Global Financing Facility

Mariam Claeson is the director of the GFF. She was previously the director of the Maternal Newborn and Child Health team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, since July 2012. She served as program coordinator for AIDS in the South Asia Region of the World Bank (2005–12), living three years in India. Before that, she was the lead public health specialist in the Health, Nutrition and Population, Human Development Network of the World Bank (1998–2004). Prior to joining the World Bank, Claeson worked for the Global Program for the Control of Diarrheal Diseases, World Health Organization (1987–1995). She has worked in clinical practice at the rural district level (Tanzania, Bangladesh, and Bhutan); in national immunization and diarrheal disease control (Ethiopia, 1984-1986); and for the World Bank in health sector development programs including in Egypt, Jordan, Uzbekistan, China, and the Philippines.

Monique Vledder is the program manager of the GFF. Previously, she managed the Health Results Innovation Trust Fund, the World Bank’s fund for the poorest—which to date has committed $436 million in grants linked to $2.4 billion in financing from IDA—for 36 results-focused programs in 30 countries. Her expertise in maternal and child health, health financing, and health systems strengthening was built over 20 years of in-country experience, with a focus on southern Africa, East Asia, and Latin America for the World Bank, the United Kingdom Department for International Development, and World Vision International. She received her MD from the University of Amsterdam, an MPH in international health from Harvard University, and a diploma in health economics from the University of York.

Ali Winoto Subandoro is a Nutrition Specialist at the GFF. Before joining the GFF, Ali was based in the World Bank Jakarta office where he led a multisectoral nutrition program and a social accountability on maternal and child health project. He also worked on immunization transition financing and provided cross support to GSURR on the community conditional cash transfer project. His previous experience in the Bank includes leading a Technical Assistance on Monitoring & Evaluation and nutrition costing in the African region and impact evaluation in the Social Development unit. Prior to joining the Bank, Ali worked at International Food Policy Research Institute and World Food Programme in Washington DC and Cairo. He received his Master’s degree in Economics from London School of Economics.

Aissa Socorro supports the development, implementation, monitoring and assessment of GFF strategic communications priorities of the GFF. She received her undergraduate degree in BA International Studies from De La Salle University, Philippines and received her master’s degree in Public Relations and Corporate Communications from Georgetown University.

Augustina Nikolova leads the administrative matters of the GFF Secretariat and oversees the trust fund financials, ensuring compliance with the GFF administrative agreements and the World Bank policies and procedures. Previously, she worked with the Japanese trust funds (PHRD and JSDF) and her career spans over 20 years across various corporate and operational units of the World Bank. She received her MBA from George Washington University.

Brendan Hayes is a Health Specialist leading the sexual and reproductive health and rights agenda. Before joining the GFF, Brendan worked at Marie Stopes International (MSI), where he led on private sector service delivery of family planning and reproductive health services. Prior to that role, he spent four years working in MSI’s program in Malawi. Brendan began his career working on HIV prevention and impact mitigation efforts in Swaziland. He received his undergraduate degree from St. Lawrence University and his master's degree from University College Dublin.

Ellen Van de Poel is a Health Economist supporting countries in developing and implementing strategies to increase domestic resources for health and improve the efficiency of health spending. Before joining the GFF, Ellen was an associate professor of Health Economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Her research focused on evaluating health financing reforms and on the measurement of equity in health and has been published in leading journals. She received master degrees from the Free University of Brussels and the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium and obtained a PhD in Economics from Erasmus University.

Jeff Tanner is a Senior Economist leading the evaluation agenda at the GFF, including the impact evaluation portfolio of the forerunner of the GFF—the Health Results Innovation Trust Fund. Prior to joining the GFF, he led the impact evaluation work at the World Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group where he assessed the causal contributions of various Bank health projects and assembled systematic reviews of the global literature on the effects of health and multisectoral interventions on maternal and child mortality, as well as the lasting effects of early childhood interventions. He has also served as an economist leading the work of the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s $1.1B portfolio in Guatemala, Burkina Faso, El Salvador, Honduras and Georgia. He received his MPA/ID from Harvard University and PhD in policy analysis/applied economics from the RAND Graduate School.

Julie Ruel-Bergeron is a Nutrition Specialist supporting both technical and operational activities, to ensure the integration of evidence-based and context-specific nutrition interventions into country programs. Prior to joining the GFF, Julie worked as a research assistant for a Johns Hopkins University-led nutrition program impact evaluation in Malawi, and as a consultant with the World Bank's Latin America and Africa regions. Other programmatic and research interests include adolescent nutrition and implementation research. She received her PhD in Human Nutrition from Johns Hopkins University, and an MPH from George Washington University.

Katri Bertram is the Senior Partnership Specialist at the GFF. Before joining the GFF, Katri previously headed Save the Children's Global Policy, Advocacy and Campaign work. Katri has worked at the World Bank, The ONE Campaign and carried out independent evaluations for the Stop TB Partnership, UNAIDS, and GIZ. She started her career working as a researcher in security policy and is a trained economist and political scientist. She received her Master’s Degrees from the London School of Economics and Political Science (International Relations) and the Hertie School of Governance (Public Policy).

Dr. Kimberly Boer, MSc, PhD is an infectious disease epidemiologist and strategic information specialist with international experience in HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. She has more than 15 years’ experience strengthening data use capacity throughout health systems in developing countries to support health policy and program development to improve health outcomes. Before joining the GFF, she served at the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Global HIV and Tuberculosis in various positions in Atlanta, Rwanda and Mozambique, and at the State Department, as the Associate Director for Interagency Collaborative of Program Improvement for the office of the Global Aids Coordinator. Previously, she worked as the Country Director for Royal Tropical Institute and the Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development in Rwanda. She received her MSc from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in Communicable Disease Epidemiology and a PhD in Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Amsterdam.

Leslie Elder is a Senior Nutrition Specialist with more than 25 years of experience in international public health, focusing on infant and young child feeding practices and maternal and adolescent nutrition, in addition to broader issues of safe motherhood and maternal, newborn, and child health. Prior to joining the World Bank in 2009, Leslie was Senior Director, Newborn Health and the Deputy and Acting Director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded Saving Newborn Lives program at Save the Children/US. She has additional professional experience supporting USAID-funded nutrition and health projects implemented through the Academy for Educational Development and John Snow, Incorporated as well as earlier stints at the World Bank. She received her MPH degree from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and a BSN from the University of Pennsylvania.

Linda Kelly is the Partnerships Coordinator in the GFF bringing over 25 years of experience in international development working at country, regional and global levels through multilateral agencies, public-private-partnerships (PPPs) and international civil society organizations. Her technical expertise includes: external relations, partnership and resource development, innovative financing, philanthropic advisory services, advocacy and communication. The last 15 years of her career focused on leading partnership and resource mobilization strategies for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and UNICEF. She received her Graduate Certificate in Epidemiology from Johns Hopkins and a Masters in International Development Policy and Planning from the University of Guelph, Canada.

Luc Laviolette leads the Country Programs of the GFF. Before joining the GFF, he served as Human Development Program Leader for the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo at the World Bank (2013 to 2017). Luc was based in Kinshasa, where he coordinated World Bank investments in health, nutrition, population, education, social protection, gender and fragility. Prior to that, Luc was a Senior Nutrition Specialist for the South Asia Region in 2009 initially based in New Delhi (India) and then in Islamabad (Pakistan). Prior to joining the World Bank, he held several positions including Regional Director, Asia for the Nutrition International and various management positions at the Canadian International Development Agency. He also served as Counselor to the Executive Director for Canada, China, Spain, Korea and Kuwait at the African Development Bank, based in Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire) and worked at the International Development Research Centre in Canada.

Maletela Tuoane-Nkhasi leads the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) for the GFF. Her key role is to provide advice and strategic direction to the development and operationalization of the business plan for the GFF on CRVS in support of strengthening CRVS systems in low- and lower-middle income countries. She is also responsible for providing advocacy and accountability for change and creating mechanisms to exchange and share technical knowledge and expertise on CRVS. Before joining the GFF, she was an Executive Manager in charge of health and vital statistics at Statistics South Africa, where she worked for 10 years. Her main responsibilities included strategic leadership in the acquisition, processing, analysis and dissemination of statistics covering vital events from the South African civil registration system. She was responsible for the publication of annual and monthly statistical reports on recorded live births; mortality and causes of death; marriages and divorces; tourism and migration; and health statistics. She was the South African focal point for CRVS activities and was involved in a range of activities aimed at improving the CRVS system in South Africa and in the African continent in general. She was a Senior Lecturer in Demography at the National University of Lesotho before joining Statistics South Africa. She holds a Ph.D. in Social Statistics; MPhil in Urban and Regional Science; MA in Population Studies; and a BA in Statistics and Demography.

Maria Eugenia Bonilla-Chacin leads the health financing for the GFF. Before joining the GFF, she worked for the World Bank Group’s Health, Nutrition and Population unit, where she led and contributed to different operational activities and technical assistance on health financing, service delivery, and health-in-all-policies issues in the Latin America and Caribbean, Africa, and Eastern Europe and Central Asia regions. She received an undergraduate degree from the Universidad Central de Venezuela and a PhD in economics from Johns Hopkins University.

Marie Yenko provides support to the Director of the GFF and operational support to the Partnerships team. Prior to joining GFF, Marie worked at the World Bank’s Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice and Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Vice President’s front office on Resource Management, Communications, and Knowledge & Learning. Before joining the World Bank, Marie was formerly assistant to the Ambassador at the Philippine Embassy, in Washington, D.C. and Corporate Communications Manager of Glaxo SmithKline, Philippines. She received her bachelor’s degree in Communications from Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines.

Marion Cros is a Health Economist with 12 years of public health experience in private consultancies, research institutions and donors in Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. Prior to joining the GFF, Marion worked at the World Bank, the European Commission, Deloitte Consulting, ThinkWell, Management Sciences for Health, Brandeis University and EPOS Health Management. She received her Master of Science degree in International Health Policy and Management from Brandeis University and a Master of Arts in European Policy from the College of Europe in Poland. She is a PhD Candidate at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University.

Melanie Mayhew leads communications for the GFF. Before joining the GFF, Melanie worked for the World Bank Group's health, nutrition and population communications team, where she helped lead the Bank Group’s communication efforts during the Ebola crisis; for the Bank Group’s corporate communications team; and at a communications firm. She began her career as a journalist covering education. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Richmond and holds a master's degree from Johns Hopkins University.

Mirja Sjoblom is a Senior Economist working on issues related to health financing and service delivery reforms. Her expertise was built over 15 years of various assignments in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Selected engagements include advising the Government of China on socially responsible ways to expand private sector participation in the health sector, assessing how cancer care can be improved in Brazil and designing large provider payment reforms in Brazil, Haiti and Zambia. She received her M Sc. in Economics and International Business from the Stockholm School of Economics, is a PhD candidate in health policy at the University of Edinburgh, faculty of the Managing Markets for Health course and has published multiple articles and co-authored books on topics related to health system performance, international migration and gender.

Petra Vergeer is a Senior Health Specialist with over 20 years’ experience working in public health and health system strengthening programs in developing countries, including fragile states. Petra provides technical support to countries on design and implementation, including on Results Based Financing (RBF) – an area of expertise. Petra also leads the Capacity building and Knowledge & Learning portfolio for both RBF and GFF. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Nursing and a postgraduate in Tropical Medicine and Public Health from Leidse Hogeschool. She received her Master’s degree in International Relations from University of New South Wales, Australia and Master’s in Public Administration from University of Leiden.

Robert Scherpbier is a Senior Health Specialist leading data driven implementation support and managing implementation research at the GFF. From 2011 to 2018 Robert was Chief of Health, Nutrition & Water, Sanitation and Hygiene at UNICEF China, where he also chaired the H6. Between 1997 and 2011, he served at the World Health Organization (WHO) in various country, regional level and headquarter roles, including as editorial adviser of the WHO Bulletin. Robert was appointed to the UN Secretary-General's Task Force on the MDGs and WHO’s Commission on Social Determinants of Health. From 1992 and 1996, he was District Director of Health Services in Kadjebi District, for the Ghana Health Services and Ministry of Health in Ghana. Robert has a special interest in using implementation research and health information systems to support evidence informed decision making to improve reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, adolescent health, and nutrition outcomes. He was trained as a medical doctor in The Netherlands, specialized in International Health and Tropical Medicine, and received his Master of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins University.

Sneha Kanneganti leads private sector engagement for the Global Financing Facility. This includes innovative financing, private sector partnerships, and technical assistance to country governments on private sector in health systems. Prior to the GFF, Sneha was with the global Health Investments team at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, and has also worked with the World Bank on developing its private sector strategy for health. She is a physician with clinical experience across the public and private health sectors in India, and received her Master of Business Administration and Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.

Stephanie Saulsbury is an Analyst supporting donor and partner management as well as program administration for the GFF. Before joining the GFF, Stephanie worked for various nonprofit organizations and foundations including the Communication Consortium Media Center, UN Foundation, and Kaiser Family Foundation. Her work focused primarily on public health policy and advocacy, and women and girl’s empowerment both globally and domestically. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina Wilmington and holds master’s degree from American University.

Vineetha Menon is a financial analyst for the GFF who oversees the GFF Trust Fund financials, monitoring and reporting, ensuring compliance with all GFF administrative agreements and World Bank policies and procedures. Her career spans more than 10 years with the World Bank and in these years, she was part of the Bank’s Trust Fund Division based in Chennai. She is a certified accountant from The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Supriya Madhavan is a senior health specialist working on analytical and operational work to advance the Demographic Dividend and improve quality of care around Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent health. Before joining the GFF, Supriya worked at USAID to promote Implementation Research and Delivery Science to support MCH service delivery in lower and middle income countries. She has extensive experience working in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Balkans and sub-Saharan Africa. Supriya has a BA, MPH and PhD from Cornell University, Columbia University and Johns Hopkins University respectively.