ANAHEIM, CA — On Tuesday, June 16, 2009, the board of directors of nonprofit organization Venture Strategies Innovations (VSI) voted Melodie Holden as the new President of VSI.
 
VSI is a California-based organization that works in collaboration with the Bixby Center for Population, Health and Sustainability at the University of California, Berkeley and its sister organization Venture Strategies for Health and Development (VSHD) to bring low-cost, evidence-based health solutions to low-income people in developing countries.

Melodie has played an integral role in the work of Venture Strategies since 2005 when she first took on the duties of managing the regulatory and distribution efforts in VSHD’s Misoprostol Program.  In 2008, she organized the establishment of VSI as a spin-off organization to focus on implementation of programs in 14 countries in Africa and Asia.

VSI currently operates its Misoprostol Program to create access to the low-cost, generic drug misoprostol to prevent postpartum hemorrhage, the leading cause of maternal death globally.  VSI works in partnership with governments, medical leaders and pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors to bring these life-saving tablets to poor, rural women in developing countries. 

An engineer and economist, Melodie is a graduate of the University of California, Irvine and Stanford University.  She worked as a consultant on business strategies for IBM in the US and Asia before completing a master of public health degree at the University of California, Berkeley.  Melodie previously served as VSI’s Senior Vice President/Chief Operating Officer under Martha Campbell, the President and founder of VSHD and former President of VSI. 

“This is an acknowledgement of Melodie’s success in Venture Strategies, her ability to lead, and her vision for the future of the organization,” said Martha Campbell. “I am confident that under Melodie’s leadership, VSI will continue to have a large-scale impact on health in developing countries.”