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[Editor’s Note: In a recent in-depth interview with Gina Lagomarsino, R4D’s incoming president and CEO, we discussed R4D’s early days, what sets it apart from other global development organizations and how her prior work serving low-income and vulnerable communities will inform her leadership of R4D over the coming years. Gina’s new role will be effective Sept. 1, 2016.]

Congratulations on being selected to succeed David de Ferranti as Results for Development’s next president and CEO. What drew you to this opportunity?

I am so thrilled to have this unique opportunity to lead a dynamic, young global development organization through its next phase. I love that we are focused on improving the lives of the poor around the world. I love that we are tackling very important global challenges and designing creative new approaches to address them. And I love that we are building a strong and thriving organization where passionate, committed people are excited to come to work every day.

I am so thrilled to have this unique opportunity to lead a dynamic, young global development organization through its next phase.

How has Results for Development changed since its early days?

I initially started working with David when we were at Brookings. In 2008, we decided to strike out on our own because we wanted to bridge strong analysis typical of think tanks with implementation of lasting programs. In the early days, we were a very small group. I managed our first project, hired our first employees and found our first office space. We focused mainly on health. But, over the years, funders and partners appreciated our creative, responsive and analytic model, so we expanded into education and governance, and broadened our work in health. By 2012, we hit 50 people and a $12 million annual budget. That felt huge! Now, in 2016, we have more than doubled again, to 110 people and a $26 million budget. We are growing and maturing, but we still have a very important mission and a unique culture.

Tell me more about the unique culture at Results for Development.

Results for Development has always had an entrepreneurial culture. We have been driven by a group of very talented senior leaders who came to the organization because they wanted a platform to design creative new approaches to major global development challenges. And we recruit amazing energetic people who come to us because they want to make a difference, but also because they want to be part of developing modern ideas for addressing the world’s most challenging problems. I want us to maintain that entrepreneurial spirit. We recognize that new approaches are needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and we aspire to be at the forefront of developing new ideas.

And what are some of the things that you intend to build on or change?

One result of our entrepreneurial culture is that we have grown rapidly, with many successes. With so much to build on, now is a good time for us to get more clarity about our mission and our approach. Which global development challenges will we prioritize in the coming years?  What are the unique Results for Development approaches that will truly achieve impact for those challenges? And how can we ensure that they are highly effective and replicable? I intend to work closely with our management team and staff, as well as our external partners, to develop a cohesive vision for our next phase — one that builds on our current assets and is responsive to the needs and priorities of our partners around the world.

Which programmatic areas would you like R4D to focus on over the coming years?

I am looking forward to taking Results for Development through a strategic and analytic process to determine where we can have the most impact and how. So stay tuned!

Meanwhile, we will certainly continue to focus on the global goal of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), helping countries design strong integrated health financing and delivery systems with primary health care at their core. We will also work to address related health challenges that have not received enough attention, such as ending childhood malnutrition and pneumonia deaths, as well as those that have received a lot of attention but remain unsolved, such as preventable maternal mortality.

I want R4D to maintain its entrepreneurial spirit. We recognize that new approaches are needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and we aspire to be at the forefront of developing new ideas.

I am also committed to maintaining our focus on global education, addressing topics such as improving early childhood education, increasing the quality of learning in schools, and ensuring that every youth has the skills to succeed in work and life. We will also consider developing integrated programs across health, education, nutrition, and water/sanitation that support thriving children and adolescents.  Underpinning all of our work in these important areas of human development, we will continue our work in governance and accountability, improving the efficiency and quality of public spending and services, and thus people’s access to basic rights.

In addition to the focus areas mentioned above, we are known for several key approaches. For example, we are known for high-quality analytic work that influences policymakers and global development institutions. But we don’t stop at the analysis. We provide direct support to capable and committed local change agents, and we build and strengthen global knowledge-sharing and networking platforms that enable people around the world to identify innovative and practical solutions to common challenges. We are cultivating new models of real-time learning that involve systematic experimentation in the field. And we are finding better ways to support the collection, reporting and use of data at the global and local level to figure out what strategies are working, track improvement and increase accountability.

As we move forward, I would like R4D to further develop and codify these approaches and then combine them to achieve even more impact on the development challenges that we prioritize.

You’ve always been dedicated to expanding health care to low-income populations. Why?

My idealistic parents, who were both public school teachers, encouraged me to find a career that would make the world a better place. When I was a sophomore at Stanford, I heard a talk by Alain Enthoven, the architect of the Clinton healthcare reform. It was a memorable “lightning bolt” moment where I realized my interest was in the design of systems and policies, more than in direct service. I was intrigued by his description of the challenges of the U.S. health system, including how to ensure everyone has coverage when we have such a fragmented employer-based health insurance system, and how to create incentives that ensure that people receive the quality services they need when we have so many private health providers and not a lot of direct government control.

That talk set me on this path and, since then, I have loved the intellectual challenge of figuring out how to design a complex health system, coupled with the opportunity to truly improve people’s lives. It’s work that appeals to both my head and my heart.

You started your career in U.S. health care—how have you translated your experience to global health?

My range of experiences in U.S. health care—from Kaiser Permanente to McKinsey to working with Mayor Anthony Williams of Washington, D.C., to reform the health system for low-income residents—gave me a strong understanding of health financing and service delivery and the important relationships between the two. It also instilled a perspective on the role governments can play to influence private providers to achieve public goals.

These experiences also informed my work in managing one of our early Rockefeller-funded projects to assess the role of the private sector in health systems around the world. My commitment to achieving UHC in the United States influenced my desire to get involved in the early global movement toward UHC. I coordinated an early global task force for UHC convened by the Rockefeller Foundation. The idea to start a practitioner-to-practitioner learning network for countries working on UHC germinated when I met people from other countries who were trying to solve very similar challenges to the ones I had faced. I really enjoyed the camaraderie of sharing ideas and discussing practical solutions. My recent work on primary care service delivery draws on lessons from the formative year I spent implementing a new team-based model of primary care in a Kaiser medical center.

What have you learned from working with David de Ferranti, Results for Development’s founder and first president and CEO?

I have been extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to work for nearly a decade with such a well-recognized leader in the field of global development. I have learned so many things from David. He is fantastic at building and maintaining relationships. He is constantly scouting for talent. He is a tenacious problem-solver, who spends time looking for solutions to even the toughest challenges. He listens and responds to feedback. And he is always alert for opportunities for us to pursue our mission.

I am grateful for the partnership that David and I have developed over the years. In the early days, he made a very concerted effort to ensure that I had opportunities to meet and get to know key people and experiences that would help me develop professionally. Over time, we have grown to complement each other well in terms of our skills and interests. He has been a great cheerleader, with lots of support and encouragement, while also offering important constructive feedback. David sets a high performance bar, with very high expectations, but he has always been extremely understanding that I have a family and a life outside of work. I (and many others at R4D) work very hard, but David has always supported flexibility and expects me to prioritize family.

I am proud and humbled that David and our board are putting their trust in me to lead R4D through our next phase. I’m very much looking forward to continuing my partnership with him in our new roles, with me as president and CEO and him as chair of the board and senior fellow.

What are you most proud of from your time at Results for Development so far?

I am proud to have collaborated with global and country partners from around the world to build several lasting networks that support local leaders to develop stronger health systems: the Joint Learning Network (JLN) for Universal Health Coverage; the Center for Health Market Innovations (CHMI); and the Primary Health Care Performance Initiative (PHCPI).

The JLN, with its focus on peer-to-peer collaborative learning, was a very new idea when it was conceived in 2009—a different model focused on overcoming practical implementation challenges and promoting country ownership. It has been widely recognized as a success and, as a result, is now a core learning platform of the World Bank and viewed as a key achievement of the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Others in the global development field look to it as a model for similar initiatives. Today, the network is led by 25 member countries that come together—both in person in workshops and in an online collaboration hub—to identify common challenges to implementing universal health coverage, share experiences and strategies, identify knowledge gaps, and co-develop practical tools and products that can be tailored to the situation in their countries. To date, over 60 resources have been developed, ranging from guides and tools to country briefs and case studies that are consistently being used. JLN members set their own agenda and support one another, and they are successfully pushing the UHC agenda forward in their countries.

How does it feel to be a woman leading a global development organization?

A few weeks ago, I was at the WomenDeliver conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was inspirational to be there with many of the great women leaders in global development, as well as young female activists from around the world. Many of the most important issues that we focus on—reproductive health, education, nutrition, water and sanitation—have particular salience for women. And based on the applicant pool we have at Results for Development, it is clear that many of the most talented young minds in the field are women. I think it’s only appropriate that more global development organizations should be led by women. I am proud to be part of this trend!

I fundamentally believe that we need more women leaders across all sectors of society, which in part drives my personal aspiration to be a leader. I also feel a responsibility to be a mentor and a role model, including by demonstrating that it is possible to lead a rich, balanced (albeit busy!) life as a parent with a rewarding career. I have always made a point to bring my kids to office events. I think it is good for my kids to see me in my professional role and good for my colleagues to see clearly that I have a family. I have asked my 13-year-old daughter how she feels about the fact that I sometimes miss her games or concerts because I am traveling for work. Her answer: “When I grow up, I want to have a job where I get to travel around the world!”

I fundamentally believe that we need more women leaders across all sectors of society, which in part drives my personal aspiration to be a leader.

What are you most passionate about?

At this point in my life, my kids are definitely my passion. As a result, I have grown passionate about everything from soccer to baking! I also enjoy spending time outdoors. I go walking almost every day in Rock Creek Park. My family and I love to travel internationally whenever we can…even after all the work travel! I also enjoy cultivating friends and hosting gatherings. One of the things I appreciate about my job is how many friends I have made who live all over the world. When I get the chance, I introduce many of these great people to my family. My children are lucky to have met so many fascinating people from so many countries.

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