About

As the co-founder and CEO of Seed, Vanessa Kerry leads the organization in fulfillment of our mission—to help strengthen health systems and improve health outcomes for all. Her work stems from her interest in capacity-building to strengthen public sector health systems and communities in resource poor settings. She believes deeply that health is fundamental to economic, social wellbeing, and national security.

Through partnership with governments and in-country institutions, under Vanessa’s tenure Seed has helped train close to 30,000 doctors, nurses, and midwives and has impacted hundreds of thousands of lives. At Seed, Vanessa helped establish the Global Health Service Partnership (GHSP), a first ever public-private partnership with the Peace Corps, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the countries where the program works. GHSP supported health systems in five sub-Saharan African countries.

Her work has included innovative research in the nexus of national security, crisis response, and health including a two-year project with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. She has taught courses on the intersection of health, economy, politics, and security at the Kennedy School of Government and Yale University.

Vanessa has spoken at a number of venues on her work including the Aspen Ideas Festival, TEDXBoston, United Nations, World Health Assembly, Consortium of Universities for Global Health, Women Leaders in Global Health conferences, Devex, the Brookings Institute, Council on Foreign Relations, and other public fora. Her work has been featured by NPR, PBS, MSNBC’s Morning Joe and Andrea Mitchell, Boston’s Chronicle, Boston Magazine, and Marie Claire Magazine among others. Prominent publications on her work include in the New England Journal of Medicine, BMJ, the New York Times, and The Lancet.

She is a Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Social Entrepreneur, a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She as awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Public Policy from Northeastern University in 2015. She is on the Editorial Board of New England Journal of Medicine Evidence and Annals of Global Health. She was recently appointed to the President’s Council for International Activities at Yale University, as a Global Advisor to the Wellbeing Foundation Africa and on the Board at University of Global Health Equity.

She graduated from Yale University summa cum laude and Harvard Medical School cum laude, completing her clinical training at Massachusetts General Hospital. She earned her Master’s in Health Policy, Planning, and Financing from the London Schools of Economics and of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She is currently a critical care physician at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and serves as the Associate Director of Partnerships and Global Initiatives at MGH Global Health. She directs the Global Public Policy and Social Change program at Harvard Medical School where she has focused on links between security and health. She is the mother of a seven- and 10- year old.

Bonaventure Ahaisibwe provides regional and global representation for Seed and key guidance on innovation and strategy. 

Driven by a deep belief that every life should be lived with dignity, Bonaventure has served in different capacities in the humanitarian and development contexts. He holds over a dozen years of progressive experience in public health and education project management. Prior to joining Seed, Bonaventure worked with the US mission in Uganda where he helped set a firm foundation for the Global Health Service Partnership as the inaugural program manager. He also served as the backup director of programming and training for the Uganda post. Bonaventure had the honor to serve in a voluntary capacity as the inaugural sexual assault response liaison for the US Peace Corps upon establishment under the Kate Puzey Act. He was also a backup medical officer for two years advocating for and providing support to survivors of sexual assault.

Bonaventure has led teams through various stages of the entire project cycle including scoping, feasibility assessment, project design, fundraising, implementation, evaluation, and closure of multi-stakeholder donor-funded health system strengthening programs in Africa. He has worked at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees/German Technical Cooperation partnership, University Research Co. LLC, the US Peace Corps, the Government of Uganda, and Kampala International University. In all his roles, he consistently brought a pro-equity voice to decision making. 

He serves on a number of nonprofit boards and technical working groups in Uganda including the project advisory committee for the US Peace Corps, the virtual mentorship pilot committee at the University of Manchester, and the case management pillar of the Uganda National COVID19 Task Force. 

Bonaventure is a trained physician, public health specialist, and public administrator having graduated from Makerere University, University of Manchester, and Uganda Management Institute respectively.

Irene Atuhairwe leads the Uganda team, ensuring country program, administrative, and operational integrity and represents the organization with key stakeholders.

Irene is passionate about strengthening the nursing and midwifery profession; health systems strengthening; maternal, neonatal, and child health, as well as, serving marginalized populations. She has 15 years’ experience in health programming. 

Irene joined Seed in 2019. She previously worked with Peace Corps, Uganda as the program specialist for the Global Health Service Partnership and later as the program manager. She led volunteer support and placement site development initiatives, maintaining strong relationships with stakeholders including the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, and partner institutions. Prior to that, Irene was at the Uganda Catholic Medical Bureau where she helped kick start the AIDS Care and treatment program for all catholic faith-based facilities in the country.  

In 2005,  Irene began working at Catholic Relief Services (CRS) where she initiated and aided patient support systems at the clinic and community level for the AIDS Relief Program. While at CRS, she worked on community-based programs for vulnerable children and pregnant women. Irene was the CRS lead for all nurse supported initiatives in HIV care in the western region and later for the whole country. 

Her career started as a volunteer at the Reach Out Mbuya Project, an initiative that provided HIV care, treatment, and support. Irene was responsible for providing continuous care for people living with HIV/AIDS. This included the provision of antiretroviral therapy as part of the task shifting initiative in HIV care for Uganda.

Irene holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing and a master’s degree in public health from Makerere University.

Erin Barr leads Seed’s finance, administration, and human resources team responsible for implementing the infrastructure and systems needed to support the strategic objectives of the organization. 

Erin joined Seed in 2016 and has spent her professional career in global development, with a focus on management systems. Prior to joining Seed, she worked for John Snow, Inc. (JSI) supporting finance, administration, human resources, and new business development for various project offices in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. At JSI, Erin spent several months of each year based in project offices. Her early career was in Costa Rica where she ran the field office for WorldTeach which implemented programs in partnership with the Ministry of Education. 

Erin earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and theology at Boston College and a master’s degree in public administration and nonprofit management at New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service.

Erin is passionate about building systems and solutions to enable her colleagues’ success. When she is not working, you can likely find her deep in a forest or climbing a mountain.

Bassim Birkland leads Seed’s programming in Zambia.

A champion of primary care, you will find Bassim rounding the medical wards at a government hospital with students and residents as a physician educator, at his office at the University of Zambia where he lectures, or carrying out work related to Seed. He is a resident of Zambia, his wife’s home, where he has worked for years as a primary care physician and as a global health consultant to both public and private institutions.

Bassim’s professional interests include medical education and training. He has been involved in establishing new health professional training programs in Zambia. Bassim has years of experience with clinical teaching of health professionals in low-resource settings. He has held a faculty position at the University of Zambia since 2017 and currently coordinates the only family medicine training program in the country.

Outside of professional pursuits, Bassim serves on two community development boards. He has a Bachelor of Art in Psychology and a Master in Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Minnesota. He holds a Medical Doctorate from the Medical University of South Carolina. 

He enjoys spending time with his wife and toddler twins at their farm outside of Lusaka.

Kelly is dedicated to the support, coordination, and management of program operations in Malawi and Zambia as part of Seed’s program quality and management team. 

Kelly is passionate about and values community, equity, and relationship building in all facets of life. She brings over a decade of experience across disciplines. Kelly has spent her postgraduate career in the design and management of asset-based community development programs in Latin America. Before joining Seed in 2019, she spent four years in South and Central America spearheading local program initiatives in partnership with grassroots organizations, community cooperatives, and health facilities in rural and semi-urban settings. Most recently, Kelly served as a regional director. She was responsible for leading teams in building partnerships, establishing infrastructure, and overseeing operational expansion into Guatemala while closing out the same in Nicaragua.

She holds an MPH in Global Health Practice and Latin American and Caribbean Studies from the University of South Florida. 

Meaghan Carroll supports the CEO with diverse administrative, strategic, and organizational functions essential to Seed’s mission. She also manages special projects related to Seed’s needs and priorities as requested by senior leadership.

Meaghan joined Seed in 2016 and has helped the organization through a rapid period of growth.  She started her career in public service as both a congressional intern in Washington, DC and Boston. This led to her work as the MA Scheduler and Assistant to the State Director for Senator John Kerry for many years. She took her skill set from the public sector and applied it to the private sector during her tenure with The Kraft Group, where she worked as the Executive Assistant to the Chairman and CEO. After that, Meaghan transitioned to higher education, where she worked as an Executive Assistant within Harvard University. Her depth of experience in the public sector, private sector, and higher education has given her a broad spectrum of knowledge to assist in all facets of Seed’s reach. 

She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Bridgewater State University.  

In her downtime, Meaghan enjoys spending time with her growing family, checking out new restaurants, and exploring local hiking trails.   

Gerald Maxi Chibwana supports the Malawi team with finance and administration related matters to facilitate effective implementation of the country strategy.

Prior to joining Seed in 2019, Gerald spent 15 years in the hospitality industry. Most recently, he worked at Umodzi Park and Resorts where he held various management roles ranging from banqueting manager to group and convention manager to sales manager. Gerald was part of the core team involved in the opening of Umodzi Park and tasked with developing the company’s systems, processes, and procedures. He also worked for Sunbird Hotels, Protea Ryalls Hotel, and Crossroads Hotel, three of the leading hotels in Malawi. 

Gerald has vast experience working with clients like UNDP, US Embassy, IMF, and Standard Bank. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Cyprus Institute of Marketing.

Gerald spends his free time with his girls and plays social football. He loves sightseeing and takes every opportunity to travel.

Patricia Egessa leads our communications efforts across creative content development, campaigns, media engagement, and policy and advocacy coalitions in support of Seed’s organizational and partner country strategic goals.

Having worked for organizations in global health, business, and sustainability, Patricia brings a wealth of experience in building brands, storytelling, content creation, community management, marketing, strategy, and data-driven communications. In addition to her role at Seed, she also works as an instructor at Cambridge Community Television providing training on social media, online journalism, media best practices, and digital content analytics. 

Prior to joining Seed, Patricia worked at John Snow, Inc. (JSI). As the web content and online community coordinator, she wrote and sourced compelling content, produced effective multi-channel messaging, developed strategies, managed JSI’s online presence, and ensured integrated promotion of content across all platforms. She was previously an Editor at She Leads Africa where she managed the editorial process, created policies, worked with freelance writers, and interviewed leading African entrepreneurs and wrote feature articles on them. 

Patricia holds an MA in International Relations and International Communications with a focus on journalism from Boston University and a BA in Economics and International Relations from Mount Holyoke College.

Helen Ewing designs, leads, and supports the clinical and training strategies and activities in nursing, medicine and midwifery across education, practice and policy. 

Helen has over 35 years of experience in healthcare and has spent the past thirty years in leadership, academic administration, and health profession education. She has experience in various leadership, academic, and clinical roles in Canada and the United States. Helen has also worked in resource-limited countries including Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Kenya, Liberia, and Rwanda.

Her research interests include issues affecting global health, quality of life of nurses, healthcare leadership, promoting evidence-based healthcare, online education, and academic integrity. Helen has a passion for quality student and faculty centered education and advancing healthcare professions and health systems locally and internationally.

She holds diplomas in nursing and business management and bachelor and master’s degrees in nursing, specializing in management and quality improvement. Helen earned her doctorate of health science from Nova Southeastern University specializing in international healthcare, proposing a model for the delivery of primary healthcare in rural India.

Augustine Juma Fannah provides finance and administration support to all our partner country teams. 

Juma has over 12 years of experience working in finance and administration. Prior to joining Seed in 2019, he was a finance coordinator for MSF in Myanmar. Juma has worked in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and South Sudan as a finance and administration manager. In this capacity, he oversaw the implementation of policy and procedure. 

Juma has an Associate of Science in Business Administration, a Bachelor of Science in Accounting, a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems, and an Master of Public Administration in Public Management.

He enjoys cooking with his girls and loves listening to gospel and country music.

Leigh Forbush manages program operations, administration, finances and logistics for Eswatini and Uganda as part of Seed’s program quality and management team. 

Leigh has spent her career designing and implementing global and domestic health workforce development initiatives. Her work, specializing in human resource for health capacity building, has taken her to Haiti, Liberia, Mexico, and Uganda. Leigh has experience creating and managing programming for a wide variety of health professionals and institutions. These include children’s health quality improvement collaboratives for public health professionals, psychosocial interventions for mental health providers, and community health initiatives for community health workers. 

She has a background in health education, community mobilization, and program management. Her interest in global healthcare delivery developed during her Peace Corps service in the Dominican Republic. Leigh has pursued this passion through positions at Partners In Health, Boston Medical Center, and the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, among others. 

Leigh received her Bachelor of Art from Vanderbilt University and her Master of Public Health from Boston University School of Public Health.

Kidist Gebre provides strategic guidance and leadership in the development of human resource policies that promote maximum effectiveness at Seed and support our mission.

As the director of human resources, Kidist oversees all aspects of the human resources function and establishes the direction for the full complement of core human capital programs, policies, and services. Before joining Seed in 2020, Kidist was a human resources manager at a global architecture software company. She was responsible for all aspects of human resources including the alignment of the broader employee base with corporate strategy for North America. 

Kidist holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from University of Massachusetts. She also has a Postgraduate Diploma in Personnel Management.

Esther Ijangolet manages the Seed Uganda front office.

Before joining Seed, Esther worked as an Administrative Assistant with the Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders’ Initiative on Health and HIV/AIDS in Africa for 5 years.

She has over 5 years experience in office administration, procurement, and logistics. Over the course of her career, Esther has gained an invaluable skillset and expertise in navigating challenging situations.

Esther is passionate about her work. She enjoys interacting with her colleagues as well as the organization’s partners and stakeholders.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from ESLSCA International Business School, Uganda and a diploma in business studies from Makerere University Business School.

Simbisai supports country operations’ finance and administration functions including in-country corporate administration, financial management, and subgrants management.  She also manages special projects related to organizational needs.

Before joining Seed in 2021, Simbisai worked as the Financial Management Expert for the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF). While there, she supported the implementation of national and regional capacity-building projects across Africa. Prior to her time at ACBF, Simbisai worked for the Clinton Health Access Initiative and served as the Project Accountant for Crown Agents.

Simbisai holds a Masters in Financial Management from Edinburgh Business School, a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes, and completed ACCA qualifications. 

When she is not working, she enjoys jogging, hiking, and gardening.

Thombi Kaunda supports the Malawi team in fulfilling partner commitments and exploring new approaches and systems to support educators and meet Seed’s strategic goals.

Thombi joined Seed in 2018 and uses her energy, passion, and skills to enhance organizational operations and communication efforts in our fast-paced country office during a time of rapid growth. Prior to Seed, she worked with two international banks in Malawi, namely Standard Bank and Ecobank Plc, and one local bank in different junior and senior positions. Thombi has vast experience in the financial sector including sales and marketing, operations, administration and finance, credit and risk management, and foreign trade dealings.

She has a degree in financial services with a specialty in treasury and international trade from the University of South Africa. Thombi is currently studying towards a Master in Business Administration at UNICAF University.

Frederica is embedded in the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and acts as a liaison between the ministry and Seed. She works with the leadership of the ministry and key directorates to implement Seed’s program in the country. 

Frederica has spent her professional career in the healthcare sector where she has focused on public health, service delivery, and people management. She has a wealth of experience across Sierra Leone and internationally. 

She spent over 20 years in various roles in the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, including as Head of Clinical Services, Clinical Team Leader, Care Coordinator, health visitor, and a nurse. In 2016, Frederica was appointed as a Registered Manager for the Care Quality Commission. In that role, she ensured that services provided to the patients are well-led, effective, safe, and responsive. She also reviewed the Rapid Response Services, identified the gaps, and made a business case to the Clinical Commissioning Group to support the transformation and mobilization of resources to implement effective services to meet the needs of the local population. 

At the beginning of her career as a nurse and health visitor, she worked with multidisciplinary teams in acute community settings providing vaccination, child growth and development, and health promotion and education services.

Frederica has a Diploma in Management from the Chartered Institute of Management and a bachelor’s degree in specialist practitioner health visiting and a Masters of Public Health from King’s College London.

Eleanor Liu supports corporate financial operations at Seed. She is responsible for managing accounting, budgeting, grants finance, and financial reporting. 

Eleanor joined Seed in 2019. She started her career in Ernst & Young, where she managed various audit engagements, including SEC filings and governmental audits. During her time in the nonprofit sector, she worked at TSNE, a fiscal sponsorship organization, serving an internal control role. In that capacity, she helped nonprofit organizations comply with accounting standards and donor restriction as well as streamline their financial processes and internal control activities.  

Eleanor earned a master’s degree in accounting at Florida State University and holds CPA licenses in Florida and Massachusetts. She is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. 

In her downtime, Eleanor enjoys reading, hiking and travelling with family and friends.

Douglas Lungu provides finance, administration, and operational support to the Zambia country team.

Douglas has over 10 years of USAID experience working in finance and administration. Prior to joining Seed in 2021, he was a Finance and Administration Manager for SOCHA Zambia. In this capacity, he oversaw the implementation of policy and procedure, the formulation of a finance, procurement and HR operations manual, and the setting of financial systems and implementation of internal control systems.

He has also worked for Zambia Law Development Commission as a Finance Manager, PACT Zambia as a Senior Finance and Administration Officer, and John Snow Inc. as a Senior Accountant. In these roles, he oversaw compliance, financial reporting, audit management, and capacity management.

Douglas has a Master of Business Administration from ZCAS University and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from University of Lusaka. He also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Teaching/Lecturing Methodology, a Diploma in Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and Association of Accounting Technicians (MAAT).

He enjoys reading management books, watching documentaries, and watching boxing.

Julie Mann guides midwifery programming at Seed. In addition to recruiting midwifery educators, she advocates and supports maternal health initiatives within our partner institutions. 

Julie’s journey in maternal health began in Burkina Faso while in the Peace Corps. It is there that she witnessed her first maternal death and subsequently discovered her passion, her vocation. She promised herself that she would devote her career to delivering high-quality maternal health care and addressing the disparities in care that exist for women in maternal and reproductive health.  

She has worked as the co-director of women’s health for Partners in Health in Haiti and as a MGH Global Health Nursing Fellow at Lira University in Uganda. Julie has also practiced midwifery in the rural southwest while living on Navajo Reservation in New Mexico. 

Julie practices midwifery at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts where she serves as the assistant director of midwifery and project manager of quality improvement on the labor and delivery unit. 

She received her master’s in midwifery from Yale University. Julie has been recognized as a Fellow in Medical Education at Harvard Medical School and Mount Auburn Hospital and is currently pursuing her MPH at Johns Hopkins University.

Clelia Anna Mannino leads the monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) team in designing and implementing systems to rigorously evaluate Seed’s work and facilitate learning across the organization.

As a social psychologist, Clelia Anna has spent her career actively researching the human experience.  Her passion for research has led her to work in a variety of socio-economic and cultural settings across the world. Her experience spans several thematic areas including global health, resilience, women’s economic empowerment, and education. 

Clelia Anna joined Seed in 2016 from Oxfam America where she served as a research and evaluation advisor. She advised impact evaluations and MEL work across programming in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Clelia Anna was also a researcher for Oxfam’s community-based savings groups program, collaborating with key stakeholders to design and implement an extensive research and MEL portfolio across five countries of operation.

Earlier in her career, Clelia Anna engaged in research with immigrant groups as a Fulbright Scholar to Italy. She also evaluated education programming in Malawi as a research fellow with Save the Children. Clelia Anna holds a BA from Mount Holyoke College and a PhD in Psychology (Social) from the University of Minnesota.

Fola May directs internal medicine programming at Seed and is focused on connecting internists around the globe.

Fola has participated in global health programs in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, and South Africa. She has been part of the Seed team since 2012. In addition to her role at Seed, Fola is an assistant professor of medicine at UCLA and a co-director of the UCLA Center Global Health Program. She oversees a research team that conducts studies to understand and address health care disparities domestically and internationally.

Fola graduated from Yale University with a degree in biology. She attended the University of Cambridge to study international systems of health care delivery before matriculating to Harvard Medical School. She trained in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. Fola then joined the UCLA Specialty Training and Advanced Research (STAR) Program, completing a fellowship in gastroenterology at UCLA and a PhD in health policy and management from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.

Kiran Mitha Masood guides pediatric programming for Seed, focused on recruiting, supporting, and connecting pediatricians around the globe. 

Kiran has spent her professional career focusing on vulnerable children, particularly in under-resourced areas of Africa and South America. Her early career concentrated on caring for underserved children domestically. 

Kiran’s first role with Seed was in 2013 as a pediatric educator teaching at Gulu University’s Faculty of Medicine. After completing her service, she transitioned into the role of regional director of programs and partnerships, overseeing all Seed operations in sub-Saharan Africa. Since returning to the US, Kiran has led Seed’s engagement in global child health. In addition to her role at Seed, Kiran is a faculty member at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine and leads the UCLA partnership in Peru. She also serves as a mentor to trainees interested in careers in global health. She has also previously worked in Ethiopia and Guatemala.  

She completed her medical education at the University of California, San Diego, where she helped serve the local uninsured population, persons living with HIV, and the immigrant Ethiopian community. This emphasis continued during her pediatric residency at UCLA within the community health and advocacy track and a fellowship in community medicine at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center.

Tiwonge Tracy Moyo leads the Seed Malawi team. She is responsible for overall program management and oversight of partnerships in the country.

Tiwonge is a self-motivated professional with over 17 years of managerial, technical, and advisory experience who has focused her career on solving socio-economic problems in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Her previous roles have included country portfolio management, program design, finance, administration, human resource, monitoring, evaluation, behavioural surveillance surveys contracts, and grants management. She has developed knowledge management products ranging from success stories to program reports to abstracts that have been presented in international conferences.

Tiwonge has provided technical direction in program implementation, capacity building, coaching, and mentoring. She has assisted ministries of health, gender, children, and social welfare in developing national Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) and Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) guidelines and policies, assessment tools, and databases. 

While at the AIDSFree Project, Tiwonge managed two teams based in Malawi and Tanzania. Together, they implemented a two-year VMMC quality improvement project. Prior to that, she was the Chief of Party on the USAID ASSIST Project where she worked to improve orphans and vulnerable children services, nutrition, and malaria prevention as well as increase uptake of VMMC services. At both the URC/ASSIST and AIDSFree projects, USAID, CDC, and the Department of Defence twice requested Tiwonge’s team to facilitate national External Quality Assessments (EQAs) in Malawi. They assessed partners on their compliance with WHO standards and analyzed the data. She also participated in two similar EQAs in South Africa coordinated by USAID and CDC.

Previously, Tiwonge worked with FHI360 as a Senior Programme Officer on an OVC Project funded by Princess Diana Memorial Fund, Elton John Foundation,  Comic Relief and Children Investment Fund.

Tiwonge earned her Master of Arts in International Relations at the University of Lancaster (UK) and has a Bachelors of Social Sciences degree from Chancellor College, University of Malawi.

Thomas Msiska supports the Malawi team in the development of strategic partnerships to advance medical, nursing, and midwifery education, practice, and policy in the country.

Thomas currently oversees Seed Malawi’s medical and mental health partnerships. He has collaborated with teams across the organization to develop key partnership documents including long-term partnership plans, annual partnership plans, annual budgets, monitoring, evaluation, and learning frameworks, and output trackers. Thomas also supported the country director in the development of memorandums of understanding for Malawi partnerships.

Before joining Seed, he worked with a number of international and local nonprofits. Thomas focused on partnership development, program implementation and monitoring, tracking work plans and budgets, and assessing progress towards achievement of goals. He also has experience in coordinating external evaluations for projects.

Thomas has a Master of Science in Management Studies with a focus on health systems organisation and management. 

Prossy Nakattudde supports the Uganda Team across a range of program and partnership activities in service of Seed’s strategic goals. 

Prossy joined Seed with over 10 years of experience in health facilities and community-focused programs and has a long excellent record in health systems strengthening and stakeholder engagement. She previously worked with Johanniter International Assistance, Uganda as the Country Projects Coordinator for Emergency Health, WASH, and Nutrition. Prossy was responsible for developing and maintaining collaborative partnerships with the projects implementing partners, health institutions, and other stakeholders while managing donor and partner relationships at all levels. She also supported exchange medical, public health, and nutrition fellows; intern students; and volunteers as an identified way of improving human resource in emergency/ refugee settlements. Prossy previously worked with Plan International-Uganda and Lutheran World Federation in closely related roles.

She is currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Public Health at Clarke International University. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from Kyambogo University, a post graduate diploma in project planning and management, a certificate in monitoring and evaluation from Uganda Management Institute, and is a certified community development and leadership professional who majored in women and gender issues at George Mason University.

Sarah Ngoma works closely with Seed educators, clinical site staff, and midwifery faculty to facilitate the implementation of midwifery activities and advocates for better midwifery practice in Zambia. She leads in data collection, management, tracking progress, and reporting for regular learning and sharing.

Sarah has over 20 years of experience working in capacity building for health providers in sexual reproductive, maternal, child, newborn, and adolescent health. She has worked with local and international NGOs providing technical support and capacity development for individuals and organizations. She has experience developing tools and conducting organizational performance self-assessments.

Prior to joining Seed, Sarah worked with Pact Zambia for six years as a Capacity Development Specialist where she facilitated individual and organizational performance assessments, developed institutional strengthening plans, and monitored implementation of activities until they improved their performance to graduate to prime recipients of USAID funding.

She is a public health activist and an advocate for better midwifery education and practice in Zambia. While working in the NGO space she has been a passionate midwife. Sarah volunteers in the Midwives Association of Zambia where she currently holds the position of Association President. She is a trainer in essential midwifery competences.

Sarah holds an MPH from the University of the Western Cape in South Africa and an MBA-Management from Assam Don Bosco University in India. She is pursuing her PhD in Public Health and Health promotion. Her thesis is: Midwifery: a public health agenda.

Allan Nsubuga leads Seed’s program operations and monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) efforts in Uganda to achieve partner and organizational strategic goals.

Allan has over a decade of experience working with multidisciplinary and cross cultural organizations in the public and private sector to strengthen health systems. Prior to joining Seed, he was a senior MEL advisor and alternate MEL director at University Research Co. LLC’s (URC) – Regional Health Integration to Enhance Services in East Central Uganda. Allan was responsible for providing strategic MEL direction and leading 104 staff including advisors, officers, and health facility-based data clerks. 

Before URC, he was the MEL specialist for the CDC-funded Global Health Security Partner Engagement Program at the Makerere University Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI). While there, Allan was instrumental in establishing and institutionalizing the inaugural Global Health Security Agenda in Uganda. He has worked as a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) specialist for the USAID-funded Strengthening Decentralization for Sustainability program at IDI. Allan provided M&E oversight to sustainably improve decentralized local government service delivery in health, HIV/AIDS, education, and services for orphans and vulnerable children across 35 districts.

As a statistician at the Division of Health Information, Ministry of Health and the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Allan managed the country’s health management information system (HMIS) and District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2) as well as coordinated all the district biostatisticians. He has provided training and mentorship to over 700 health workers on HMIS, DHIS2, M&E, basic health data analysis techniques, medicines tracking, data quality assurance, and data demand and use.

Allan is pursuing his MPH at Makerere University. He holds a postgraduate diploma in M&E and a Bachelor of Science in Quantitative Economics from Uganda Management Institute and Makerere University respectively.

Eric Otim provides finance and administration support for the Seed Uganda office. He is responsible for financial accounting and reporting, statutory compliance, and administrative and logistic processes. He also leads the Uganda team in budgeting and budgetary processes.

Eric has over six years of invaluable experience in corporate finance, accounting, and administration. He has worked in both for profit and nonprofit organizations as well as a pro bono consultant for small and medium-sized enterprises. Prior to joining Seed in 2018, he was the country finance and administration officer for Farm Radio International, a communication for development organization with headquarters in Ottawa, Canada, and country offices in East and West Africa. In this role, he was responsible for financial accounting and reporting, budgeting and budget tracking, development and review of policies and procedures, payroll management, statutory compliance, and administration and logistics. He supported the implementation of  multi-donor funded projects from funders such as DFID, FAO, Irish Aid, GAC, and Rockefeller Foundation. Eric also had intermittent temporary assignments to the regional office in Arusha, Tanzania to support quarterly, annual planning, and audit exercises.

Eric has a Bachelor of Commerce with a finance and accounting concentration from Makerere University Business School.

He is a team player, outgoing, detail-oriented, and proficient in building and maintaining professional relationships. Eric loves traveling and enjoys playing basketball and beach volleyball.

Maureen Ries guides obstetrics and gynecology programming for Seed by recruiting, supporting, and connecting ob-gyns around the globe. She helps build the surgical, clinical, and educational expertise of women’s health providers.

Maureen went into medicine with the hopes of engaging in global health as part of her lifelong career and is passionate about sustainable and collaborative approaches. Her first role with Seed was as an ob-gyn educator teaching in Sengerema, Tanzania from 2013 to 2014. After completing her service, she became Seed’s deputy chief medical officer and assisted with physician educator programming. In 2015, she transitioned into her current role and has supported ob-gyn training programs in Liberia, Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda. In addition to her work with Seed, Maureen is an associate clinical professor in the UCSD School of Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences. She is the director for global education for the department’s section in Global Women’s Health. Maureen organizes responsible resident experiences in Ecuador and Tijuana, Mexico through a free women’s clinic that UCSD is engaged in to address the needs of asylum seekers and migrant women.  She is active in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Committee for Global Health.

Maureen has engaged in healthcare for the underserved since medical school through working with the Student Run Free Clinic. She has staffed an ob-gyn prison clinic and worked in China, Malawi, Nepal, and Papua New Guinea.  

She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Biology from Smith College. She attended the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and completed her ob-gyn residency training at the Ohio State University.

Leandra Furtado Rivera supports Seed’s development operations in the US and globally.

Leandra has spent most of her professional career working in higher education development, most recently as a coordinator for the Alumni Affairs and Development office at Harvard University. In her prior experience, Leandra managed gift and fund data, annual giving strategy, acknowledgment systems, and donor relations for a variety of organizations. 

Her dedication to advocacy and international development has led her to serve in a variety of settings across the world from leading student groups on development trips to Central America and the Azores Islands to organizing grocery deliveries to families facing food insecurity in Boston, in partnership with Action for Boston Community Development, and most recently by supporting migrant populations in Syria, Iraq, and Latin America, through a development internship at Preemptive Love. 

Leandra is passionate about her Azorean heritage and was selected as a 2022 NextGen Fellow by the Portuguese-American Leadership Council of the United States, an organization which advocates for the interests of Portuguese-Americans in the United States. 

Leandra holds a BS in Psychology and MA in Human Services from Southeastern University. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in international relations at Harvard University.

Thida Sam manages institutional relationships and revenue development activities for foundation, non-profit, and corporate partners. 

Thida has spent her professional career in international development with a focus on bridging gaps between resources and needs. Her most recent endeavor was leading programs in the most rural areas in Cambodia, providing communities access to vetted information on a variety of health-related topics such as rabies treatment, pregnancy care, and sex education. Prior to this, Thida worked at New York University in their Investment Office and at the United Nations in New York where she focused on international policies on sustainable development to improve rural livelihoods. 

She volunteers locally as a member of her city’s DEI task force, and as campaign treasurer in the local political space. Thida also serves as a board member for NYC-based non-profit Voces Latinas as well as literacy non-profit Spread the Words Cambodia. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Michigan, and is the proud parent of four daughters.

Isha Beckie Sesay provides support to Seed Educators and faculty at clinical sites. She is also responsible for data collection and analysis.

Beckie has over fifteen years of clinical and community health experience, working as a clinician in the capacity of a community health officer. Prior to joining Seed, she worked with the National AIDS Control Program as a community health officer in charge of the HIV unit attached to the Holy Spirit Hospital in Makeni, Sierra Leone. Beckie was responsible for providing care to people living with HIV and collecting, collating, and analyzing data for reporting.

She has worked in several districts in Sierra Leone as an in-charge of various health centers, providing health care services and mentorship. Beckie has also worked in health care facilities in The Gambia.

Beckie is a graduate of the Paramedical School in Sierra Leone (now School of Community and Clinical Sciences). She holds a certificate and diploma in public health and is awaiting convocation for a bachelor’s degree in public health in March 2022.

Caroline Snyder  supports Seed’s administrative functions in the US and globally.

Caroline has spent her professional career focused on political engagement and advocacy. She most recently worked on Democratic Campaigns through the 2020 election season at Blueprint Interactive. 

Her prior experience related to global health and policy includes internships with Cornerstone Government Affairs, the Office of Congresswoman Katherine Clark (D-MA), and Fidelity Investments, conducting research on health policy, political engagement, and advocacy. 

Caroline holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government & Politics and Communication Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Mustapha Sonnie leads the Sierra Leone team and Seed’s programming in the country.

Mustapha has spent his professional career as a public health specialist focusing on control and elimination of neglected tropical diseases. For over 13 years, he managed the USAID-funded End Neglected Tropical Diseases in Africa and Act to End Neglected Tropical Diseases program in Sierra Leone with an emphasis on sustainability and national ownership. Mustapha worked directly with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, the national neglected tropical diseases program, and partners. He has also provided technical support to neglected tropical diseases programs in Northern Nigeria and Zambia.

Early in his career, Mustapha worked as a sexually transmitted infections control officer, designing and managing health promotion efforts. He was also as a health trainer, organizing trainings on HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections prevention among vulnerable groups.

Mustapha holds a Master of Science in Public Health from Leeds Beckett University, United Kingdom and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone.

Dan Spearman coordinates efforts for recruiting and hiring physicians, nurses, and midwives as Seed Educators and orchestrates orientation prior to their departure to our partner countries.

Dan joined Seed in 2018, transitioning into global health after starting his professional career in higher education. His dedication to international development, relations, and advocacy resulted in his interning with the United Nations Association of Greater Boston, conducting sustainable development research in Cuba, and serving twice as a delegate with Humanitarian Affairs Asia at the United Nations in Thailand. 

Prior to Seed, Dan worked at Plymouth State University as the global engagement study away specialist. He managed institutional partnerships, academic field study programs, and advised students on study abroad opportunities. Dan holds a BA in Political Science with a minor in biology and peace and social justice studies from Plymouth State University.

Brittney van de Water guides pediatric nursing at Seed, recruiting and supporting pediatric nurse educators for our partner institutions.

Over the past decade, Brittney has focused her career on providing care to children and families in low resource settings with high burdens of disease. She joined Seed in 2016 after serving as faculty at Mzuzu University in Malawi as part of the Global Health Service Partnership. In addition to her role with Seed, Brittney is an instructor of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. In this capacity, she conducts tuberculosis research with a focus on implementation science and translating evidence to practice for TB programs in rural South Africa.  

Brittney is a certified pediatric nurse practitioner and works clinically at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Charlestown, Massachusetts. She received her PhD from Duke University School of Nursing in 2017 and completed a doctoral certificate in global health through the Duke Global Health Institute. 

She is from Ipswich, Massachusetts and splits her time with her husband and two young children between the US and South Africa.

Kate York guides primary health care and community health nursing at Seed, recruiting and supporting nurse educators for our partner institutions. 

Kate proudly joined the nursing team at Seed in 2016 and has expanded her role from community health nursing to include primary health care and mental health nursing. She was a faculty member at Hubert Kairuki Memorial University in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania during the 2014/2015 academic year as part of the Global Health Service Partnership, her first interaction with Seed. During this time of teaching nursing students in Tanzania, she was a Fellow in Global Clinical Education through Massachusetts General Hospital.

Kate is also the director of Global Health Nursing and an assistant professor of clinical nursing at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Nursing along with being a certified family nurse practitioner. She works in global community health and primary health care settings and teaches community/public health nursing and global health. Kate works to create academic partnerships with schools and colleges of nursing at higher education institutions internationally and sustains these relationships through mutually beneficial activities. 

Her interest in global health developed during her doctoral studies when she researched community-based programming for a neglected tropical disease. This experience, coupled with her time living and working in Tanzania, shaped her philosophy of global study abroad for nursing students – one that requires interaction with student nurses and nurses in host countries in a meaningful and sustainable way.