WASHINGTON, D.C. — Results for Development (R4D) welcomed four new additions to its board of directors: Wangari Ng’ang’a, M.D., M.Sc.; Nneka Mobisson, M.D., M.B.A.; Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi, M.Phil.; and Jay Knott, J.D.
- Dr. Ng’ang’a is a senior health advisor within the Executive Office of the President in Kenya, where she advises on strategies to achieve universal health coverage and helps coordinate Kenya’s COVID-19 response.
- Dr. Mobisson is the founder and CEO of mDoc, a growing telemedicine health care platform that coordinates health services for people with chronic health conditions in Nigeria and is expanding to other African countries.
- Ms. Owusu-Gyamfi is the executive vice president of the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), a preeminent research and policy institute based in Accra, Ghana, that galvanizes action for African countries to develop their economies, reduce poverty and improve livelihoods.
- Mr. Knott is the senior executive vice president and chief operating officer at the Environmental Defense Fund, an international NGO that is one of the world’s leading environmental organizations, where he oversees the entire global enterprise, including HR, legal, finance, risk management, global operations and IT.
“I am very excited about this new group of board members,” said Gina Lagomarsino, president and CEO of R4D. “They each individually offer fantastic skills and knowledge relevant to R4D’s current organizational evolution. As a group, they bring experience as change agents in government and the private sector, representation of the kinds of partners that R4D works with closely, and experience in leadership of INGOs with similar business models. Together, they also offer significant experience in many of R4D’s focus countries.”
David de Ferranti, R4D board chair, said: “Since I founded R4D 14 years ago, we’ve evolved from a small Washington-based think tank to a global NGO supporting leaders in countries around the world to achieve systems change. Our board must evolve to reflect our global presence and exciting new strategy. Wangari, Nneka, Mavis and Jay offer experience and perspectives crucial to the evolution of R4D and the board that governs us. As chair and on behalf of the whole R4D Board, I’m so delighted to welcome them.”
Since R4D was founded in 2008, the board of directors has played an important strategic and fiduciary role in advancing R4D’s mission. This role is now more important than ever as the organization has doubled in size in the past five years and expanded its programs to include new countries and new global networks with many new partners around the world. The board will continue to provide invaluable guidance as the international community works to mitigate COVID’s impact on health, education and nutrition systems — and as R4D implements its new strategy, focused on supporting country-level systems change and building strong regional ecosystems that shift the locus of technical support to country and regional institutions and experts.
Learn more about the board
Dr. Wangari Ng’ang’a
As a senior adviser in Kenya’s Executive Office of the President, Dr. Ng’ang’a has championed several reforms to advance universal health coverage (UHC) in Kenya, including forming two major taskforces to review the health benefits package and reposition the National Hospital Insurance Fund. Dr. Ng’ang’a also recently led a first-of-its-kind qualitative study of household perspectives in Kenya on the drivers of malnutrition within the first 1,000 days of a child’s life. Previously, she was a practicing physician and chief medical officer of the Kiria-ini Mission Hospital in Murang’a County. Dr. Ng’ang’a is based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Learn more about Dr. Ng’ang’a.
Dr. Nneka Mobisson
Dr. Mobisson is a digital health social entrepreneur whose organization, mDoc, has been on the frontlines of the COVID response in Nigeria and other African countries. As a winner of the R4D-led COVIDaction Resilient Health Systems open call in 2020, mDoc received learning support from R4D’s adaptive learning team. Previously, she served as the executive director and regional Africa lead at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), as an associate at McKinsey & Company, and as a pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Mobisson is based in Lagos, Nigeria.
Learn more about Dr. Mobisson.
Ms. Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi
Ms. Owusu-Gyamfi is a senior executive of an influential African policy institute (ACET), who has also led major global programs within INGOs. Her previous roles include serving as director of investments for the Power of Nutrition financial facility, and as director of program policy and quality at Save the Children, where she led a group of 80 technical leaders in health, education, nutrition and other related fields. She also spent well over a decade at DFID (now FCDO) focused on economic and private sector development in various roles, including in London, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and the West Africa region. Ms. Owusu-Gyamfi is based in Accra, Ghana.
Learn more about Ms. Owusu-Gyamfi.
Mr. Jay Knott
Mr. Knott has significant leadership experience running large global development organizations with similar business models to R4D. Prior to joining the Environmental Defense Fund as COO, he was executive vice president and chief business officer at Abt Associates, a policy, research, and international development firm. Before that, he spent much of his career with USAID, where he served in South America, Africa, and the Middle East. He was mission director in Mozambique and Jordan. Mr. Knott is based in Washington, D.C.
View the full list of R4D’s board members.
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About Results for Development
Results for Development (R4D) is a leading non-profit global development partner. We collaborate with change agents — government officials, civil society leaders and social innovators — supporting them as they navigate complex change processes to achieve large-scale, equitable outcomes in health, education and nutrition. We work with country leaders to diagnose challenges, co-create, innovate and implement solutions built on evidence and diverse stakeholder input, and engage in learning to adapt, iterate and improve. We also strengthen global, regional and country ecosystems to support country leaders with expertise, evidence, and innovations. R4D helps country leaders solve their immediate challenges today, while also strengthening systems and institutions to address tomorrow’s challenges. And we share what we learn so others around the world can achieve results for development too. www.R4D.org
