Prior to joining Venture Strategies, Kate served as a graduate student instructor for the Bixby Center for Population, Health and Sustainability at the University of California, Berkeley where she assisted in the Population and Poverty and Family Planning, Population Change and Health courses.  While in graduate school, she worked for the San Francisco Department of Public Health's HIV Prevention Section and at Magnet, a gay men's clinic in San Francisco, assessing HIV test counseling quality and evaluating volunteer programs.  She worked for three years at Health Promotion Services at Stanford University where she coordinated health education programs and co-taught health promotion courses.  Her work at Venture Strategies includes researching the determinants of fertility and fertility decline and analyzing global population policies and attitudes.  She also serves as Communications Manager for the Bixby Center.

Kate holds a master of public health from the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health with a concentration in health and social behavior.

Prior to joining Venture Strategies for Health and Development, Nadia worked as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, India, doing a study on maternal anemia in the low income and slum population.  While pursuing her master's degree, Nadia focused her thesis research on malaria in pregnancy in India.  As an undergraduate, she conducted thesis research on fertility decline in Southern India, specifically looking at gender preference and sex selective practices.  Nadia also worked at San Francisco General Hospital doing research on hepatitis B.  Nadia has participated in research projects in Tanzania on contraceptive use and maternal mortality while an intern with the Bixby Center for Population, Health and Sustainability, and in rural Guatemala on the effects of indoor air pollution on maternal and child health.

Nadia received a master of science degree from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a bachelor of arts in Human Biology from Brown University.

As President of Venture Strategies Innovations (VSI), Melodie leads the organization’s work of bringing affordable life-saving health technologies to women in 14 countries in Africa and Asia.  Melodie directs VSI’s strategy development and oversees the operations of its health programs, ensuring the furthering of the organization’s mission.  She guides VSI’s global partnerships with pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors in the countries where it operates its misoprostol program.  Melodie manages VSI’s professional team and oversees the organization’s new program development initiatives.    

Melodie was part of the team at Venture Strategies for Health and Development (VSHD) that was awarded the Global Philanthropy Forum Prize in 2005 for social entrepreneurship with special recognition for the organization’s scalability, sustainability and strategies to launch initiatives that will endure long past its direct involvement.  In 2008, she organized the establishment of VSI as a spin-off organization of VSHD.   

An engineer and economist who previously served as a consultant on business strategies for IBM for seven years, Melodie has worked extensively in Asia and Africa and has expertise in developing new businesses, as well as program budgeting and evaluation.  She received a bachelor of science degree in civil and environmental engineering from the University of California, Irvine, a master of science in engineering-economic systems from Stanford University and a master of public health from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Prata is an Angolan physician and medical demographer who has worked throughout Africa and Asia. She has designed the protocols and directed technical assistance and training for the Venture Strategies clinical demonstration studies in Tanzania, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Zambia and Ethiopia. She is an Assistant Adjunct Professor of Maternal and Child Health in the School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley and also serves as the Scientific Director for the Bixby Center for Population, Health and Sustainability.

Dr. Prata has published extensively in areas of family planning, financing and ability to pay for reproductive health programs, the role of the private sector in health care in developing countries, adolescent sexual behavior in developing countries, priorities for maternal health, and the use of misoprostol to manage postpartum bleeding.

She received a doctor of medicine degree in Angola.  After practicing medicine for 10 years and serving as Head of the Social Statistics Department at the National Institute of Statistics of Angola, she received a master of science in medical demography from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Alexander specializes in international finance and financial operations and management, and brings to Venture Strategies over 18 years of experience from across both the corporate and non-profit sectors.  He has lived and worked in Latin America, Asia and North Africa, focusing on international trade and global finance, particularly pertaining to emerging markets.  He has held senior finance positions in large multi-national companies, as well as with smaller closely held businesses and international trade development organizations.  In these roles, he facilitated and led financial management, capital-raising efforts and financial packaging/reporting.  

Alexander served as an advisor and instructor at UCLA’s Anderson School Extension program and on various non-profit boards including the Export Managers Association and Hearts Afire, Inc., an organization providing health care in developing nations.  At Venture Strategies, he is responsible for and provides direction on financial strategy, management and policies.  He supervises accounting, budgeting, audit, compliance and financial planning/reporting.   

He holds a master’s degree in international management with a specialization in finance from Thunderbird School of Global Management and a bachelor of arts in economic development and international relations from Lake Forest College.

Dr. Aine is a public health professional with expertise in safe motherhood and reproductive health.  He served as the medical superintendent in the Uganda People’s Defense Forces for six years where he managed primary health care provision, budgeting, implementation and monitoring of safe motherhood, prevention and treatment of childhood illnesses, malaria and tuberculosis control programs.  His work as Senior Health Specialist with BRAC – Uganda Health Programme included implementing the safe motherhood and pregnancy-related care components of the Essential Health Care Package in coordination with the Ministry of Health.  In addition to his work with Venture Strategies, Dr. Aine is a visiting lecturer at the International University of Health Sciences in the Institute of Health Policy and Management in Kampala, Uganda.  He also has a particular interest in health economics and has contributed to research on the costing of health services at Kitovu Hospital in Masaka, Uganda, as well as a study at the Makerere Institute of Public Health in collaboration with the World Health Organization on the patterns and trends of health worker salaries in East Africa.

Dr. Aine received a bachelor of medicine and surgery from Makerere University in Kampala and a master of science in health services management from Uganda Martyrs University.

Manuel has nearly 20 years of experience in the accounting field.  Most recently, he was Global Accounting Manager for the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) where he supervised accounting operations in 20 countries in Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.  In this role, Manuel set up financial reporting systems, engaged accounting and audit firms, developed policies and procedures for AHF's expanding global operations, and traveled to Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda to visit AHF clinics.

Manuel also has experience in forensic accounting and elder financial abuse, having reported instrumental evidence in one of the largest elder abuse cases ever uncovered in California.  At Venture Strategies, Manuel is responsible for general accounting, financial reporting, accounting controls and policies, and audit and compliance reviews.  A native of Mexico, Manuel speaks fluent Spanish.

Manuel holds a bachelor of business administration with a concentration in accounting from California State University, San Bernardino.

Alisha joined Venture Strategies for Health and Development in the summer of 2006.  A former educator to poor and underserved populations in the US, Alisha brought her commitment to poverty eradication and adolescent health to the field of public health in 2004.  Prior to joining Venture Strategies, Alisha worked at the Population Council's office in Dakar, Senegal finalizing an adolescent reproductive health curriculum and collaborating on an evaluation of Tostan's work in the Casamance region.  Subsequently, she was an assistant specialist at the Bixby Center for Population, Health and Sustainability (formerly Bixby Program on Population, Family Planning and Maternal Health) at the University of California, Berkeley where she published on feasible interventions to prevent maternal deaths.  Alisha manages Venture Strategies' misoprostol programs in Madagascar, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zanzibar.

Alisha holds a master of public health from the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health with a focus on international maternal and child health.

While completing her master's work, Amy worked with the Bixby Center for Population, Health and Sustainability and at Population Council's Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean in Mexico City where she participated on studies on access to emergency contraception in the Caribbean, Bolivian sex workers' health-seeking behaviors, and published on the introduction of birth plans in Mexico.  Prior to joining Venture Strategies, Amy was a communications, research and evaluation consultant based in Berkeley, California.  Her work at Venture Strategies includes monitoring and evaluation technical assistance for the misoprostol programs in Africa and Asia, as well as communications and development work.

Amy holds a master of public health from the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health with a specialty in international maternal and child health.

Mrs. Rabecca Mutale Kalwani is a trained midwife with a master's degree in public health. She is an accomplished public health professional with over thirty years of experience working in both the public and private health sectors in Zambia. As a Coordinator of Reproductive Health and Research at the Ministry of Health, she implemented reproductive health programs, including capacity building efforts in the National Safe Motherhood program. In her role as Community Partnership Specialist at the Zambia Integrated Health Program (ZIHP), Mrs. Kalwani provided technical support to community based providers and organizations. She also contributed to contraceptive scale-up programs and family planning policy development while serving as Reproductive Health Specialist at the Health Services and Systems Program (HSSP). She is an experienced researcher and health management trainer with a unique combination of clinical and policy knowledge.

Rabecca received her certification in nurse-midwifery from Ndola School of Midwifery, a bachelor of science in nursing from the University of Zambia, and a master of public health from the Royal Tropical Institute in the Netherlands.

A medicinal chemist by training, Richard worked for eight years in the biotechnology industry before entering public health.  Working with science, intellectual property and business teams, he co-managed and contributed to the research and development of treatments for reproductive health and neuro-endocrine disorders. 

Richard’s focus is on utilizing the private sector and existing market forces to increase access to health care and medicines in developing countries.  He led Venture Strategies’ project investigating the development of an affordable medical device for low-income countries.  He also worked on the evaluation of an output-based aid program in Uganda to treat sexually transmitted infections in private clinics.  Previously with the Global Health Group at the University of California, San Francisco, he researched and evaluated pharmacy legislation and regulation in low- and middle-income countries and their impact on the private retail sector.

Richard holds a doctoral degree in organic chemistry from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, and a master of public health from the University of California, Berkeley. 

Shirine Mohagheghpour is a public health specialist with more than 14 years of experience ensuring women's access to vital reproductive and maternal health services.  This includes educating and inspiring law and policy makers at the local, national and international levels, working with health care providers and insurance companies, and mobilizing the general public.  She has led congressional delegations on foreign study tours to witness first-hand the impact of U.S. laws and policies on global health; she has partnered US-based and global reproductive health care organizations to promote access to comprehensive services; and she has authored sentinel resources detailing the health care needs of special (traditionally underserved) populations.  Raised in Iran, Shirine has worked for CARE International, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and, most recently, PATH-Thailand. Shirine manages Venture Strategies' misoprostol programs in Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Uganda.
 

Prior to joining Venture Strategies, Emma worked in Senegal as an instructor at Université Gaston Berger and as an intern for Tostan, an organization committed to a human rights-based approach to community development.  While completing her master's, she worked for the Globalization Research Center-Africa at UCLA and interned for Human Rights Watch's Student Task Force, a program promoting human rights education and advocacy in Los Angeles-area schools.  Before attending graduate school, she worked at ID Media, the largest direct response media agency in the U.S.  She is fluent in French and has intermediate proficiency in Wolof and Yoruba.   

Dollina Awuor Odera is a specialist in health and development with an interest in reproductive health, poverty reduction and human rights.  Originally from Kenya, she has worked with the Kenyan Medical Research Institute in partnership with the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Lutheran World Relief and the British Council in Africa.  Additionally, she has provided extensive technical support on HIV/AIDS, maternal health care and malaria research programs throughout Kenya and consulted on community rapid participatory assessment tools for HIV/AIDS throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to joining Venture Strategies, she worked with the University of Minnesota on the AIDS Clinical Trials Unit and with the African American AIDS Task Force on the Eliminating Health Disparities Initiative for minority populations in the Twin Cities. Dollina manages Venture Strategies' misoprostol program in Zambia.

Karen is a native of Hong Kong.  Her experience ranges from proteomics research, healthcare information technology, to HIV/AIDS prevention. She has worked in both public and private sectors including Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Oracle Corporation and UCSF Institute for Global Health.  She was recently a contract program advisor at United Nations Population Fund, China, based in Beijing.  Her work focused on advocating for the improvement of condom quality in China and its implication on HIV/AIDS programs, and integrating HIV/AIDS services into the existing far-reaching family planning system.  Karen is fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin and proficient in Spanish. 

Calandra Park comes to Venture Strategies with a background in reproductive and sexual health.  Prior to Venture Strategies, Calandra provided technical assistance on service delivery, curriculum development, program management and program evaluation for HIV prevention and treatment programs.  Recently she facilitated an effective community planning process for HIV prevention through the establishment of sustainable partnerships among regional stakeholders in California.  Calandra's HIV work was enriched in Tanzania while working with HIV orphans.  Her varied work experiences and social work background have enabled her to represent and advocate for mothers and children at risk, refugee populations, survivors of torture, the chronically mentally ill and substance users.  Calandra manages Venture Strategies' misoprostol program in Malawi.

A physician by profession and specialist in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, before joining VSHD, Dr. Rwamushaija has worked extensively in Tanzania and Mozambique in the area of reproductive health as a clinician, trainer, technical advisor and program manager.  He began his career in Tanzania as a Rural Medical Officer and advanced to District and Regional Medical Officer.  Later he was appointed by the Ministry of Health in Tanzania to lead a medical team to support the Government of Mozambique where he worked in many hospitals in Mozambique before moving to UNFPA as Senior Advisor to the National Reproductive Health Program.  Dr. Rwamushaija returned to Tanzania in 2005 and worked with Jhpiego as its program’s Country Director and later at Marie Stopes International as a Consulting Obstetrician and Gynaecologist.

Dr. Sahin-Hodoglugil is a public health physician and a sexual and reproductive health expert who has previously worked on research projects and programs to improve women’s health globally. She represented Turkey during the United Nations' Follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women meetings in 2000 and has been advocating for women’s rights throughout her career. She is also a Visiting Scholar at the School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley.

She received her doctor of medicine and master of cultural anthropology degrees in Turkey and her doctor of public health degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Prior to joining the Venture Strategies team, Brandon worked for the Bay Area International Group (BIG) and for the Center for Entrepreneurship in International Health and Development (CEIHD), both affiliated with the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. His work has included research and data analysis using the Demographic and Health Surveys in preparation for the publication of the article “Barriers to Fertility Regulation”, recently published in the journal, Studies in Family Planning.  

He is currently completing his undergraduate studies at the University of California at Berkeley with a concentration in international public health.

Natalie is a global public health professional with interest in reproductive health and access to services.  Prior to joining Venture Strategies, she was the Program Director for all HIV/AIDS, substance abuse and health prevention initiatives at the Latin American Youth Center in Washington, D.C.  Natalie also served in Peace Corps Honduras as a Master's International scholar conducting qualitative research on access to contraceptive services among rural populations.  While working in Honduras, Natalie designed, managed and evaluated multiple health projects focused on infant and maternal mortality reduction in coordination with the Ministry of Health and several international non-governmental organizations.  She has also written and received funding for both international and domestic health projects and contributed technical support for malaria research on the NetMark project for the World Health Organization's Roll Back Malaria Initiative.  Natalie manages Venture Strategies' misoprostol programs in Kenya and Mozambique.