Irene Koek is an experienced executive and passionate champion for global health, with a career dedicated to advancing global health and global health equity. Ms. Koek was the Head of Global Health at Save the Children/U.S. from July 2020 through February 2025. She joined Save the Children in late July 2020 after more than 30 years with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). At Save the Children, Ms. Koek led teams and programs focused on addressing the leading threats to the health and survival of children, adolescents, and their families. Ms. Koek began her career in family planning/reproductive health and subsequently served in a number of leadership positions at USAID including as the Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator and acting Assistant Administrator for Global Health. She led the development of USAID’s infectious disease strategy in the late 1990s and helped start up the President’s Malaria Initiative and USAID’s tuberculosis and neglected tropical diseases programs and later served as USAID’s Global Health Security Agenda lead. From 2010-2014 she was the Director of the Health Office in USAID/Indonesia and also served as Health Attaché for the US Embassy and as PEPFAR Coordinator for Indonesia. Ms. Koek has worked extensively with partners, including serving as the Chair of the Stop TB Partnership Coordinating Board from 2005-2009, representing USAID on the Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance for several years, and serving as Chair of the Board for the CORE Group from September 2023-March 2025.
