Jennet is an international health policy specialist with an interest in reproductive health, mental health and access to services.  Prior to joining Venture Strategies, Jennet was a Fellow with the Yale University-Clinton Foundation Ethiopian Hospital Management Initiative, where she worked on quality improvement projects and policies at Ethiopia’s only psychiatric institution and management issues across the Ethiopian hospital system.  Jennet has also worked on gender and youth issues at the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Central and Eastern Europe Office and on an evaluation of micro-finance programs in Egypt.  Additionally, she has conducted qualitative research and written on domestic violence and suicide among women in Bangladesh.

Jennet received a Master of Public Health in Global Health with a concentration in Reproductive Health and Population Studies from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and a Master of Public Policy in Gender and International Development from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

Dr. Tesfanesh has an extensive background in reproductive health in Ethiopia, most recently including directing the Family Health Department at the Federal Ministry of Health and spearheading the initial misoprostol training and distribution roll-out.  As Head of the Family Health Department at the MoH, she was responsible for developing and leading the national strategies on reproductive health, safe motherhood, adolescent health, immunization, and nutrition and had particular impact in the area of ensuring reproductive health commodities supplies.  She has extensive experience coordinating and facilitating the work of donors and international organizations in Ethiopia and has acted as consultant to the UN, WHO and other organizations.  Dr. Tesfanesh has been chair or member of a variety of reproductive health taskforces and working committees and has provided guidance in the development of a number of Ethiopia’s national policy initiatives. She is a founding member of the Public Health Nursing Association, the Consortium of Family Planning, the Ethiopian Women’s Medical Association, and the Good Samaritan Association for Women’s Reproductive Health. 

Dr. Tesfanesh holds a Master of Public Health in International Health from Tulane University, a Medical Degree from Tiever Medical School in Russia, and is a Certified Nurse Midwife with a specialization in Public Health Nursing from Gonder School of Public Health in Ethiopia.

Alisha joined Venture Strategies for Health and Development in the summer of 2006.  Her work at Venture Strategies includes drug regulatory and distribution program management in Africa and Southeast Asia.  She holds a joint appointment at UC Berkeley’s Bixby Program for Population, Family Planning, and Maternal Health. 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. 

Alisha holds a Masters in 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 Program for Population, Family Planning, and Maternal Health 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 Masters in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health with a specialty in International Maternal and Child Health.

Prior to joining Venture Strategies, Martine was a graduate student researcher for the Bixby Program for Population, Family Planning, and Maternal Health, where she assisted in evaluating the use of misoprostol in low-resource settings.  She spent the summer of 2007 in rural Tanzania as a Bixby intern conducting a quantitative and qualitative assessment of community-based misoprostol use for control of postpartum hemorrhage.  As a master’s student, she worked on several program and evaluation plans for maternal and reproductive health interventions.   Martine’s current work at Venture Strategies involves technical assistance for the monitoring and evaluation of the organization’s misoprostol programs in Africa and Asia.

Martine holds a Masters in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health with a concentration in Maternal and Child Health and a focus in International Health.

Stacy is a Chartered Financial Analyst who has worked in the non-profit, governmental and private sectors since 1995. Her social development work has included various programmatic and financial roles at such organizations as the United Nations, Social Cabinet to the President of Mexico, Development Innovations Group, Cooperative Housing Foundation and Pro Mujer Nicaragua. Stacy was also a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Bolivia. Her private sector experience included working for an asset management company, Wellington Management Company, LLP and Capital One.

Stacy received a Master of Social Science in Social Policy and Planning in Developing Countries from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor’s of Science in Finance and International Business at the University of Virginia.

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. 

Karen holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, a Masters of Science in Biotechnology from Northwestern University and a Masters of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley.  

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. Diafuka Saila-Ngita is a specialist in international health and development with interests in access to health services, poverty reduction, and zoonoses. Before joining Venture Strategies, he served in Rwanda as Country Director for HIV/AIDS initiatives and Project Manager/Advisor for health investment initiatives at Women’s Equity for Access to Care and Treatment (WE-ACTx) and Columbia University, respectively. His career started in the early 1980’s in the Democratic Republic of Congo as Head of Livestock Outreach Programs at the Ministry of Agriculture and later as the Head of livestock, fisheries, conservation and rural development programs at the Ministry of Planning.   

Dr. Saila-Ngita received his veterinary degree from the University of Lubumbashi (D.R. Congo), his master’s degree in agricultural economics from the University of Wyoming and his doctorate degree in resource economics with a focus on fertility and the demand for prenatal care services from the University of Connecticut.

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 UC 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.

Mahesh (Michael) is a native of India. He is experienced in general management, business planning, systems technology and implementation of staff development and leadership in the non-profits in which he has worked.  He comes to VSHD with 13 years of experience in managing and executing finance and accounting of government and privately funded non-profits. His most recent position was Vice President and Controller of Center Point, a private, not-for-profit corporation providing comprehensive, integrated services to at-risk individuals and families. A Certified Internal Auditor and Certified Government Auditing Professional, he has completed independent audits for compliance with US government audit requirements and has designed accounting systems and incorporated internal controls to satisfy statutory requirements. Mahesh speaks Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and Bengali.

Mahesh received his accounting degree from Loyola College in Chennai, India where he also passed his final examination of the Institute for Chartered Accountants of India.  In addition he has completed graduate courses in accounting at Michigan State and San Jose State Universities.