2018 Highlights
2018 Luminaries.
Tedros Adhanom
Tedros Adhanom serves as the first African Director-General of World Health Organization. For the past three decades, he has transformed Ethiopia’s health system to expand quality care and access to tens of millions of Ethiopians, and helped key global actors like The Global Fund and the Roll Back Malaria Partnership operate with greater efficiency and effectiveness.
Tedros Adhanom
Director general of the World Health Organization
Luis Alberto Moreno
Luis Alberto Moreno assumed the presidency of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in October 2005 and was reelected on September 14, 2015 for a third term. Moreno is the institution’s legal representative and Chief Executive Officer. He is responsible for the Bank’s day-to-day business and manages its operations and administration with the assistance of the staff of the Office of the President.
Luis Alberto Moreno
President, Inter-American Development Bank
Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996 and is the host of the podcast Revisionist History. He is the author of three New York Times best-sellers: “The Tipping Point,” “Blink,” and “Outliers”; a collection of his New Yorker articles titled “What the Dog Saw,” and, most recently, “David and Goliath.” Previously, he worked at the Washington Post.
Malcolm Gladwell
Author
Holly Gordon
As Chief Impact Officer, Holly oversees all development and execution of Social Impact campaigns for Participant Media, further strengthening the company’s mission to create entertainment that compels and inspires social change. Before joining Participant, Gordon co-founded Girl Rising, a global campaign for girls’ education, named the #1 most Dynamic Social Initiative by Forbes Magazine in 2012.
Holly Gordon
Chief Impact Officer, Participant Media
Mark R. Dybul
Mark is a professor and the faculty co-director of the Center for Global Health and Quality at Georgetown University Medical Center. He served as Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and was an architect of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which he headed from 2006 to 2009.
Mark R. Dybul
Director of the Center for Global Health and Quality, Georgetown University Medical Center
Toyin Ojora Saraki
As founder and president of Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA) and Inaugural Global Goodwill Ambassador for the International Confederation of Midwives, Her Excellency Mrs Toyin Ojora Saraki is a Nigerian philanthropist with two decades of advocacy experience covering maternal, newborn and child health, gender-based discrimination and violence, and improving education, socio-economic empowerment and community livelihoods in Africa.
Toyin Ojora Saraki
Founder-President, Wellbeing Foundation Africa
Rula Ghani
First Lady of Afghanistan Rula Ghani has taken up the torch of amplifying the voices of Afghan women by using her position to elevate the voices of women in her adopted country. She also brings her insights on the challenges facing conflict-ridden countries struggling to support worthy lives during long-term displacement, having worked directly with many of Afghanistan's uprooted citizens.
Rula Ghani
First Lady of Afghanistan
Jaha Dukureh
As a survivor of FGM and child marriage herself, Jaha started Safe Hands for Girls after realizing that a survivor-led movement and support system was long overdue. At just 26 years old, she made the list of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world after having led a successful campaign to ban FGM in the Gambia.
Jaha Dukureh
Founder, Safe Hands for Girls
Agnes Binagwaho
Professor Agnes Binagwaho, MD, M(Ped), PhD, is a Rwandan pediatrician and Vice Chancellor of the University of Global Health Equity. For 20 years, she contributed to reshaping the health sector in Rwanda through innovation and served in high-level government positions, including five years as Minister of Health.
Agnes Binagwaho
Vice Chancellor, University of Global Health Equity
Githinji Gitahi
Gitahi joined Amref Health Africa on June 1, 2015. Until his appointment at Amref Health Africa, Gitahi was the Vice President and Regional Director for Africa, Smile Train International, where he successfully established partnerships for long-term sustainability with various African governments. Prior to that he worked with the Nation Media Group, where he was the Managing Director for Monitor Publications in Uganda as well as General Manager for Marketing and Circulation in East Africa. He also held progressively senior positions at GlaxoSmithKline, Avenue Group and the insurance industry.
Githinji Gitahi
Group Chief Executive Officer, Amref Health Africa
Katja Iversen
Katja Iversen is the CEO of Women Deliver – a leading global advocate for investment in the health, rights and wellbeing of girls and women, with a specific focus on maternal, sexual and reproductive health and rights. Iversen, an internationally recognized expert on development, advocacy and communications, has more than 20 years of experience working in NGOs, corporates and United Nation agencies. Previously, she held the position as Chief of Strategic Communication and Public Advocacy with UNICEF, a position she came to after almost six years of leading the team responsible for advocacy and communication on reproductive health and MDG 5 at UNFPA.
Katja Iversen
CEO, Women Deliver
Naveen Rao
Naveen Rao has over three decades of experience in Global Health. As the MSD for Mothers Lead he is responsible for leveraging the company’s scientific and business expertise to accelerate progress in reaching the Sustainable Development Goals and advancing Merck’s mission to improve and save lives. Prior to Merck for Mothers, Naveen held numerous leadership positions at Merck and was previously Head of Medical Affairs for Merck’s Asia-Pacific region and Managing Director of Merck’s subsidiary in India.
Naveen Rao
Lead, MSD for Mothers
Elhadj As Sy
Elhadj As Sy is the Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Prior to this role, Mr. Sy was UNICEF’s Director of Partnerships and Resource Development in New York. He has also served as UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa and Global Emergency Coordinator for the Horn of Africa, and held a number of senior roles with UNDP, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and UNAIDS.
Elhadj As Sy
Secretary General, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
C.D. Glin
C.D. Glin is the President and CEO of the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF), a U.S. government agency established by Congress to support and invest in African owned and led enterprises which improve lives and livelihoods in poor and vulnerable communities in Africa. Prior to joining USADF, from 2011-2016 Glin was based in Nairobi, Kenya as the Associate Director for Africa for the Rockefeller Foundation, and previously served as a White House appointee at the U.S. Peace Corps as the first Director of Intergovernmental Affairs and Global Partnerships.
C.D. Glin
President & CEO, U.S. African Development Foundation
Karl Hofmann
Karl Hofmann is the President and CEO of PSI (Population Services International), a non-profit global health organization based in Washington, D.C. PSI operates in over 50 countries worldwide, with programs in family planning and reproductive health, malaria, water and sanitation, HIV, and non-communicable diseases. As PSI looks to the future, the organization will reimagine healthcare to put the consumer at the center and whenever possible bring care to the front door.
Karl Hofmann
President and CEO, PSI (Population Services International)
Deena Buford
Buford is currently the Global Medical Director of the Medicine and Occupational Health Department for Exxon Mobil Corporation. The department delivers services to over 80,000 Exxon Mobil and affiliate employees worldwide. In addition to traditional work-related occupational health services, their service portfolio includes emergency response, travel medicine, industrial hygiene, drug testing, infectious disease support and health promotion services delivered across a global network of over 90 clinics.
