WomenLift Health is about action
Action taken by women, men, organizations and societal leaders that, together, adds-up to transformative change.
Amie Batson
President
Akhona Tshangela
Southern Africa Director
Ayesha Chaudhary
India Director
Ling Liang
Operations Director
Lizz Ntonjira
Communications and Engagement Director
Norah Obudho
East Africa Director
Shereen Bhan
Leadership Development & North America Director
Edith Cadena
Operations Coordinator, Cross Regional
Sanaya Chandar
Senior Coordinator, Strategic Communications, India
Rupinder Chawla
Operations Coordinator, Cross Regional
Rupinder is an experienced administrative professional with over two decades of Operations experience, including organising and coordinating corporate events. Rupinder has had an impressive career working with several Fortune 500 companies and International Organizations, where she not only provided operational support but also executed several end-to-end corporate events ranging from large scale international exhibitions to coordinating high-level visits to India by board members and dignitaries.
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Rupinder is a voracious learner who is constantly striving to improve her abilities in a variety of areas. She enjoys contributing to people’s well-being by inspiring and motivating them and spreading positive energy. She enjoys travelling, listening to music, and reading books.
Sanaya is a strategic communications professional, specialising in content creation, editorial planning, and social media. She has over four years of experience working in public relations, journalism, and development communications.
Prior to joining WomenLift Health, Sanaya worked as a Senior Communications Associate at J-PAL South Asia, where she helped formulate and execute the organisation’s communications strategy. Sanaya has worked as a reporter at Quartz India, covering the intersection of renewable energy and mobility in India as well as popular technology and new media trends in the region. She has also worked with Antenna Group in New York City, a public relations firm specialising in communications for cleantech, advanced mobility, and other smart technology startups in North America.Sanaya holds a double Master’s in Global Media and Communications from the London School of Economics and Political Science and the University of Southern California. She also holds a BSc in Economics from the Symbiosis School of Economics.
Edith Cadena is a spanish-bilingual professional with a strong background in community outreach, program coordination, and collaborative work. With over ten years of experience in the non-profit sector, Edith consistently demonstrates dedication to promoting inclusivity, equity, and sustainability in all aspects of her work
Prior to joining WomenLift Health, Edith made significant contributions at the San Francisco Marin Food Bank. She successfully developed and launched pivotal interventions, expanding food access points through strategic partnerships with public schools, community clinics, and the establishment of the first rural Mobile Pantry program.
She holds a BA in Feminist Studies, with a concentration in Science, Technology, and Medicine from the University of California Santa Cruz.Â
Neha Dass
Facilitator, India
Morgan Denno
Program Coordinator, North America
Avantika Dhingra
Program Lead, India
Zandile Dunge
Finance Administrator, Cross Regional
Niamh Fitzgerald
Development Officer
Neha is an experienced professional with over 18 years of experience in Leadership Development, Learning and Development and Talent Management.
She has worked with reputed IT MNCs, Media Houses and the Healthcare sector, leveraging end to end initiatives to strengthen the leadership pipeline, developing high potentials and other talent pools.
 An MBA specializing in Human Resources and Organization Behaviour, Neha is also a Psychometric Practioner, an Image Consultant and a Storyteller.
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As the Program Coordinator, North America, Morgan supports the WomenLift Health North America Director and Program Lead to design, build, and implement the systems and processes to efficiently track and support the signature training program, The Leadership Journey. Morgan is incredibly passionate about inclusivity and derives meaning from her role, empowering incredible mid-career women leaders in global health in the U.S. and Canada. She enjoys creating a positive culture of kindness, is always on the hunt for process improvements, and strives to free up her team to focus on the work that they love most. Â
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Prior to joining WomenLift Health, Morgan worked in Coordinator roles and Assistant roles within diverse industries, including health, architecture, and engineering. She studied Journalism at San Diego State University and currently resides in Portland, Oregon.Â
Avantika has over 14 years of experience, most of which has been focused on human capital development.
Before joining WomenLift Health, Avantika was a Senior Manager at J-PAL where she worked on a national programme to build capacity and support career journeys of public officials using a competency-driven approach. Prior to that, she led the classroom instruction & practice team at Central Square Foundation, where she worked with private foundations, nonprofits and government institutions, to improve foundational literacy and numeracy outcomes for students.
Avantika holds a MA in Public Policy from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, NUS.
Niamh has over a decade of experience working in global health partnerships, advocacy, and communications. Most recently, she served as Director for Global Health Strategies (GHS) in Nairobi, Kenya, where she oversaw the expansion of GHS’s East Africa Office and led programs on immunization, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and universal health coverage. She also worked for GHS in New York, USA, and New Delhi, India, where she supported government partners and policymakers to introduce new vaccines and build capacity for vaccine decision-making. Prior to her time at GHS, Niamh worked with Africa Impact Group, a non-profit research and advisory firm specializing in impact investing in sub-Saharan Africa. She has also worked with the Clinton Global Initiative and as a research assistant at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Toronto with a BA in Political Science. Niamh is passionate about gender equity and creating a space for women leaders to grow, thrive, and drive meaningful change.
Zandile Dunge, widely known as Zandi, joins the Operations team as a Finance Administrator, based out of Pretoria, South Africa. Zandi is a seasoned Finance, Administration, and Grants Officer with over 20 years of accounting and finance expertise within the NGO sector, with a strong focus in Public Health. Zandi excels in identifying operational deficiencies and opportunities to improve processes. Prior to joining WomenLift Health, Zandi worked with several NGOs, including the Olive Leaf Foundation, PACT SA, John Snow Incorporated, Futures Group, and the Institute of Health Programs & Systems. Her responsibilities have ranged from providing crucial accounting, administration, and program support to implementing project accounting systems aimed at bolstering financial controls.
Zandi holds a National Diploma in Cost & Management Accounting, specializing in Financial and Management Accounting, from the Durban University of Technology, South Africa, and a Diploma in Project Management. Beyond her professional achievements, Zandi enjoys spending time with loved ones, exploring her culinary talents, and getting lost in a good book.
Stephany Fong
Communications Manager, North America
Irene Gitonga
Senior Program Coordinator, East Africa
Sandhya Gupta
Alumnae Lead – Cross Regional
Wangari Karugu
HR Manager, Cross Regional
Angel Katusya
Media Relations Manager, Cross Regional
Stephany Fong is a health communications professional with over 10 years of experience in strategic communications, philanthropy, and public health. Â Â
Prior to joining WomenLift Health, she served as Communications Officer at the New York Health Foundation, where she managed internal and external communications strategies to raise the visibility of the Foundation and its impact on public health in New York State. Previously, Stephany served as Health Promotion Assistant at Columbia Health, where she developed and implemented health initiatives to improve physical activity, nutrition, and healthy relationships among students.
Stephany holds a Master of Public Health degree from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego.
Irene brings in nine years of program coordination experience; working with clients in the public, private and development sector. Prior to joining Womenlift Health, she was an associate program coordinator for a HR consultancy firm which specializes in organizational development capacity building. Irene was key in handling all logistic operations for participants from across Africa, UK, US and Indonesia.Â
Irene’s early career was as a program officer where she grew her passion in coordinating programs, developing leadership materials for teenage girls and organize leadership workshops for youth in low incomes areas.Â
In her spare time, she is engaged in different initiatives geared towards bringing awareness andÂ
advocating for children with special needs. She believes that changing society’s mindset towards this group will encourage others to treat them with dignity and respect and see them as equal to the task in contributing to the societyIrene holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Management with a minor in Psychology. She is also a certified life coach and PAGS practitioner (a special needs assessment tool)Â
Irene believes in creating spaces for women where they can nurture their skills and meet with other like-minded women who are occupying spaces of key decision making like boards where they can make the change they want to see with boldness.Â
Sandhya joins WomenLift Health after 15 years of managing programs for international non-profits. She has a human rights, social justice, and education background and is a skilled facilitator of intercultural dialogue. Sandhya manages the cross-regional alumnae program at WomenLift Health, where she leads on the design and implementation of the alumnae strategy.Â
Prior to WomenLift Health, Sandhya spent a decade with the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change where she managed government partnerships while based out of New Delhi, India. As Senior Education Advisor for Asia, she oversaw several projects focused on mainstreaming dialogue skills into national government curricula. She trained the Ministries of Education of Pakistan, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malyasia and the Philippines on the prevention of violent extremism through education and managed a network of several hundred schools across South Asia engaged in dialogue training.Â
Other previous roles include Program Officer for South Asia at America Jewish World Service, where Sandhya managed a portfolio of human rights and social justice grants. Her grant making experience spans a variety of fields including sexual and reproductive health and rights, natural resource rights and gender justice.Â
Sandhya graduated from Middlebury College with a B.A. in history and holds an M.A.L.D. in International Conflict Resolution and Negotiation from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. She currently lives in Northern Virginia where she enjoys the beautiful hiking and walking trails of the region.
Wangari is a seasoned HR Leader with a wealth of experience spanning over 12 years, dedicated to providing strategic HR expertise. Her professional journey has been marked by a strong passion for enhancing the employee experience and architecting robust systems and processes.
Prior to joining WomenLift Health, Wangari served as the Head of Talent & Human Capital at GrowthAfrica Foundation, where she played a pivotal role in talent development and acquisition strategies. She also contributed significantly as a Regional HR Business Partner at Turner & Townsend, driving HR excellence across multiple locations. Her earlier experience as a Senior HR Lead at Dalberg Advisors allowed her to hone her skills in HR leadership and management.
She has a BA in Counselling Psychology from the University of Nairobi, complemented by HR certifications from CHRM and HRCi. Wangari is an active global HR member of SHRM. Wangari is an avid reader and a lover of crime thriller TV shows.
Angel is a globally exposed Communications Specialist and Brand Storyteller with a focus on crafting and implementing cutting-edge corporate and development communications strategies, public relations plans, and digital communication strategies. She has provided leadership and strategic guidance at local, multi-country, and global levels for both corporate entities and development organizations.
With over 14 years of experience, Angel  possesses an in-depth understanding of the media industry. She has led media campaigns that transcend international boundaries and have effectively positioned brands on the global stage through precise media placement. Throughout her career, she has expanded her skill set beyond communication to include advocacy, project management and partnership management
Most recently, Angel served as the Communications Lead at White Ribbon Alliance Kenya, a women-led movement advocating for women’s health rights and gender equality. Prior to this role, she worked as a Senior Public Relations Account Manager at Ogilvy and Mather, following a successful seven-year career as a news and features journalist with Kenya Television Network (KTN) and Royal Media Services Citizen TV.
In her current role as a Media Relations Manager, Angel brings a wealth of expertise to designing and executing strategic media engagements and campaigns that will thrust her organization into the global spotlight.
Currently, she is pursuing an MBA in Media Leadership at the University of Cumbria and holds a BA in Media and Journalism Studies from the University of Nairobi.She is an Alumni of Moth and a member of the Public Relations Society of Kenya.
Angel is passionate about gender equality, women empowerment, and mentorship. She is deeply driven by a fervent commitment to making a meaningful difference in the world through her work. Impact is the guiding principle that fuels her professional journey. Whether advocating for women’s health rights and gender equality or crafting strategic communications that bring about positive change, she firmly believes that every effort should leave a lasting imprint on society. She is dedicated to harnessing the power of communication to drive transformative change.
Terry Kigundu
Lead Facilitator, East Africa
Liberty Kituu
Communications Manager, East Africa
Annette Kote
Events Manager- Cross Regional.
Alistair Lindawson
Program Lead, North America
Johnasies McGraw
Operations Lead, Cross Regional
Terry Kigundu oversees the instructional design cycle from training needs assessment, design, contextualization, implementation of WomenLift’s Leadership Journey and other leadership modules for mid-career women in Health in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.  She is an enthusiastic professional with over 15 years’ experience in coordinating development programs in both local and international liaisons in Kenya and Africa at large. She is a versatile trainer, with broad-based experience putting together needs based training packages, particularly targeting women in Africa. Terry is passionate about women leadership and decision making, mentorship and coaching and  women economic empowerment, all aimed at advancing Gender Equality.
Terry was formerly the Course Leader at the Africa Centre for transformative and Inclusive Leadership (ACTIL), an establishment between UN Women East and Southern Africa Region and Kenyatta University, Nairobi- Kenya. During her time at ACTIL she also led the design and implementation of Transformational Leadership journey for over 3,500 women and youth in over 60% of the countries in Africa in both Anglophone and Francophone.
Terry holds a Bachelor of Arts in Development Studies, Masters in Project Planning and Management, ongoing PhD in Gender and Development Studies. She is also a Certified Facilitator and Executive Coach.
Liberty is a multifaceted Communications Specialist with experience in the design and implementation of communications strategies, as well as the strategic use of multimedia channels such as print, radio, television, and digital to help organizations achieve strategic goals.
He has over ten years of experience in diverse industries, including mainstream media, civil society movements, local governments and international development institutions working in East Africa for the emancipation of girls and women’s rights organisations (WROs).
Prior to joining WomenLift Health, he worked as the communications lead at The Mawazo Institute, a women-led African organization based in Nairobi, Kenya, with a presence in the United States supporting early-career women researchers as they work to find solutions to local and global development challenges, and as a communications officer and strategist at the Community Advocacy and Awareness (CRAWN) Trust, a change catalyst that provides African women and girls with the tools, voice and platforms through which they can effect change. He has a BA in development communications, ongoing MA in diplomacy, development and international security.
Annette possesses extensive expertise spanning more than 9 years in Communications, Project Management, and Operations Management.
Annette’s enthusiasm lies in the realm of overseeing projects and organizing events. She has amassed a wealth of proficiency in handling intricate projects concurrently fostering productive communication among internal and external teams and stakeholders. She takes pride in her adeptness at devising plans, coordinating efforts, and collaborating harmoniously with multifunctional groups to realize project objectives.
Prior to joining WomenLift Health, Annette worked as a Communications Associate, Internal Engagement and Coordination at Amref Health Africa. In this role, she took charge of mapping out, coordinating, and executing events and conferences, all while effectively supervising projects, formulating and executing strategies, and ensuring the streamlined management of operations.
Annette holds a Master’s degree in Project Planning and Management from The University of Nairobi, alongside a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and Public Relations from Moi University.
Alistair brings ten years of experience working in global and public health. Most recently, she served as the Associate Director for Research Programs at the Stanford Center for Population Health Sciences (PHS) where she curated, managed, and evaluated PHS’ portfolio of sponsored research. Prior to her time at PHS, Alistair served as a Senior Program Manager at the UCSF Malaria Elimination Initiative (MEI) where she oversaw MEI’s engagement strategy with the Elimination 8 (E8) Regional Initiative, an eight-country initiative used for joint planning and accountability towards malaria elimination across southern Africa. Prior to joining UCSF, Alistair served as a Program Assistant for the U.S. Agency for International Development President’s Malaria Initiative (USAID/PMI) where she provided headquarter support to the PMI Uganda country team. Alistair holds an MA in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University in Washington, DC and a BA in International Studies from the University of California, San Diego.
Johnasies brings over a decade of experience working with a number of community-driven organizations where he has held a variety of support roles.  Most recently he worked as Operations and Contracts Manager at MPact, Global Action for Gay Men’s Health and Rights (formerly the Global Forum on MSM & HIV), an advocacy organization based in Oakland, California that brought funding, policy, and research support to regional and in-country LGBT-led organizations across 62 countries. Prior to this role, he worked as an Operations Manager at Lotus Bloom Child and Family Center which provided child and family programs throughout Oakland, such as multicultural playgroups and nutrition workshops for families with children ages 0-5 .Â
Johnasies also spent the early part of his career working with commercial district revitalization programs and administering an AmeriCorps program that provided support to local community development corporations and other community-serving organizations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
Johnasies has a B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Urban Studies and continues to maintain his interests in community development and global issues.
Gythan Munga
Webmaster, Cross Regional
Audrey Muttimos
Operations Coordinator, Cross Regional
Lopamudra Ray Saraswati
MEL Lead
Prachi Sharma
Senior Program Manager, India
Taylor Scult
Senior Program Manager, Cross-regional
Audrey is a veteran administrative professional with a decade-plus experience in executive office management and coordination. She is a natural organizer, an efficient and reliable team player who thrives on team success, has boundless energy, and has a relentless drive for continuous learning and development.
Audrey has led an impressive career working in the hospitality and FMCG industries. She was a finalist for the 2022 Office Management Awards – International Office Manager of the Year category, held by the UK-based Office Management Group. She is also a recipient of the 2020 ‘Be The Ultimate Assistant’ (BTUA) workshop scholarship in Paris, France, and a finalist in the 2019 East Africa PA Awards. While serving as the Executive Secretary at Radisson Blu Hotel, Upperhill Nairobi, Audrey played a role in championing a favorable environment for working mothers in the hotel.
Audrey holds a BSc degree in International Business Administration from the United States International University in Nairobi, where she was also the School of Business Representative for the class of 2004. She enjoys building bonds with family and friends, outdoor activities, and culinary tourism in her free time.
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Lopamudra Ray Saraswati is a trained Demographer and Statistician with over 15 years of professional experience working in the development sector, including public health, gender, migration, and climate change. Within public health, she has conducted research on neglected tropical diseases, HIV, cancer, child health, and nutrition. She has designed, implemented, and disseminated several projects involving monitoring-learning-evaluation, operations research, randomized controlled trial, large-scale surveys, and formative studies. She has been published in several peer-reviewed journals and has authored book chapters.
Most recently, she was Senior Manager – Health with RTI International in their India office. Prior to RTI, she was with Population Council as Program Officer. Before that, she worked with various academic and research institutes. A native of India, she also has experience working with international colleagues from Bangladesh, Germany, Kenya, Nepal, and the United States.
Lopamudra is a science graduate from University of Calcutta with Honors in Mathematics, and a Masters in Statistics and Computer Applications from T.M. Bhagalpur University. She completed her MPhil from International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, and PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. During her academic career, she has conducted extensive research on migration and poverty. Her interest areas include health systems strengthening, gender equity, cost-effectiveness analysis of developmental interventions, gender transformative evaluation, and scientific writing. She is committed to meaningfully contribute to the WomenLift Health’s strategic objective of promoting women’s leadership for enhancing health outcomes globally.
Prachi comes with eight years of experience in program management, knowledge management, and advocacy. Her expertise range across several thematic areas including sexual reproductive health and rights, maternal and child health, violence against women and education across India and Africa. Prior to joining WomenLift Health, Prachi worked with Piramal Foundation on the Aspirational Districts Programme and The Tribal Health Collaborative where she extensively engaged with NITI Aayog, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the Government of India and various leading development partners. A proud feminist, Prachi was recognised as a young gender leader by the Swedish Institute in 2019.
She holds a master’s degree in Women Centred Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and has also been a GRO GEST Scholar at the University of Iceland. Always on the lookout for crime thrillers, she is an avid consumer of cinema.Â
Taylor is passionate about the implementation of equitable, sustainable, community-driven policy and programming at the intersection of health, environmental, and social justice. Spanning the private and public sectors, she has experience in program management, strategic planning, public speaking/facilitation, curriculum development, communications, and continuous process improvement.
Prior to working at WomenLift Health, Taylor served as the Program Manager for the “Women in Leadership and Learning (WILL)” program at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; worked as a Human Capital Consultant at Deloitte Consulting LLP in the Government and Public Services (GPS) sector; and served as a Teacher’s Assistant at Harvard Extension School for the course “Transforming the Built Environment for Sustainability and Resilience in Communities.”
Taylor received her BA in International Studies from Kenyon College and will be pursuing her Masters of Public Health (MPH) from Brown University.
Rachel Knopf Shey
Instructional Design Lead, Cross Regional
Cassie Stoodt
Executive Assistant
NtombiZandile (Zed) Xaba
Facilitator, Southern Africa
Whitney Wanderi
Social Media Manager, Cross Regional
As the Executive Assistant, Cassie provides administrative and operational support to the WomenLift Health President and contributes to the organization’s ambitious strategy and work program. Cassie is passionate about WomenLift Health’s mission of expanding the power and influence of women in global health and achieving gender equality in leadership.Â
Cassie has a BS in Education from Western Michigan University and brings over 15 years of experience across a variety of industries, including education, finance, philanthropy, and health. She likes a good challenge and is always looking for ways to improve efficiency and productivity. She enjoys contributing to a positive culture and being part of a dynamic team working together toward a common goal.
Cassie has a passion for health and fitness and enjoys lifting weights, running, boxing, HIIT, and going for walks with her family and two dogs.
Ms NtombiZandile (Zed) Xaba is an independent consultant, and a highly experienced Trainer and Facilitator with over 35 years training and facilitation experience. Zed is also a Conflict Coach and Mediator. She consults to national and multi-national business organizations, as well as to government and the non-government sectors.
Zed designs and facilitates Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) learning journeys in organizations, as well as trains trainers in the facilitation of DEI. She is passionate about race and gender issues and has designed and facilitated Women’s Leadership programmes at universities in South Africa, as well as for women leaders it the public sector.
Zed has facilitated conflict transformation sessions with many teams that are experiencing conflict. She also conducts individual conflict coaching and mediation between individuals.
As a black woman who grew up in South Africa under apartheid, Zed is passionate about reconciliation, and has been involved in this work on a pro bono basis with university students and community groups.
Zed designed and facilitated an Anti-Racism Allyship Programme for an international group of white people, and continues to partner with white people who strive to be allies. In 2017 Zed recorded a TEDx Talk on Internalised Oppression, and subsequently produced a mini-documentary on Internalized Oppression.
Zed holds a Masters in Conflict Facilitation and Organizational Change from the Process Work Institute, Portland, USA.
Whitney is a creative Communications professional with an impressive career spanning over 6 years. She brings a diverse background and experience in designing and implementing digital communications strategies.
Whitney started her career in 2016, working as a Digital Content Creator at 4UP Digital and later, as a Content Writer at Opera News. She went on to co-found In-Mic Digital; an online video platform for musicians in Kenya, working as the Lead Producer and Video Editor.
Whitney devotes her time to social justice movements particularly, women empowerment and gender equality. In 2022, Whitney worked with UN Women, East and Southern Africa Office (ESARO), providing Communication support for the International Women’s Day and 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence social media campaigns.
Prior to joining WomenLift Health, Whitney worked as a Social Media Specialist at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), creating content for multiple social media channels, and supporting the implementation of the organization’s digital strategies.
She has a Bachelor of Arts in Communications with a concentration in Electronic Media and, a Minor in Psychology from Daystar University.
Rachel has spent her 15+ year career bridging public health theory and practice while working to achieve health equity. Prior to taking her dream job at WomenLift Health, Rachel was a clinician in the South Bronx where she worked holistically with an international population throughout the lifespan. Directing the public health program at The New School, she worked collaboratively to create and support a leadership program very similar to the WomenLift Health Leadership Journey: a cohort-based program with mentoring, coaching, peer support, alumni co-facilitation, and impactful leadership projects. As a founding member of The Faculty Center at The New School, Rachel supported a global faculty with an emphasis on compassion, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and foundational pedagogy.
Rachel earned her BS in Community Nutrition, and her MPH from the University of Michigan, has trained at the Women’s Therapy Centre Institute, is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, and practices mindfulness meditation.
Careers
Interested in joining the WomenLift Health Team?
View our open positions.
Mission
Our mission is to expand the power and influence of talented women in global health and catalyze systemic change to achieve gender equality in leadership.
Vision
Our vision is a world where diverse, accomplished leaders collectively transform global health outcomes.
Where we work
We are establishing partnerships to support Country Implementation Hubs, beginning with the United States and Canada, India, and East Africa.
