Vledder, Nusser and Hicks broaden the Board’s global health and digital technology expertise
New Membership to Help Guide Organization’s Country-Led Strategy
Media Contact: Laurel Lundstrom, llundstrom@pathfinder.org
October 6, 2022 — Pathfinder International welcomes three new members to its Board of Directors as part of an ongoing strategy to diversify the skills and expertise within the Board. The new members bring considerable expertise in global health funding, health systems strengthening, and digital technology.
Dr. Monique Vledder is the Head of Secretariat for the Global Financing Facility (GFF), a multi-stakeholder partnership hosted at the World Bank to improve the health of women, children, and adolescents. The GFF provides catalytic financing and technical assistance to 38 low and lower-middle income partner countries with over US$2.5 billion in financing. Dr. Vledder brings deep expertise working on global health issues, particularly in reproductive health, health systems strengthening and financing, and service delivery, and has over 25 years of experience working in various regions including Africa, Latin America, and East Asia for the World Bank; bilateral agencies; and with civil society organizations.
Dr. Harald Nusser is the Head of Global Patient Solutions at Gilead Sciences, where he works on sustainable business models that ensure medicines are affordable and accessible in low- and middle-income countries. Based in Germany and the UK, he also serves as Global Ambassador of the G20 Health and Development Partnership, an advocacy and coordination mechanism among G20 countries in working toward meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Chris Hicks is Senior Vice President of Employer Growth at Maven Clinic, a digital health company providing telehealth-based support for women’s and family health across 175 countries. Since 2020, he has played a lead role in expanding Maven’s offerings to hundreds of thousands of families outside of the United States. He has a wealth of experience as an executive who has led global teams focused on strategy and operations, sales and marketing, and finance.
“I look forward to working closely with Monique, Harald, and Chris at this critical time,” said Collin Mothupi, Pathfinder’s Board Chair, who is the organization’s first Chair from Africa, with roots in South Africa and Uganda. “Pathfinder’s work has never been more relevant, as we tackle enormous global challenges, including climate change, pandemics, vulnerable health systems, and pervasive inequalities. Their experiences will be essential to guiding the organization along a path of delivering increased mission impact through strategies driven by local teams in the countries we serve.”
New Board members are elected through a process that includes review and nomination by the Board’s Governance Committee and a vote of the full Board of Directors.
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Pathfinder International is driven by the conviction that all people, regardless of where they live, have the right to decide whether and when to have children, to exist free from fear and stigma, and to lead the lives they choose. As a global health organization with locally led, community-driven programs, Pathfinder supports women to make their own reproductive health decisions. Pathfinder works with local partners to advance contraceptive services, comprehensive abortion care, and young people’s sexual and reproductive rights in communities around the world—including those affected by poverty, conflict, climate change, and natural disasters. Taken together, Pathfinder’s programs enable millions of people to choose their own paths forward.
