As Last Mile Health continues our response to COVID-19, we are concluding the first year of our Within Reach Strategy for FY20-23 to support governments to build exemplar community health systems that ensure no patient is out of reach. We rely on strong leadership more than ever.
Importantly, this includes our Board of Directors, who provide strategic guidance, carry out fiduciary duties, and ensure long-term organizational health. Last Mile Health is thrilled to share the following announcements tied to our Board of Directors:
Katherine Collins concludes her tenure as Chair of the Board of Directors
Board Chair Katherine Collins crosses a bridge in Rivercess County, Liberia on her way to meet with community health workers and patients during a Board of Directors visit in February 2019.
Katherine Collins was elected Board Chair in 2016, after serving on the Board for four years including leading the Board Finance Committee. Katherine has led the organization through a tremendous period of growth while always remaining driven by our values.
Katherine led the organization’s response following the 2013 to 2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic and was instrumental in Last Mile Health’s support to the Government of Liberia to design and scale the National Community Health Assistant Program to extend the reach of primary healthcare to rural communities across the country. Today, the program has a workforce of nearly 4,000 community and frontline health workers and has significantly increased access to community-based primary healthcare—conducting over 3.5 million home visits since the launch of the program. She was a key partner in the creation of the Community Health Academy in 2017, and oversaw the development of the FY20-23 strategic plan, Within Reach, expanding the organization’s work globally. “I’m impressed by the organization’s growth, and not growth for growth’s sake, but growth in the true fulfillment of our mission. The scope of capability that’s now reflected in the team, the direct impact of our work, and the ripples out into the world—both in terms of people and well-being—is amazing,” said Katherine.
Last Mile Health is deeply grateful for Katherine’s service and leadership, which truly embodies our value of going as far as it takes for our patients. In her time on the Board, Katherine has joined Last Mile Health at program sites in Liberia on multiple occasions to be with patients, communities, and health workers. “Great leaders help those around them become better at what they do. Great humans help those around them become the best of who they could be. Katherine truly is a great leader and a great human. She has not only articulated our values of love, justice, service, and proximity—she has shown us how to live them. We are grateful for her service,” says Last Mile Health CEO Dr. Raj Panjabi. “Last Mile Health is stronger and more soulful because of Katherine. She’s made us feel loved, led, and challenged,” adds Last Mile Health COO and President Lisha McCormick.
“One of the biggest lessons that I’m taking from my time at Last Mile Health is the value of having a really clear North Star,” Katherine explains. “Our mission—why are we here, what are we trying to do—has been a guiding light that allows us to navigate through tumultuous times. And this pairs with our twin roots of love and justice, where we come back to focus whenever we’re at a difficult decision point. I think of these two elements together, the star that is pulling us forward and the roots that are keeping us grounded. Together, they are so powerful.”
Katherine will remain a member of the Board of Directors until the end of her term in June of 2021. She is the first head of sustainable investing at Putnam Investments, where she leads the firm’s investment research, strategy implementation, and thought leadership on environmental, social, and governance issues. Previously, Katherine was Founder and CEO of Honeybee Capital, an investment research firm focused on sustainable and impact investing.
Brad Mak elected as Chair of the Board of Directors
Brad Mak will replace Katherine Collins as the new Chair of Last Mile Health’s Board of Directors, effective August 2020. Brad joined the Last Mile Health Board of Directors in February of 2014, and has played an instrumental role in the organization’s growth as the Chair of the Board’s finance committee. Brad serves as the Technology Sector Team Leader and Equity Analyst at MFS Investment Management in Boston, where he invests in public technology and business services companies. Brad has deep volunteer experience, including with the Full Circle Fund in San Francisco, The World Bank in Bangladesh and Doctors Without Borders in Costa Rica and Peru, and was a founding board member and chair of the finance committee of the DREAM Charter School in East Harlem. Brad earned a Master in Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts in Human Biology from Brown University, where he co-founded the Providence, RI chapter of Health Leads.
“I am delighted that Brad will be leading our Board forward,” said outgoing Board Chair, Katherine Collins. “He consistently shows a terrific combination of equanimity, caring, and an ability to ask incisive questions and make keen observations. Brad comes to this role in a whole-hearted and whole-brained way, and that is exactly what we want in our Board leadership.”
Dr. Moses Massaquoi re-elected to the Board of Directors
Dr. Moses B. F. Massaquoi, Country Director for Clinton Health Access Initiative in Liberia, was re-elected to the Board of Directors, which he has served on since 2013—initially on Last Mile Health’s local Board of Directors in Liberia. He has over 25 years of public health and clinical experience as a recognized expert in nursing, medicine, surgery, public health, infectious disease, humanitarian services, disaster preparedness, and epidemics in conflicts and vulnerable settings, with experience in many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with international organizations. He is well published in international scientific and medical journals, has presented at several international health conferences, serves as a peer reviewer, and sits on numerous international health-related boards. Moses earned his Bachelor of Science and Medical Degree from the University of Liberia and his Master of Public Health from the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Belgium.
Dr. Tim Evans joins the Board of Directors
Dr. Tim Evans, the newest member of the Board of Directors, serves as the inaugural Director and Associate Dean of the School of Population and Global Health in the Faculty of Medicine and secretariat of the Government of Canada’s COVID-19 Immunity Task Force leadership group. Previously, Tim served as the Senior Director of the Health, Nutrition and Population Global Practice at the World Bank Group, where he worked closely with Last Mile Health’s team on the West Africa Ebola epidemic and efforts to strengthen frontline and community health workforces. Originally trained in internal medicine at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, Tim has been at the forefront of advancing global health equity and strengthening health systems delivery for more than 20 years, and has served as the Dean of the James P. Grant School of Public Health at BRAC University in Dhaka, Bangladesh, the Assistant Director General at the World Health Organization, and Director of the Health Equity Theme at the Rockefeller Foundation. He has been a co-founder of many partnerships, including Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Global Health Workforce Alliance. Tim received his Medical Degree from McMaster University in Canada and was a Research and Internal Medicine Resident at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Agricultural Economics from University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.
To learn more about Last Mile Health’s Board of Directors, visit https://lastmilehealth.org/about-us/our-leadership/.
