ABOUT CORE GROUP

CORE is the only player in its field that convenes the practitioners and public health professionals in global community health to share knowledge, evidence, and best practices, and then translates these into the real world with a direct impact, creating new standards in clinical and public health as it advances dialogue at the country and global levels.

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Mission & Vision

Mission

Improve and expand community health practices for underserved populations, especially women, children, and adolescents, through collaborative action and learning.

Vision

Communities where everyone can attain health and well-being.

Values

Values Statement

Values Statement

We believe that access to health care is a basic human right and that essential health care for all is attainable through a whole-health-systems approach. All people and communities must have access to safe, affordable, and high-quality health services without having to risk financial hardship. Universal health coverage must be fully implemented in policy and in practice to build a healthier world.
We see communities at the center of our efforts. Community-led decision-making, power, and resources are essential to attaining sustainable and strong health systems.
We believe in decolonizing global health. International health efforts must center the voices of regional, country-level, and local stakeholders and normalize these stakeholders’ leadership in decision-making.
We amplify the voices of vibrant communities whose health care systems do not meet their needs. Understanding the experience and priorities of our members and centering individual and collective voices in their health advocacy helps to effect wide reach and change.
We lift the voices of women and girls. Respecting, learning from, and engaging women and girls in communities whose needs are not met by existing health systems can provide important lessons on priorities, practices, and policies to help achieve health care and well-being for everyone.
We seek an end to racism and discrimination. Equal opportunity for all people can be achieved through dialogue, learning, and advocating in collaboration with and among Black and indigenous communities, people of color, women, gender and sexual minorities, people living with disabilities, and all those who experience hatred and bigotry around the world.
We thrive on collaborative learning and action, which drive innovations to advance health equity. Health equity can be achieved through learning, collaboration, and the application of resulting tools and approaches among all stakeholders engaged in the health system: public and private sector actors, donors, community leaders, religious leaders, mothers, and youth all have an important role to play.
We strive for health equity for all and seek gender-transformative approaches in programming and policies. Equitable approaches, including community-led research and advocacy, can promote gender equity by breaking down barriers to ensure access to high-quality health care for all populations. Ensuring health and gender equity measures, implementation guidelines, and clear policies are essential to achieve health equity for all communities.
We trust science. Evidence-based programs are necessary to effectively support and improve global community health.
We believe in the urgency of addressing climate change and its myriad effects on communities. We strive to protect the environment and commit to environmentally sustainable practices as an organization.

History

History of CORE Group

CORE Group emerged organically, beginning in 1997, when a group of health professionals from non-governmental development organizations saw the value of sharing knowledge and ideas about how to best help children survive. What began in this simple spirit of openness quickly gained momentum as participants realized significant savings in time, thought and resources—all made possible by collaborating. The group realized that this “community of practice” model was also fertile ground for the creation of new knowledge and ideas. In 2001, the group’s original moniker, The Child Survival Collaborations and Resources Group, was streamlined, and the newly named CORE Group incorporated as a coalition of non-profit global health organizations. Though the original scope has broadened from child survival to include women’s health and infectious diseases, the organizing principle for CORE Group membership remains the same: technical excellence in integrated, community-based global health programming.

Learn more in this video:

Annual Reports

In our commitment to transparency and financial accountability, CORE Group publishes an annual report that highlights our accomplishments and financial information for each fiscal year. Our annual reports since 2005 are available below. Reports for 2004 and earlier were only published in hardcopy.

Our Impact

CORE Group has worked since 1997 to advance the field of community health by developing case studies and analyzing research data from the field, creating training curricula and conducting workshops, developing monitoring and evaluation trainings and tools, fostering in-country collaboration, diffusing Innovations, and advocating for Community Approaches to Health.

Contributions

Contributions to the Field

CORE Group has worked since 1997 to advance the field of community health by:

– Developing case studies and analyzing research data from the field so others can understand what works on the ground level and how it might be replicated.

– Creating training curricula and conducting workshops that address community-level prevention and care, with a focus on social and behavior change, childhood illness, maternal mortality and management of infectious diseases.

– Developing monitoring and evaluation trainings and tools that enable field staff to collect standardized data. More Information, please visit the Monitoring and Evaluation Tools and Resources.

– Fostering in-country collaboration to assist NGOs and global partners in developing secretariats and networks. Recent efforts include malaria, polio, and pandemic preparedness activities in India, Nepal, Ethiopia, Angola, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.

– Diffusing Innovations. NGOs working in isolation often create innovative solutions to improve child health outcomes by overcoming common obstacles to development. CORE has worked to diffuse several NGO innovations that have demonstrated improvement in the effectiveness, sustainability, equity or scale of child health outcomes.

– Advocating for Community Approaches to Health. Core Group has partnered with several global initiatives–such as Roll Back Malaria, Stop TB, and the U.S. Coalition for Child Survival—in order to ensure that community approaches to health are integrated into health advocacy efforts.

Testimonials

Karen LeBan

, Executive Director, CORE Group

Most health takes place in the home. It is the mothers, fathers, the people who are caring for each other in their families that have to make those critical decisions, take those necessary first actions in order to improve their childrens' and families' health. We would like to empower those people to be able to care for themselves and make the best decisions for their families. CORE Group has over 56 member organizations, each organization working in anywhere from 1 to 180 countries, reaching as many as 720 million children- that is 10% of the world's population.
Dr. Abhay Bang

, MD, MPH; Founder & Director of SEARCH

There is a famous story about a father's last lesson for his five sons who are always quarreling. On his deathbed gathered by his sons, he gives them each one stick and asks them to break it. They each quickly break their stick. The he ties 10 sticks together and asks them to break the sticks. They find them impossible to break. That is the power of a group, of a community.

So like this power of community, world organizations must also form a community. This will give them all power of numbers, power of sharing, power of giving strength to each other and also the power of shaping policies. Individual organizations may be inadequate, they may be a lone voice, but if organizations come together then their voice will be heard, their points of view will be [taken] more seriously...
Tom Davis

, Director of Health Programs, Food for the Hungry International (FHI)

Being an organization with so many members, CORE is able to get new ideas out to a lot of people very quickly. People come together to create tools, methods, and curricula that we normally would not come together to form otherwise.
Diana DuBois

, Executive Director, WellShare International

I think the heart and soul of CORE are the different working groups that develop very specific and practical tools that are used worldwide. I would also like to acknowledge that CORE Group has helped and continues to help in program learning and knowledge generation and diffusion among INGOs. CORE has played a critical role in the CSHGP and global health generally through its effective mechanisms to share program learning and by providing a forum for knowledge generation and diffusion among INGOs. It is far and away the best and most effective knowledge generation and diffusion membership organization for maternal and child health and other health areas.
Antony Duttine

, Handicap International

The CORE Group meetings are really exciting two events over the year to meet new and familiar faces and learn from those with different stories to tell with different perspectives from different parts of the world. It’s a very interesting melting pot of thoughts and ideas and perspectives. I think it is great that there is such a variety of people from different regions and different perspectives, from policy makers to those in the field. It’s a technically-focused forum that is interesting to me as a technical person but also great to see perspectives from donors and learn what is influencing change. Being a niched organization in disability, it is nice to see how welcomed we are to the group which is a mainstream health group. To be welcomed with open-arms for our own perspectives ...
Paul Freeman

, Dept of Global Health, University of Washington

I come to CORE Group meetings because it’s great for networking and keeping up to date on issues for child health and programs. I connect with people from all different programs. It’s good for catching up to date with what’s happening with MCHIP and my interests go across all the different types of interest groups and programs. It’s a great place to bring everything together and catch up.
Kayt Erdahl

, Technical Officer, TB Team, PATH

If the CORE network wasn't there, something would be lost because what I have found is that the greatest asset are the other CORE members that bring this cast level of knowledge and experience together. It is a group of technical people working together and sharing experiences and learning from each other. I don't know any other venue that quite compares.
Laura Ehrlich

, WellShare International

CORE's listservs connect our staff to valuable and timely technical information---it is like having our own research department. And I cannot say enough good things about the meetings and networking opportunities within CORE. They are extremely valuable.
Laura Ehrlich

, WellShare International

CORE's listservs connect our staff to valuable and timely technical information---it is like having our own research department. And I cannot say enough good things about the meetings and networking opportunities within CORE. They are extremely valuable.
Kayt Erdahl

, Technical Officer, TB Team, PATH

If the CORE network wasn't there, something would be lost because what I have found is that the greatest asset are the other CORE members that bring this cast level of knowledge and experience together. It is a group of technical people working together and sharing experiences and learning from each other. I don't know any other venue that quite compares.
Christy Gavitt

, American Red Cross

I go to a number of different conferences worldwide and I think this is the 7th or 8th CORE Group meeting I have been to. I don’t find one better than the other. I think they are all excellent. The biggest value is the connection back to implementation. There’s not the old touchy-feely, pie in the sky, cloud theory stuff where I am saying, “bring it back to reality.” CORE Group meetings are really focused on how we can put this into action. It’s one of many things that I value the most about CORE Group meetings.
Willow Gerber

, Consultant

CORE is like a catalyst for making things happen. They have a way of bringing the best people together to talk about what they do, make it work, inform each other, and then move through a step-by-step process.
Kristina Gryboski

, USAID Bureau for Global Health

The Spring Meeting is a wonderful forum for collegial discussion of practical experiences and technical updates.
Ann Hendrix

, Jenkins Director of Partnership, CORE Group

CORE Group is an amazing place where passionate people come together to make every development dollar go further. CORE Group members work hard to figure out how to create deep-rooted sustainable change that will last long after the project is gone. Collectively, our members reach 720 million people a year, that's 1/10 of the world's population in over 180 countries.
Joe Miklosi

, Project CURE

I value the peer-to-peer, best practices-sharing so that Project CURE can become a more effective organization. I also enjoy the collaborative spirit that exists. It's very welcoming.
Elaine Murphy

, Visiting Scholar at the Population Reference Bureau

At a time when development efforts are fragmented and sometimes even competitive with each other, the CORE Group provides unifying coordination and inspires collaboration to achieve shared goals.
Todd Nitkin

, M&E Specialist, Medical Teams International

When you are a member of CORE you do not have to wait until something is produced or published. Instead, you are interacting with people as they are conceptualizing, drafting, and developing these materials. You can talk about them, learn from them rather than waiting 5 or 10 years before they are published and available on websites.
Mr. Tolbert Nyenswah

, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare- Liberia

We see community-based activities as the gold standard for public health and health system implementation. CORE Group's strategy is to bring services to the community. I wish I could join as a CORE Group member to champion community healths services in Liberia.
Henry Perry

, Johns Hopkins University/ Future Generations

Through CORE Group, I value access to current up-to-date information on maternal and child health and community-based primary health care, opportunities to learn from other organizations about their current programs, inspiration and fellowship.
David Pyle

, Consultant

I think anybody that is interested in Community-based child health should be involved in CORE Group because this is the place where the ideas are rapidly being developed and promoted and it’s just a great place to learn about the latest and greatest things in the field.

Diffusion of Innovations

NGOs working in community health often create innovative solutions to improve maternal and child health outcomes by overcoming obstacles to effective implementation. Many of these obstacles (lack of community ownership, ineffective referral, drug unavailability, low use of services, and low retention of community health agents) are present in communities around the world. Innovations created by one organization can assist others in improving mother and child health; however they are often not developed or transferred in a way that would enable others to learn about, evaluate and uptake the innovation for wider benefit. CORE Group is interested in diffusing NGO innovations that demonstrate a proven track record in improving the effectiveness, sustainability, equity or scale of maternal child health outcomes. CORE Group facilitates a peer review of promising evidence-based innovations, provides guidance to ensure that the product will be practical, and supports trainings and diffusion through its Community Health Network so the innovation can be used worldwide.

Who We Are

Staff

Lisa M. Hilmi

Executive Director

Lisa Hilmi has over 30 years of global health experience in over 20+ countries, employing both human rights and community-based participatory approaches to addressing health disparities for women, children and communities. As a nurse, researcher, and public health expert, Lisa has worked at multiple levels of global health, in policy, research, emergency relief and response, development, workforce development, health systems strengthening; from local to global levels. She has worked in development settings, led response to HIV/AIDS/STIs/GBV in refugee and conflict settings, and developed policy for outbreaks, disasters, and epidemics in multiple countries. She has led over $180 Million of development, relief and rehabilitation efforts. Clinically, Lisa has worked in pediatric hospital, community, academic, and crisis settings, and has held leadership positions in the UN, Sigma Theta Tau International, INGOs, and foundations. Her research focuses on geographical health disparities for adolescents in urban settings. She has a strong history of partnership and coordination with UN, INGOs, CSOs, and other stakeholders. She sits on the WHO PMNCH Board, the Steering Committee of the Child Health Task Force, the Board of Directors at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation, as well as other review committees. She holds an MPH from Columbia University, a BSN and completing her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, was a Jonas Nurse Scholar, is a Certified Pediatric Nurse, and holds a BA in Communications and Political Science from Villanova University.

Sheetal Sharma

Senior Immunization Advisor

Sheetal Sharma, Public Health Ph.D. has 13 years’ experience of improving access to health in low- and middle-income countries, with a focus on immunization in last mile settings. Her work centers on field-based management and research of evidence-based health projects contributing to shortening information and data gaps towards effective decision-making and action both nationally and globally. She is a 2019 Harvard Medical School Research Fellow, currently the Vice Chair of the Civil Society Organisation Constituency Steering Committee – GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, (2019-2021). She joined CORE Group in 2020 as a Senior Immunization Advisor.

Robert Yamoah

Interim Director, Finance and Administration

Robert Yamoah has more than 20 years of financial experience with nonprofits, government, and public accounting. He has significant understanding of governmental regulations and generally accepted accounting principles. He formerly served as a controller at Links Inc. and Links Foundation Inc. and budget analyst at the Regional Municipality of Waterloo in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Over the years, he has developed expertise in business analysis, planning, strong leadership qualities, superior interpersonal skills, and effective organizational abilities. Robert holds a CPA/CGA accounting designation from the Certified General Accountants Association of Ontario and a BA in accounting/economics from the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. He enjoys working on vehicles, reading, baking, and listening to music.

Avani Duggaraju

Technical Programs Coordinator

Avani contributes to strategies to strengthen communication and knowledge sharing between CORE Group, its membership and the broader International Community Health Network. She has experience working in health communications and behavior change research both domestically and internationally. She has previously worked with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on a project examining women’s sanitation vulnerabilities in southern Tanzania and interned at an HIV/AIDS non-profit in India. Avani received her MSPH in Social and Behavioral Interventions from the Department of International Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and her BS from the University of Connecticut. She enjoys dance, travel, reading, and listening to K-Pop.

Naomi Senda

Communications and Knowledge Manager

Naomi is a seasoned development communication strategist, passionate about telling the stories of communities, individuals, and organizations to influence conversation towards socio-economic growth. Inspired by stories of resilience and innovation, Naomi uses her creativity and knowledge to highlight development issues, advance advocacy and share knowledge. She is passionate about the issues of health, women and children’s rights, good governance, resilience building and disaster response.

Arafat Safi

Operations and Membership Manager

Arafat Safi, MA International Development from the University of Manchester, and BBA from Kardan University Afghanistan, has 14 years of professional working experience serving various government and non-government institutions in Afghanistan. Arafat Safi has worked in key management positions for the Office of the National Security Council, Afghanistan’s National Authority for Disaster Management, the National Solidarity Program (World Bank’s second largest Community-Led Development Program) and the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development of Afghanistan. Prior to joining CORE Group in 2022, Arafat served Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a Senior Diplomat in the capacity of Senior Operations Manager, handling both internal operations of the ministry as well as the issues related to the diplomatic missions. Arafat has extensive experience of managing development projects and operations management. In his different roles Arafat has contributed to and developed various project development strategies, departmental work plans, monitoring and evaluation systems, budgets, and management of contracts guidelines. Moreover, Arafat has represented Afghanistan in numerous international conferences such as the World Energy Council, The Crans Montana Forum of New Leaders, The Antalya Diplomacy Forum and the Doha Forum. Arafat Safi is a UNITAR, DANIDA, and Chevening scholar and alumnus. He speaks fluent Dari, Farsi, Pashto (Native), and Urdu.

Maurice Ocquaye

Senior Social and Behavior Change Research Advisor

Maurice is a researcher, gender expert and a health promotion/health communication specialist with over 20 years field experience in multiple African countries. His expertise includes design, implementation, managing, monitoring, and evaluation of international and local Social and Behavior Change programs. He has held leadership positions with NGOs and CSOs Networks. Maurice is a highly skilled and result driven manager for large donor/ multiple-partner supported communication projects, with outstanding track record of achieving results in a fast-paced dynamic and resource-constrained environments. He is highly creative, resourceful, innovative and a visionary leadership. Maurice is an expert in training, facilitation and training manuals/materials development. Uniquely skilled to motivate and mentor staff/teams. Excellent in interpersonal communication, team and relationship building skills. Strong ability to coordinate and build linkages with relevant ministries/department/agencies/partners/academia/civil society and organized groups. Strong skills in social research. Maurice has a BA in Theatre and Religious Studies, MFA in Theatre for Extension Communications (TEC) from the University of Ghana and a Public Health doctoral candidate from Walden University with specialization in Community Health Education and Advocacy.

Dorcus Arao

Communications and Knowledge Management Manager

Dorcus Arao is a multi-skilled strategic development communication expert with progressive experience in communication, knowledge management, public relations, creative writing, photography, website management, graphics design, etc. Dorcus uses her skillset to profile development issues including health, education, economic growth, and good governance across multiple donor initiatives. Dorcus has extensive experience in designing and implementing an organizational communication strategy, branding, institutional collaboration, partnership, and networking with public, private, and international non-government organizations.

Katherine Halama

Communications and Knowledge Management Associate

Katherine believes that effective communications and knowledge sharing are key to building a sustainable and equitable future. With a degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Colorado Boulder and experience working in science communications for climate change adaptation, Katherine hopes to learn how to connect her knowledge of environmentalism with the needs of the international community health network. She is excited about CORE Group’s mission to expand health practices to communities in need. In her free time, Katherine loves to backpack, ski, travel, and write for her photojournalism blog.

Julia Comino

Communications and Knowledge Management Intern

Julia Comino is a first-year student at American University in Washington, DC studying Political Science and Journalism. Having grown up in Mississippi, Julia became invested in advocacy and helping communities that are underserved. After witnessing the detrimental effects that climate change has already had on her home state, Julia founded the Environmental Club and Charity Garden at her high school to educate her peers on climate justice issues and combat food insecurity in her community. Julia’s passion for activism is further highlighted through her work with the Mississippi Youth Against Sexual Violence Organization, where she worked to educate Mississippi youth on how to address sexual violence and expand comprehensive sex education in her state. After moving to DC for college, Julia continued these efforts in her internship with RepresentWomen, where she created content for their social media promoting gender parity and ranked-choice voting. Julia is excited to expand her work to advocate for women’s rights through her internship with CORE Group and to join in our mission to improve the health of and care for communities that are underserved.

Board

Board of Directors

The CORE Group Board of Directors is the governing body of the organization and is dedicated to advancing CORE Group’s mission, values, strategies, goals, priorities, and policies.

Chair, Catholic Relief Services

Sarah Ford

Sarah Ford is Director of Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) Integrated Program Quality Unit. She provides strategic leadership and direction for three of CRS’ cross-cutting program areas: Equity, Justice, and Integrated Programming. Ms. Ford supports the design, delivery, and evaluation of peace-building, governance, gender, protection, and youth programming globally. She also supports monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning for CRS programs worldwide. Finally, she works in partnership and capacity-strengthening, supporting the design, delivery, and evaluation of high-quality capacity-strengthening interventions. Ms. Ford has more than 35 years of professional experience in organizational sustainability, leadership, management, and non-formal education. Prior to CRS, Ms. Ford worked with Management Sciences for Health’s AIDSTAR-Two project, providing capacity-building technical assistance to USAID-funded AIDS programs globally. At Lutheran World Relief, she provided leadership to the development and implementation of international public policy platforms and constituent education programs; and at the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, supported programs promoting the human rights of women, children, and oppressed racial and indigenous groups. Previously, while Director of Capacity Building at CEDPA, Ms. Ford led a team in developing programs to increase international partners’ organizational capacity and sustainability.

Co-Chair, Corus International

Dennis Cherian

Dennis Cherian, MHA, MS, BHMS is a physician with a keen interest and specialization in alternative systems of medicine; he also has graduate degrees in public health administration and psychological counseling. Currently, Dennis is the Associate Vice President and Senior Technical Director for Health and Nutrition at Corus International. Prior to this role, he was the Director of New Program Development for Jhpiego and the Senior Director of Health for World Vision, Inc. He also served in senior advisor roles with the New York State Department of Health, Division of Tuberculosis; Medical Care Development International; and Plan International. He has extensive experience designing and implementing a range of innovative public health interventions to include child survival, tuberculosis/HIV, neglected tropical disease, health systems strengthening, community health, and digital technologies for health in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. He has contributed to many publications and spoken at high-level technical and policy forums. He also serves on the board of the Christian Connection in International Health (CCIH). Previously, he served as an Advisory Member of Social Behavior Change for Faith-Based Organizations, the Country Task Force for mPowering Frontline Health Workers, and the Global Digital Health Network.

Treasurer, Independent

Kote Lomidze

Kote Lomidze is the Senior Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial and Administrative Officer (CFAO) at World Learning, overseeing all global financial operations and activities. He originally joined World Learning in 2009 and spent three years at the organization, serving as Finance Director for international development and exchange programs and then Deputy CFO. After spending nearly two years as CFO of Project Concern International based in San Diego, he returned to World Learning in 2014. Prior to joining World Learning, Lomidze spent 11 years working in finance at World Vision in his native Georgia as well as in Russia, Zimbabwe, and the United States. Lomidze previously served as a Board Member and Treasurer of San Diego Diplomacy Council, a local NGO engaged in creating international connections to address common global challenges. Lomidze is a certified public accountant. He holds a BA in mathematical economics and a law degree from Tbilisi State University and an MBA from Georgetown University.

Secretary, Smile Train

Erin Stieber

Erin Stieber is the Senior Vice President of Programs at Smile Train. Erin began working in child health programming in 2002, and has overseen programs in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. She obtained a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2007, with coursework in international law, health law, and human rights. Erin’s work at Smile Train has focused on strengthening treatment programs and access to care for children with cleft lip and/or palate through strategic partnerships, increasing awareness about the health and survival challenges faced by children with this facial deformity, and overseeing capacity-building initiatives for health professionals in 75+ countries. During her career, she has led the development of strategic partnerships with nonprofit, government, and private sector collaborators, and the strengthening and expanding global health programs to achieve greater impact. She is committed to advocating for vulnerable populations, building capacity in the health sector, and promoting successful collaborations to expand and scale-up access to healthcare for all people.

At-Large, Malaria Consortium UK

Alka Ahuja

Alka Ahuja has more than 20 years of senior management experience in banking, financial services, and the not-for-profit sector. She is a qualified accountant and a Fellow of the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), and has a Master’s degree in Business Administration. Alka is currently the Finance Director at Malaria Consortium UK with global responsibility for the finance, operations, internal audit, and IT functions. Alka is a part of the Global Management Group (GMG), the Board of Trustees including the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee, Company Secretary; Director of Malaria Enterprises Ltd; Director of Malaria Public Health Limited (Nigerian entity); and Officer on Malaria Consortium US Inc, a US 501(c) organization. Alka is also a Non-Executive Director and member of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee at Reliance Bank Limited, UK since 2014. She has held various regulatory roles such as Compliance Officer, MLRO, Client Money Reporting Officer in financial services which have given her an insight into financial and regulatory compliance as well as financial crime related guidelines and directives. Before joining Malaria Consortium, Alka was the Finance Director at Transparency International (UK), where she was responsible for leading the engagement with institutional donors and working with members across the Transparency International federation to develop systems, processes, and finance functions to deliver global contracts and grants.

At-Large, ReLab-HS

Dr. Nabeel Akram

Dr. Nabeel Akram is a strategic-minded medical and business professional with a proven record of providing high-level programmatic and technical leadership at country, regional, and global levels. Dr. Akram has led several large, complex, and successful projects in MNCH/FP/RH and is a leader in developing synergies with the private sector. He has managed large, regional portfolio of nearly $80 million per year, with several diverse projects, mostly in low- and middle-income countries, and has coached and mentored country directors, chiefs of party, and senior-level technical staff while liaising and collaborating with diverse stakeholders at country and regional levels. Dr. Akram is a medical doctor with advanced degrees in business and health policy and management. He has traveled extensively establishing professional relationships with a network of public health colleagues including ministry officials, administrators, clinicians, donors, private sector institutions, and other partners. After working with Johns Hopkins University for several years as Associate Faculty in the School of Public Health and Director for Asia at Jhpiego, he founded a firm to synergize partnerships and implement market-based development solutions for adolescents and youth. He was also the Director of Global Operations for Health Finance Institute, a Washington DC based firm, working to close investments gaps for noncommunicable diseases. Dr. Akram is currently a Senior Research Associate and Director of Operations with the Johns Hopkins University/USAID-funded ReLab-HS project.

At-Large, CGPP-GHS

Ahmed Arale

Ahmed Arale has more than 20 years of humanitarian and development experience working with communities in the Horn of Africa (HOA) on emergency relief programming, public health, and community empowerment. As a nurse and public health practitioner, he’s worked at various levels of clinical, public health sector management, emergency relief and response, and health system strengthening—at the local and regional levels. Currently, Ahmed is the Secretariat Director for CORE Group Polio & Global Health Security Project for HOA (Kenya/Somalia), based in Nairobi. There he provides technical leadership to all aspects of project planning and implementation as well as multi-sectoral coordination with respective government, donors, and NGO implementing partners, WHO and UNICEF, CDC, and Rotary International, among others. Before joining CGPP-GHS, Ahmed worked as the Program Director for emergency & relief programs with Catholic Relief Services, Somalia. Prior to CRS, he worked as the Program Manager for BroadReach Healthcare LLC, leading a Private Sector Engagement in a PEPFAR project in Kenya. Additionally, he worked as a Service Delivery Specialist for Management Sciences for Health (USAID Extending Service Delivery Project). On public sector experience, he worked with the Ministry of Health, Kenya, for 13 years in various capacities. Ahmed holds a BSc Nursing degree from Dundee University, Scotland, and an MPH from the University of London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

At-Large, AMBOSS GmbH

Dr. María Cisneros-Cáceres

Dr. María Cisneros-Cáceres is the Partnerships Manager for Latin America at AMBOSS GmbH, based in Ecuador. She has worked with several youth platforms for sexual and reproductive health and rights, NCDs, climate change, and children’s health and served on steering committees at WHO, UNFPA, United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth (UNMGCY), and more. She has practiced as a medical doctor in the Amazon rainforest and is an LGBTQI advocate. She is eager to expand CORE Group’s membership to Latin America. She has also been very active in the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA) and has a master’s degree in Digital Health, as well as a medical degree. Her languages include Spanish, English, Portuguese, Kichwa, and German.

At-Large, Xuberance Global Impact Solutions

Magnus Conteh

Magnus Conteh is the Founder and CEO of Xuberance Global Impact Solutions. Previously, he served as the Executive Director to the Community Health Academy. Under Magnus’s leadership and through multiple partnerships across three continents, the Academy helped governments transform community health education and build capacity in health systems leadership. In addition to an international team of staff, the Academy draws on the expertise of a global faculty network that includes representation from WHO, USAID, the Global Financing Facility, former Ministers of Health and academic experts from universities, including Harvard, the University of Liberia, and other academic and technical institutions in the global South. Previously, Magnus worked for seven years at World Vision Ireland, including as the Deputy CEO/Director of Programmes and Strategy. Notably, he led World Vision’s involvement in the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen Ebola Vaccine trial in Sierra Leone, which included overseeing the deployment of technology critical for the clinical trial. Magnus has also held other senior management positions including in the National Health Service in the UK and the Health Service Executive in Ireland, where he served as Director for the Regional Centre of Nursing/Midwifery Education at the University Hospital in Galway.

At-Large, IntraHealth International

Nikolos Oakley

Nikolos Oakley is a finance and operations executive and a certified management trainer who currently works as the Chief Financial and Administrative Officer at IntraHealth International. He is a member of the Executive Team responsible for providing leadership and management of the Center for Operational Excellence, consisting of administration, finance, accounting, IT, risk management, grants and contracts, and HR departments. He has extensive expertise in finance and organizational management; extensive knowledge of 2CFR 200 and previous reiterations; and knowledge of CRM, various accounting, budgeting, supply chain, business intelligence, and overall ERP solutions and various project information and management system databases. His languages include Georgian (native), English, and Russian (fluent).

At-Large, Independent

Beth Outterson

In her previous role as Knowledge Management (KM) Senior Advisor at Medical Teams International, Beth Outterson guided the organization’s learning initiative and the development of a KM strategy. She builds staff competency in Community Based Primary Health Care through development of online resources and training a cadre of field-based Capacity Building champions. Previously, Beth worked as Adolescent Reproductive Health Advisor at Save the Children, and as Health and HIV/ AIDS Specialist at US Peace Corps. Beth has an MA and MPH from Tulane University. After many years on the East Coast, she is enjoying life in the Pacific Northwest!

At-Large, Abt Associates

Caroline Quijada

Caroline Quijada is a globally recognized leader in private sector approaches for health with 20 years of experience in RMNCH programming. She currently serves as Principal Associate, International Development at Abt Associates. Previously she has served as deputy project director for two predecessor global private sector projects. Caroline has a strong track record in supporting successful business development bids for Abt Associates and has supported numerous private sector partnerships with various corporates. Prior to Abt Associates, Caroline worked at University Research Corporation and the National Coalition for Hispanic Health, where she managed six regional youth policy centers on Hispanic adolescent health. She served as Deputy Project Director for a $3 million national program on reducing sociocultural barriers to health care in Hispanic communities. Caroline has overseen 27 private sector health assessments that span the scope of private sector health activities across the world. The scope of her knowledge includes public-private partnerships (PPPs), health systems strengthening, social enterprise development, total market approach (TMA) initiatives, provider networks and franchises, quality improvement, and digital solutions. Caroline has an M.H.S., Population and Family Health Sciences from Johns Hopkins University and has published and presented extensively on private sector engagement.

At-Large, DAI

Stephen Rahaim

Stephen Rahaim has 20 years of experience designing, managing and measuring complex initiatives to improve development outcomes and create enduring social and economic value working with private sector, civil society, government, and donors. Stephen has collaborated with a wide range of clients and stakeholders to develop local, national, and multi-country strategies, leading project implementation, partner relationships, and performance management among diverse technical and operations teams. He has designed, advised, and measured social innovation funds and competitions, public-private partnerships, and human-centered and market based research and interventions. As a Senior Principal Specialist with the global health team at DAI, Stephen works across health practice areas to deepen the organization’s impact, including a focus on private sector engagement and strengthening local organizations. Previously, Stephen was Chief of Party of the USAID Catalyst project through which he helped design and execute multiple open innovation programs and innovation incentive awards in more than 20 countries focused on a variety of development challenges. Prior to this, he built and led the Health Markets and Behavior Change practice at Palladium, and led the Asia and Middle East Portfolio for the USAID Strengthening Health Outcomes through the Private Sector Project at Abt Associates, among other positions. Stephen received a Master of Public Health Degree from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

At-Large, Independent

Janine Schooley

Janine Schooley is an independent consultant specializing in program design, technical writing, social and behavior change, strategic planning, and meeting/event facilitation. She obtained her MPH with an emphasis on Maternal and Child Health from San Diego State University in 1985. She spent the last 36 years in leadership positions with two San-Diego-based nonprofit international health and development organizations: Wellstart International from 1985 to 2000 and PCI from 2000 to 2021. Janine is a specialist in NGO/PVO leadership with emphasis on program design, evaluation, and management, including capacity-strengthening, gender, and behavior change aspects of integrated community-based health and development programming. Since 2007, she has been a faculty member at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, where she teaches a course on social and behavior change. From 2002 to 2011, Ms. Schooley served as Secretary of the Board of Directors of the CORE Group and as Co-Chair of the HIV/AIDS Working Group. She recently returned to the CORE Group Board, where she currently serves as an at-large member.

Working Group Chairs

Co-Chairs

Systems for Health

Kamden Hoffmann

Corus International

Rhonda Holloway

ADRA International

Shefa Sikder

CARE

Monitoring & Evaluation

Katy Gorentz

Chemonics

Sibylle Kristensen

One Heart Worldwide

Yordanos B. Molla

Abt Associates

Nutrition

Diana Allotey

Student Member

Charlotte Block

Individual Member

Albertha Nyaku

Individual Member

Shelley Walton

Individual Member

Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child & Adolescent Health

Maryjane Lacoste

IntraHealth

Laura Raney

FP2030

Devina Shah

World Relief

Youssef Tawfik

Social & Behavior Change

Paul Fast

Mennonite Central Committee

Elizabeth Long

Independent Consultant

Erin Pfeiffer

Independent Consultant

Sarah Sahlaney

Individual Member

Humanitarian-Development Task Force

Sarah Kellogg

IMA World Health

Susan A Otchere

World Vision

Disability-Inclusive Health Technical Advisory Group

Rachel Chaikof

Chemonics

Laura McGough

URC

Grace Peters

Smile Train

Noncommunicable Diseases Interest Group

Annie G. Toro, JD, MPH

What to Expect Project

Dr. Arti Varanasi

Advancing Synergy

One Health Interest Group

Kirk Dearden

Corus International

Robert Salerno

DAI

Anahit Gevorgyan

DHSC

WASH and Health Interest Group

Benjamin Masila

Individual Member

Aarin Palomares

FHI 360

Dory Storms Child Survival Recognition Award

Since 2001, CORE Group has presented the annual Dory Storms Child Survival Recognition Award to a person or persons who demonstrate courage, leadership, and commitment to helping non-governmental organizations have an impact on and effectively implement programs that end child deaths. The award is named after Dr. Storms, who was a founding member of the CORE Group and led the USAID-funded Child Survival Support Project, which was based in the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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