Kumar, President & Editor-in-Chief of Devex, comes following a time of important changes for PEPFAR, including some stagnating levels of funding and proposed budget cuts — all along the backdrop of the 2020 presidential elections.
Ambassador-at-Large, Deborah L. Birx, M.D., is the Coordinator of the United States Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS and U.S. Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy. Ambassador Birx is a world-renowned medical expert and leader in the field of HIV/AIDS. Her three-decade-long career has focused on HIV/AIDS immunology, vaccine research, and global health. As the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, Ambassador Birx oversees the implementation of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease in history, as well as all U.S. Government engagement with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Serving as the U.S. Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy, she aligns the U.S. Government’s diplomacy with foreign assistance programs that address global health challenges and accelerate progress toward: achieving an AIDS-free generation; ending preventable child and maternal deaths; and preventing, detecting, and responding to infectious disease threats.
Executive Vice President Christopher Scott has more than 20 years of experience managing international development projects. Mr. Scott currently oversees Chemonics’ global health and supply chain portfolio. In that capacity, he leads efforts to implement sustainable supply chains, improve health service delivery, and scale up innovative approaches in developing country environments. Previously, he served as senior vice president of the USAID Global Health Supply Chain Program-Procurement and Supply Management Project (GHSC-PSM) where he provided strategic leadership to improve the availability of health commodities and technical assistance for supply chain system strengthening worldwide. Mr. Scott has served as chief of party for USAID projects in Ukraine and the West Bank and as senior vice president of Chemonics’ Middle East regional business unit. Early in his career, he acted as senior advisor and chief of party for projects in Belarus, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Yemen. Before joining Chemonics, he was a USAID democracy team leader in Jordan. Mr. Scott holds a J.D. from the John Marshall Law School and an undergraduate degree from Marquette University.
Raj Kumar leads a global team of over 100 Devexers and serves a community of 1 million global development professionals. His personal experience in over 50 countries, including a childhood partly spent in rural India, informs his work.