Emily Bancroft is a global leader in systems change, dedicated to transforming health care delivery. She sets the vision for how VillageReach works with governments to solve health care delivery challenges to ensure quality primary health care for the most under-reached.
Emily has been instrumental in VillageReach’s growth since 2010, first serving as Director of the organization’s Health Systems Group before she became Vice President in 2015, and President in 2017. In these previous roles, Emily led the integration of VillageReach’s work into global strategies and policies to ensure that new vaccines and essential medicines reach those at the last mile and helped to develop and launch some of VillageReach’s high impact digital health initiatives. In her time at VillageReach, the organization has expanded its reach and collaborations to impact health systems serving more than 70M people.
With a staff of 200 situated in eight countries across Africa and in the U.S., she leads a high-performance leadership team focused on the development, scale, and replication of high-impact primary health care delivery initiatives. Emily is a contributor to Forbes Nonprofit Council, writing on issues of equity, collaboration, and leadership in the nonprofit sector. She is also a Clinical Instructor at the University of Washington School of Public Health, a faculty member of Connected Women Leaders, and a 2022 UBS Global Visionary.
Prior to joining VillageReach, Emily worked globally with governments and partners to strengthen health workforce capacity, improve global health financing, and develop evidence-based advocacy campaigns to ensure access to quality health care in Africa. She also led national philanthropic initiatives on behalf of telecommunications and technology companies aimed at accelerating the impact and reach of nonprofits through technology. Emily holds an MPH from the University of Washington’s School of Public Health and a BA from Princeton University.
