2022 Leadership Journey Project: How might we integrate a gender lens into human-centered design?
Bhavya Gowda is Vice President of Medicines Security Programs at Americares, where she leads initiatives to strengthen access to essential medicines for underserved communities in times of disaster and every day. In her role, she works with existing and new US and international partners, including governments, nonprofit organizations, and other actors, to ensure access aligns with both partner and patient needs. She develops and leads initiatives that strengthen and expand partner capacity, driving innovative approaches to improve sustainable access to essential medicines worldwide.
Bhavya brings nearly two decades of experience advancing health equity across the globe. Her work specifically focuses on applying market-based approaches to complex health challenges, shaping sustainable markets for health products to improve access, particularly in resource limited settings.
Prior to joining Americares, Bhavya was a Senior Director at Results for Development where she led the Market Shaping Practice, working with local change agents across Africa and Asia to shape markets for health products and systems. Earlier in her career, Bhavya spent nine years at PATH where she helped expand access to products and services across different health and product areas including sexual and reproductive health, cervical cancer, malaria, diabetes, diagnostics, and medical devices. Bhavya started her global health career with the Clinton Health Access Initiative in Ethiopia and Lesotho, supporting the respective Ministries of Health’s HIV and TB programs. She began her career in the private sector, specifically healthcare consulting at Huron Consulting Group in Chicago, Illinois.
Bhavya earned her Masters in Science of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and she holds a Bachelors in Business Administration from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.