Our Board

Kate is the founder of The Access Challenge, which works in partnership with African Heads of State, the African Union, the Africa CDC, the World Health Organization, and global bilateral and multilateral donors in order to promote Universal Health Access.  Her work focused on catalyzing Head of State commitments. The Access Challenge works with national leaders to catalyze national movements against preventable disease. These movements ignite household-level behavior change while holding national leaders to account for funding and operational progress on health.  

Prior to The Access Challenge, Kate led Speak Up Africa, Inc. for six years. In that role, she created some of the continent’s most notable mass media campaigns, including Every Breath Counts, focused on the global fight against pneumonia and Africa United, which featured football stars in a campaign meant to build public trust in health workers to fight ebola.

Kate was the first senior staff member at Malaria No More. She played a key role in designing and establishing Malaria No More as a strategic player in global public health advocacy through through establishing MNM’s strategic institutional direction, its Washington DC based Policy Center and cultivating major donor relationships, including with Goldman Sachs, Soros Economic Development Fund, Munich Re, Exxon Mobil, MTN, Novartis, Alere, Sumitomo Chemical and Vestergaard Franzen. In her time at Malaria No More, she led the strategic development and execution of a $15 million dollar portfolio in capacity building, innovative finance and strategic communications. Kate worked as an attorney at the international law firm, Shearman & Sterling before beginning her career in public health.

Ambassador Mavura is an experienced Civil Servant with hands-on experience in government, diplomacy, public policy and communication. He previously served as the Private Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Personal Assistant to the President (Speechwriter) and a career Foreign Service Officer. He currently holds the position of the Tanzanian Ambassador to South Korea.

He has previously served as the Private Secretary to the Former President H.E. Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, where he assisted him in his various capacities as African Union High Representative on Libya, Global Ambassador for Immunization (GAVI), Commissioner of the Education Commission on Financing for Global Education Opportunity, Member of the UN High Level Group on Scale Up Nutrition (SUN), Member of the UN High Level Group on Every Women Every Child (EWEC), Member of the World Malaria Council and Chancellor of the University of Dar es Salaam. Togolani is a Member of the Africa Advisory Board of the Save the Children UK and Alumni of the UK FCO Future Leadership Program.

Ambassador Mavura holds Post Graduate Diploma in Management of Foreign Service from Mozambique-Tanzania Centre for Foreign Relations and Bachelor Degree in Political Science and Public Administration.

A native of Tanzania, Asad Lilani has had years of experience working in global health policy advocacy. During his time at The Access Challenge, Asad has successfully advanced Universal Health Coverage at the African Union and UN level, together with leading The Access Challenge’s COVID-19 response that reached over 75 million people across Africa through its One by One vaccination campaigns in partnership with The Africa CDC. In his previous role as the Director of Political Strategy, Asad has led health campaigns across seven countries in various areas such as Universal Health Coverage, COVID-19, polio, cholera, HIV, and pandemic preparedness.    

While completing a Master's in Business and Human Development in Global Emerging Markets at New York University, he worked as research assistant at NYU Africa House & Development Research Institute. There, Asad worked directly with the Former President of Tanzania, H.E Jakaya M. Kikwete doing high-level research and had the rare opportunity to be a ghost-writer for his upcoming book: The Journey of My Life: From Barefoot Schoolboy to President, which is based on the Former President’s 40+ years of leadership experience and active public service.

Prior to NYU, Asad graduated from Drexel University in Philadelphia with a Bachelor’s in Business and Engineering, and has worked at multinational corporations such as Sunoco Inc, Exelon-Peco, and TE Connectivity in business development and corporate strategy.

These broad experiences have provided Asad with an expertise in emerging markets, business strategy, sustainable investing, high-level presidential research, presidential book writing, government affairs, diplomacy and policy planning.

To Asad, “Access means hope. Hope for a better future, for all people, everywhere.  Access to healthcare, education, and adequate living standards, is essential for the development of any nation.” 

Dr. Benjamin Djoudalbaye, MD, MSc. MPH, Pg. Dipl. infectious diseases is Head of Policy, Health Diplomacy and Communication at Africa CDC. Prior to joining Africa CDC, he was a Senior Health Officer for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria and other Infectious Diseases at the African Union Commission for more than eight years. Before then he worked for the International SOS, Ministry of Health of the Republic of Chad and SOLTHIS. He has strong professional experience in strategic planning, administration, management and evaluation of policies, infectious diseases and public health programmes and projects, capacity building, and operational research in Africa. He also has a good knowledge of coordination mechanisms including multidisciplinary and multisectoral teams, partnerships development, negotiation skills, advocacy and resource mobilization, multilateral and bilateral cooperation, public and private sector, and civil society. 

Dr. Djoudalbaye holds a Doctor of Medicine degree, a master’s degree in population studies and public health and specialized training certificates in infectious diseases and epidemiology and biostatistics from the University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, and HIV/AIDS and sexual reproduction health from the University Denis Diderot Paris 7.

Gerhard is a biopharma executive and strategic leader with broad commercial expertise in asset / business development, launches and access and has been in industry for over 23 years. He is currently the Senior Vice President and Head of Commercial and Business Development of Tourmaline Bio. Previously, Hagn served as the the Head of Inflammation, Liver & Portfolio, Vice President, Global Commercial Product Strategy at Gilead Sciences, standing up an Inflammation business unit, leading the Liver franchise and establishing new competencies and functions for Established Products and launch excellence in oncology & virology. Prior to Gilead, Gerhard had been with Pfizer for 20 years in numerous commercial and value & access leadership roles.

During a Pfizer Global Health Fellowship assignment in Blantyre, Malawi, Gerhard had the opportunity to serve as a consultant for Population Services International during which he developed a high interest in the healthcare challenges of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa. Armed with this hands-on experience and due to his newly developed passion, Gerhard was subsequently assigned as Global Lead for Pfizer’s malaria portfolio and initiated a pivotal Phase 3 trial to prevent malaria in Sub-Saharan African pregnant women and prepared the launch of a new anti-malarial treatment in partnership with Medicines for Malaria Venture and sigma-tau.

Outside of work, Gerhard has been actively engaged in numerous outreach programs through his church, United Methodist Christ Church where he also serves on the Staff-Parish-Committee, including a micro-financing project in Cartagena, Colombia, and a program for families with children 0-3 years old in Washington Heights, NYC. In 2007, Gerhard was awarded the Largest Private Contributor by WaterAid.

Gerhard holds a degree of ‘Apotheker’ from the pharmacy school of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, Germany. He enjoys exposing his family to travel and adventure through snowboarding, surfing, swimming, hiking and traveling in various parts of the world. Gerhard resides with his wife, Susana, and his two children, Luna and Maximilian, in Manhattan, New York.

David Evangelista is President & Managing Director of Special Olympics Europe Eurasia, responsible for the growth and development of the Special Olympics movement throughout 58 nations across Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. David has extensive global experience in the areas of government relations, policy development, global and inclusive development programming in support of marginalized populations. David has served as a guest speaker for the United Nations, the European Union, national governments, and a number of civil society organizations on issues related to inclusive development, disability, and global affairs.

David has a Bachelor’s degree (B.A.) degree in International Relations from American University’s School of International Service in Washington, DC and a Masters degree in International Business from IESIDE in Vigo, Spain. David is a former member of the High Level Group on Sport Diplomacy of the European Commission, a founding member of the Sports Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA), a member of the Advisory Board of Access Challenge, and a current member of the Center for Sport and Human Rights. He is also a long-standing member of Lions Clubs International and a Lions Clubs International Progressive Melvin Jones Fellow.

Kristin Giantris is the Vice President for the Northeast Region of the Nonprofit Finance Fund. She is responsible for managing and overseeing delivery of NFF's services and all marketing and fundraising in metropolitan New York and New England. Ms. Giantris' professional experience combines over 15 years of economic development and debt financing in both the nonprofit and for profit sectors. Most recently, Ms. Giantris was a Vice President at Citigroup Global Markets Inc., where she managed cross-border, US- dollar debt issuance for various financial, corporate and governmental clients.

Prior to her time at Citigroup, Ms. Giantris served as a multi-country Program Officer in Washington, DC and as a Country Director in Albania for the nonprofit firm ACDI/VOCA, managing agribusiness technical assistance and small business development programs. Ms. Giantris earned a Masters Degree in Public Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and a BA in Political Science from Kenyon College.

Megan Young Wiese has spent the last twenty years on not-for-profit boards, primarily in the areas of education, the environment, human rights, and the arts. A former public school teacher, Megan has served on the boards of The Partnership for Children’s Rights, Reading Reform Foundation, The Stephen Gaynor School, and The Writing Revolution.

After teaching English in China around the time of the Tiananmen Square protests, she became active with Human Rights in China, organizing with leaders of the dissident movement and ultimately serving on the U.S.-based organization's board for 18 years. Similarly, a year of travels throughout Latin America in 1995 led her to chair the Advisory Board at Amazon Watch, working on behalf of indigenous peoples to protect the region’s rainforests. Megan’s travels also prompted her involvement in African environmental and humanitarian initiatives, including fundraising for Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai's Green Belt Movement and for Speak Up Africa. Additionally, Megan prioritizes support for incubating projects and was involved in the founding of Target Margin Theater and The Essex Farm Institute, on whose boards she has served, and the oceans conservation initiative Sea Legacy.   

Megan holds a B.A. from Duke University and is based in New York City with her husband Russell and three teen-aged children.

Timothy "Scott" Case is a technologist, entrepreneur, inventor and co-founder of priceline.com, the "Name Your Own Price" Internet service. It is one of only a handful of startups in US history to reach a billion dollars in annual sales in less than 24 months. As Chief Technology Officer, he was responsible for building the technology that enabled priceline.com's hyper-growth.

Moving beyond technology he successfully launched several priceline.com businesses. These included Priceline for Gasoline, by far the firm's fastest growing business. In 2006, Scott joined the Malaria No More organization as CEO to inspire individuals and institutions in the private sector to end deaths caused by malaria. In January 2011, Case was named CEO of the Startup America Partnership where he and his team supported a national network of vibrant startup communities. Scott presently serves on the  Board of Network for Good (www.NetworkForGood.org), a national nonprofit that has distributed more than $100 million to 20,000 nonprofits.

Scott was named a University of Connecticut “40 under 40” outstanding Alumni in 2008. He is also an inductee into the University of Connecticut Academy of Distinguished Engineers, and currently serves as a Wall Street Journal Startup of the Year Mentor. In 2012, he was Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipient at Georgetown University. In 2022, he founded Zettawatts, a company that creates a market for companies with net zero goals to subsidize new clean energy projects to decarbonize the grid.