FEATURED BOARD MEMBERS OF THE WOMEN'S HEALTH ISSUE

His Excellency Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete the former President of the United Republic of Tanzania served as the co-chair of the United Nations Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health with former Canadian Prime Minister Harper. In his more than 30 years of public service, President Kikwete served in different party, military, and government positions.  He joined the Cabinet in 1988 and he held several ministerial portfolios including Minister for Finance, Minister for Water, Energy and Mineral Resources, and Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.  

Dr. Awa Marie Coll-Seck is the Executive Director of the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership. RBM is a global partnership founded in 1998 by WHO, UNDP, UNICEF, and the World Bank. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Coll-Seck was Minister of Health of the Republic of Senegal. She also served as Director at the Joint United Nations Programme for HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), leading the Department of Policy, Strategy, and Research and subsequently the Department of Country and Regional Support. Dr. Coll-Seck has served for nearly 20 years as a specialist in infectious diseases in leading hospitals in Dakar, Senegal, and Lyon, France.

Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen is CEO and owner of Vestergaard Frandsen, a European company focused on achieving the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals. The company operates under its own “Humanitarian Entrepreneurship” business model that has turned corporate social responsibility into its core business of creating life-saving products for the developing world. In 2009 Mikkel was appointed an economic advisor to the prime minister of his native Denmark. Vestergaard Frandsen received the 2010 Financial Times Justmeans Social Innovation Award for Most Innovative Small For-Profit Company. In 2010 Mikkel was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.