Martin Edlund
Chief Executive Officer
Martin Edlund is a founding member and Chief Executive Officer of Malaria No More, a globally recognized non-profit with the visionary mission to end humanity’s oldest, deadliest disease in our lifetimes. During his tenure, Martin has played a lead role in mobilizing global political will, government resources, and innovations to scale life-saving interventions for the global malaria campaign. Martin also serves as Executive Director of the Health Finance Coalition, which is raising substantial private capital to help achieve Africa’s public health goals through blended-finance structures that count leading global corporates, major Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), and top foundations as investors. Martin lived and worked in West Africa as Malaria No More’s Director of New Programs, where he helped lead innovative net distribution, testing and education campaigns with Youssou N’Dour, government officials, and media partners in Senegal, Cameroon, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Chad. Prior to joining MNM, Martin was a journalist for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The New Republic, and a political consultant in Washington, D.C., specializing in online campaign strategies. He is a graduate of Harvard University.
Sydney Bonds
Manager, Digital Communications
Sydney Bonds is the Digital Communications Manager at Malaria No More where she works to advance MNM’s domestic and global communications strategy and advocacy objectives. Prior to joining the organization, Sydney worked at the United Nations Foundation where she managed comprehensive fundraising, marketing, and communications support for Shot@Life – a U.S. advocacy campaign that champions global immunization. Sydney also worked as a communications consultant where she drove digital marketing and social media strategies, and helped clients navigate complex health policy issues. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County where she studied health policy and public health.
Jennie Bragg
Managing Director, Strategic Communications
Jennie joins Malaria No More from the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) where she spent more than 5 years spearheading storytelling and media efforts and engaging with major partners as the organization's Director of Communications Partnerships, Communications Director and Deputy Communications Director. Prior to her time at the USGLC, she managed North American communication for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Jennie has worked as a media consultant in health and non-profits and served for a year as a communications fellow at the National Cancer Institute (NIH). She spent the early part of her career as a producer at CNN in New York. Jennie received her undergraduate degree in English from Duke University and holds a Master of Public Health with a focus on health communication from the University of Southern California.
Colleen Connell
Managing Director, Health Finance Coalition
Colleen Connell is the Managing Director for the Health Finance Coalition, hosted by Malaria No More. From 2018-2020, Colleen was the Chief Markets Officer, then Sr. Advisor for Business Development and Investments at MedAccess, where she helped design and build an investment pipeline and stand-up the organization. She also worked for more than 11 years with the Clinton Health Access Initiative. Colleen holds a B.S. from Fordham University and an MBA from Yale University.
Michael Galbraith
Senior Associate, Operations and HR
Michael serves Malaria No More as our HR and Operations Associate, having come from for Maryland based breast cancer software company, MagView. Prior to this, Michael worked for nearly five years in television for Warner Brothers Discovery as a project coordinator and specialist. He also spent over two years in the non-profit arena working for New Story Leadership for the Middle East; a program spun off from the Washington Ireland program. Prior to his arrival in the United States, Michael worked in the Northern Ireland Assembly as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to a member of the legislative assembly for Belfast East. Michael received his BA and MA in Modern History from the Queen’s University Belfast.
Jenn Groves
Director, People and Culture
Jennifer is an experienced HR leader with expertise in creating and driving global human resources strategies. She has led HR functions across six countries, focusing on recruitment, retention, and employee engagement. Jennifer's work includes establishing talent pipelines through partnerships with universities, revamping onboarding processes, and creating benefits programs that enhance employee satisfaction. Prior to her current role, she was the Senior Director of Global HR at Trees for the Future and Director of HR at KatzAbosch. Jennifer holds a BS from Radford University and PHR and SHRM-CP certifications.
Alex Honjiyo
Deputy Director, Health Finance Coalition
Alex is the Program Manager of the Health Finance Coalition, a group of leading philanthropies, donors, technical partners, and institutional investors hosted by Malaria No More seeking to use blended finance to attract an unprecedented level of commercial investment in order to achieve SDG 3. Prior to joining MNM, he worked with Chemonics International implementing USAID projects in Latin America, helped launch the social impact bond team at the Inter-American Development Bank, and was an analyst with Angel Ventures Mexico, a venture capital fund and angel investment club in Mexico City. He received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and was a Fulbright Scholar in Mexico.
Kate Hourihan
Senior Graphic Designer
Kate designs print and digital assets and maintains Malaria No More’s visual brand. Kate has over 7 years of marketing and communications graphic design experience. She has worked for a variety of non-profits, startups and growing small businesses. She received her undergraduate degree in Visual Art from Bowdoin College. She recently received a Master of Communication in Digital Media from the University of Washington where she focused on the intersection of visual design and organizational storytelling.
Sarah Kester
Senior Manager, Strategic Partnerships
Sarah Kester is Malaria No More's Senior Manager of Strategic Partnerships. Most recently, Sarah managed strategic partnerships for Exemplars in Global Health, a program of Gates Ventures, the private office of Bill Gates. In this role, she managed engagement with a number of global partners in support of dissemination and uptake of best practices from countries that have made extraordinary progress in important health outcomes and to ultimately inform policy and practice. Prior to her time with Exemplars in Global Health, Sarah spent four years in various roles at the Sabin Vaccine Institute, leading several initiatives to support capacity strengthening for immunization professionals in low and middle income countries. Sarah also has experience working in digital health, implementing large scale mobile health solutions to support patient recruitment and patient engagement for clinical research studies, and in public health research, working with federal and state health agencies both in the United States and abroad to conduct disease surveillance and community engagement. Sarah has a master’s degree in public health from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health with a concentration in epidemiology and global health, and a bachelor’s degree in international relations and community health from Tufts University.
Grace Kim
Senior Manager, Program and Partnerships
Grace is the Manager of Network Partnerships at Malaria No More, focusing on the Institute of Malaria and Climate Solutions. Prior to joining MNM, Grace worked as a business development consultant at ICAP and as a Program Officer at JSI Research & Training Institute, implementing USAID global health projects and working with the Center for HIV & Infectious Diseases. She began her career in research focused on maternal health outcomes in Zanzibar. Grace received her B.A. in Neuroscience and a Master of Public Health from Boston University, concentrating in Global Health and Epidemiology.
Anu Khanal
Director, Global Policy & Advocacy
Anu comes to MNM from the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (TFK), where she served on the global leadership team. She was concurrently with the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI), in 2015 as one of its founding members and over the next seven years overseeing policy and budget advocacy for NCDs and injury prevention in the global South. Her decade long work at TFK and GHAI included successful tobacco control policy advocacy in high burden countries of Asia, budget advocacy for a maternal and reproductive health program in Tanzania; Testing, scaling and sustaining a national drowning prevention program in Vietnam; and Building the advocacy ecosystem and strengthening capacity of local partners for road safety policy campaigns in India, Tanzania and Thailand.
Spencer Knoll
Director, U.S. Policy and Advocacy
Spencer Knoll is the Director of U.S. Policy and Advocacy at Malaria No More. Prior to joining the organization, he worked for six years as an aide to Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Appropriations Subcommittee that funds the State Department and USAID. He brings nearly a decade of Congressional and appropriations experience to MNM. While on Capitol Hill, Spencer authored major legislation to address the retention crisis in the Foreign Service that was signed into law by President Biden. He is active in his community, where he serves on the Cultural Arts Commission for the City of Rockville, Maryland and chairs the Board of Directors of an Annapolis-based nonprofit that prepares college students for lives of public service. Spencer is a graduate of Hood College and the Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service.
Precious Manyara
Analyst, Health Finance Coalition
Precious is an Analyst at the Health Finance coalition, hosted by Malaria No More. Prior to joining the Health Finance coalition she worked as a Project Analyst with BFA Global, an impact innovation consulting firm. She began her career in the banking sector having worked with both Standard Chartered and Absa bank. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting from the University of Nairobi.
Drew McCracken
Chief Operating Officer
Drew brings more than twenty years of experience leading organizations working in public policy, foreign policy, and global health. Most recently, Drew was the Senior Director for Government Affairs and Policy at the Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance (APLMA). Prior to his time with APLMA, Drew spent five years as the Country Director for the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) in Cambodia, where he oversaw one of CHAI’s largest malaria programs. Previously, Drew served as a senior advisor at the U.S. Department of State under Secretaries of State John Kerry and Hillary Clinton, including with the Policy Planning Staff. Drew spent many years working as a policy advisor in the U.S. Congress and for the Governor of Ohio. Drew has degrees from Dartmouth College and the London School of Economics.
Mindy Mizell
Senior Manager, Media & Communications
Mindy Mizell serves as Malaria No More’s Senior Manager, Media & Communications. Mindy has worked in or with media outlets for more than two decades. She started her career as a TV news reporter/producer before transitioning to promoting nonprofits. Mindy has since led national Media/PR strategies for the American Red Cross, World Vision, International Justice Mission and more. Mindy also started her own PR consultancy, Purposeful PR, to support purpose-driven organizations. Mindy enjoys long distance running, traveling with her husband and spoiling her nieces and nephews as well as her dog, Toby.
Carrie Nichols
Deputy Director, Strategic Initiatives
Carrie Nichols is Malaria No More’s Manager of International Programs focusing on our work in India. Prior to MNM, Carrie was a Program Officer with FHI 360 and John Snow, Inc., where she managed USAID, UN, and Gates Foundation projects in India, Myanmar, Nigeria, Haiti, and Ethiopia focusing on public health supply chain and financial inclusion for the bottom billion. She began her career in international development as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mali and as a Peace Corps Response Volunteer in Zambia. Carrie graduated from The George Washington University with an MA in international development and from Portland State University with a BA in political science.
Swathi Rao
Senior Manager, Health Finance Coalition
Swathi joins the Health Finance Coalition prior to working at I&M Burbidge Capital Limited, where she executed private market transactions in a variety of sectors, a wide array of financial instruments, and completed to/on behalf of both trade and institutional investors. She has also worked at ASP Company Limited, a manufacturing business in Kenya from September 2014 to September 2017. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes University, is a CFA Charter holder, a fellow of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA), and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK).
Kaushik Sarkar
Director, Institute for Malaria and Climate Solutions
Dr Kaushik Sarkar is a Global Health professional turned Artificial Intelligence (AI) practitioner who aims to benefit the billion’s health using the untapped opportunities of applying AI through strategic innovations and transdisciplinary solutions. He is the inaugural Director incubating the Institute for Malaria & Climate Solutions (IMACS) of Malaria No More and also heads Malaria No More India. He has advanced several strategic and technology innovations, including precision programming and climate-based forecasting models, to strengthen health systems and access to services by the most marginalized. He also led the establishment of the Strategic Support Unit and convened multisectoral platforms – Malaria Action Coalition and India Interagency Expert Committee on Malaria and Climate – to accelerate India’s progress towards malaria elimination. Kaushik holds a professional doctorate (MD) in Community Medicine and an Executive MBA in Business Analytics. He was awarded Gold Medal for outstanding performance in the doctoral examination and the Vijay Narayan award for research on health empowerment among tribal adolescents.
Johanna Simon
Senior Policy Advisor
Johanna works alongside the Policy and Advocacy team to shape global and domestic malaria public policy. She manages policy-related partner projects, D.C. events, as well as U.S. Senate Staff Delegation trips. Recent fieldwork included visits with U.S. Senate Staffers to Haiti, Cambodia, Thailand and Zambia to discuss malaria elimination. Over her eight years at MNM, she has worked across departments, including the Africa Programs and Development teams. Her work has ranged from managing MNM’s global corporate partnerships to helping launch MNM’s country programs, which included innovative malaria education media campaigns in Cameroon, Chad and Senegal. Prior to joining MNM, Johanna worked in the private sector at Ogilvy PR Worldwide, helping global pharmaceutical companies launch health products and navigate crisis communications. Her clients included Pfizer and Bayer Healthcare, among others. Additionally, Johanna has consulted for a variety of global NGOs, including ORBIS International, conducting fieldwork work in Mongolia, Cuba, Syria, Rwanda, and India. Johanna received her B.A. in Communications from the Annenberg School at the University of Pennsylvania and her masters in International Health Policy and Management from NYU’s Wagner Graduate School.
Christabelle Toso
Intern, Communications
Christabelle holds a Bachelor's degree in Public Health from Georgia State University and recently earned a Master's in Public Health from Emory University, with a focus on Global Health. Passionate about promoting health and justice in these areas, she is particularly dedicated to supporting marginalized communities both nationally and internationally. She is committed to leveraging the transformative power of research, advocacy, communications, media, and technology to enhance community engagement, drive collective action, and create meaningful change!
Adriana Velasco
Manager, Global Policy and Advocacy
Adriana comes to Malaria No More with 20 years of experience in international development, having worked as a policy analyst and project manager, mainly for the United Nations Development Programme in Latin America. As the Deputy Coordinator of UNDP’s Human Development Office in the Dominican Republic, she conducted research and served as editor of National Human Development Reports and other UNDP publications. She also crafted advocacy strategies and partnerships to raise awareness of the country's development challenges. Over the years, Adriana has contributed her expertise to programs in Nicaragua, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, El Salvador, and Panama by researching, editing reports, creating learning resources, and lecturing on development policies. Adriana earned an Economics degree in Argentina and a Master’s in International Studies from the University of Washington, Seattle, specializing in the intersection between global health and climate change.
Ronald Wakhu
Senior Associate, Health Finance Coalition
Ronald is a Senior Associate at the Health Finance Coalition. Prior to joining the Health Finance Coalition, he was an investment analyst at Kibo Capital Partners, an Africa – focused Private Equity Fund where he provided support through the entire investment cycle, including deal sourcing, due diligence, portfolio management, and the exit process. At Kibo, he was also involved in the fund’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) monitoring and reporting. He began his career in impact investing at AHL Venture Partners, where he focused on impact reporting, macroeconomic research and evaluating companies with both high growth potential and a strong impact thesis. Ronald holds a B.S in Financial Economics from Strathmore University.
Kelly Willis
Managing Director, Strategic Initiatives
Kelly Willis is the Managing Director of Strategic Initiatives at Malaria No More, responsible for the oversight and growth of the organization’s high impact programs and partnerships around the world. Kelly has more than 20 years of experience working in infectious disease and global health, helping to build permanent capacity in health systems throughout sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, in roles including Senior Vice President at United States Pharmacopeia, Executive Director of Accordia Global Health Foundation, and through her consulting firm Willis Solutions LLC. Kelly’s field experience includes several years living in East Africa, where she helped launch and support the Infectious Diseases Institute at Makerere University, and led a multi-year research program to better understand the impact of medical training programs on standards of care and health outcomes. Prior to that, Kelly spent 5 years in multiple finance and economics management roles at Pfizer, where she also served as a Global Health Fellow in Uganda. She holds a Distinguished Alumni award from Michigan State University, where she earned a BA in French and an MBA in Supply Chain Management.
