Envisioning a world that values women as leaders in global health and catalysts for better health for all the Women in Global Health’s (WGH) first global chapters formed in 2018 in Europe, the USA, and Africa has new leadership.
According to WGH, the WGH team has H. E. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, Chair of the WGH Board of Directors, is the former President of the United Nations General Assembly.
She is an accomplished academic, diplomat, politician, poet, and linguist with over 30 years of experience in academia, NGOs, international organizations, and government.
WGH has 46 chapters in all regions with 62% of them in LMICs with more than one-third (35%) concentrated on the African continent.
WGH’s diverse network of committed women advocates is holding national leaders accountable, ensuring gender has a spot on the agenda, and bringing frontline voices to decision-making tables.
Ms. Rachel Wilson, Vice-Chair of the WGH Board of Directors, has 30 years of experience in public health policy, research, communications, advocacy, and accountability. She is the principal of Catalysts for Change, a small woman-owned consulting firm that advises organizations on advocacy, organizational strategy, and capacity strengthening.
Ms. Paurvi Bhatt, Secretary of the WGH Board of Directors, is a globally recognized healthcare executive, with more than 30 years of experience. She specializes in creating strategies that bring together public, private, and philanthropic entities to improve health care and social services for communities.
The board has majority women, with at least 50% women from LMICs and individuals from underrepresented backgrounds.
The WGH team continues to expand with major additions to the core team, strengthening our focus on policy, advocacy, and chapter development while building global capacity.
WGH prioritizes diversity, with representation from 18 countries, a senior leadership team that is 66% women of color, 44% of the core team from and based in low-and middle-income countries, and 69% of the core team from/or based in LMICs.
WGH institutionalized the first Global Chapters Steering Committee to provide a structured platform for WGH Chapters to offer strategic insights in supporting the fulfillment of WGH’s mission to challenge power and privilege for gender equity in health.
Following a call for applications, committee members were selected from chapters in Kenya, Malawi, Benin, Nigeria, Sweden, Norway, USA Seattle, Mexico, and India.
The Chapters Steering Committee members provide guidance and strategic insights in the following thematic areas: resource mobilization; policy and advocacy; movement building and membership engagement; and learning and impact.
