LESLIE EMEGBUONYE
Accra
Summary
Dynamic Director who oversees every facet of health programs implementation with strong project management and decision-making skills. Brings comprehensive knowledge of public health interventions, planning and technical experience. Skilled at coordinating health project implementation and personnel resources to complete work under tight deadlines while optimizing staff talent. Led the expansion of work in to new territories to ensure access to life saving health interventions.
Overview
15
15
years of professional experience
Work History
Country Director,
Clinton Health Access Initiative (Chai)
2019.06 - Current
- Reporting to Executive Vice President of West and Central Africa, I oversee CHAI's programs in Ghana and manage Technical Assistance partnership with the Ministry of Health in Ghana
- Oversee multiple grants from key donor partners, including UNITAID, BMGF, UBS Foundation, CIFF, GIZ, and Rockefeller Foundation
- Manage all Ghana projects estimated at USD 5,000,000 annually as of January 2023 and projected to increase by another 60% in 3 years
- Manage a 3 year nutrition grant worth over USD6,000,000 aimed at the management of severe acute malnutrition in children as well as supporting the switch to WHO recommended Multiple-micronutrient supplements (MMS) to improve maternal health and birth outcomes ultimately reducing child deaths in Ghana.
- Lead CHAI's efforts to support the Government of Ghana and maintain and strengthen CHAI's reputation as a highly capable organization by cultivating and maintaining close, productive relationships with senior government leaders and policymakers in the Ghana government.
- Manage all fundraising efforts for current and new high-impact programmatic areas, including fundraising for CHAI Ghana's strategy, and liaise with CHAI's global program teams for relevant global fundraising efforts
- Manage the Ghana country team in defining short-, medium-, and long-term roadmaps to implement Ghana's programmatic strategy; Manage high-level donor and partner relationships to increase CHAI's influence on health policy development, coordinate with and leverage external partner investments to maximize CHAI's impact, and expand CHAI's resources and operational footprint in Ghana
- Responsible for ensuring strong execution of the country projects to make sure that CHAI's results meet and exceed donor and government targets
- Full accountability for ensuring efficient administrative systems and policies aligned with CHAI global policies and legally compliant with the Ghana labor law
- Responsible for developing and managing Ghana's annual program budgets and ensuring robust financial management and accountability of the country's program budgets
- Recruit new staff according to programmatic and operations needs to grow a highly effective and capable team to pursue CHAI's strategic vision in Ghana;
- Ensure CHAI's teams across programmatic, administrative, and technical functions operate at an exceptional standard of performance, achieve maximum impact while delivering on donor and government commitments, and establish and maintain the systems and processes necessary to ensure compliance and value-for-money as well as create an entrepreneurial environment that drives toward action, fosters resourceful problem solving, and ensures accountability for results.
- Reduced operational costs through the implementation of efficient processes and procedures in daily tasks.
- Led fundraising efforts that resulted in increased donor contributions and sustained funding streams.
- Cultivated strong working relationships with government agencies for enhanced cooperation on projects.
- Increased project visibility through consistent communication with donors, partners, and beneficiaries via reports, presentations, and events.
- Established partnerships with key stakeholders for increased collaboration and resource sharing.
- Fostered a positive work environment by creating opportunities for team building and professional growth among staff members.
- Led the expansion of health program into new regions resulting in broader health impact especially on women and children under 5
Program Director, Malaria
Clinton Health Access Initiative (Chai)
2018.01 - 2019.05
- Oversaw a complex portfolio of projects related to improving affordable access to and appropriate use of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of malaria in the country, helping devise CHAI's malaria access strategy, supporting its drive to secure donor funding, and overseeing the execution of activities across diverse states
- Responsibilities: Responsible for all aspects of the malaria program and project activities: strategic and operation planning, organizing, budgeting, implementing, coordinating, monitoring, and technical/grant report writing
- Work with the Ministry of Health and partners to develop capacity and create sustainable systems to ensure nationwide access to malaria prevention, diagnosis, and treatment
- Provide technical assistance and guidance to the National Malaria program on sustainable strategies for engaging the private sector to deliver high-quality malaria case management intervention to complement efforts in the public sector
- Provide technical and managerial support to state and national-level program staff to ensure sound management of malaria interventions implemented in-country
- Represent CHAI at technical, policy, and strategic planning meetings and provide technical assistance to translate relevant scientific knowledge into guidelines, practices, and program change
- Develop analytical briefs and presentations for CHAI senior leadership on countrywide and program-specific activities, reviews, research, progress, and proposals for new funding streams
- Develop concept notes and proposals to meet specific program goals and objectives for malaria initiatives
- Ensure the quality of products and documents CHAI team members produce, including strategic plans, guidelines, standard operating procedures, project reports, implementation updates, and communications with partners
- Led and oversaw CHAI's research work on the use of rectal artesunate for the pre-referral treatment of pediatric severe malaria cases in Northern Nigeria in collaboration with UNICEF, funded by UNITAID
- Led the CHAI team to study the effect and impact of Seasonal malaria chemo-prevention therapy in Northern Nigeria
- Member WHO malaria private sector working group where I was part of the working team who
Team Lead
Adam Smith International (ASI)
2017.05 - 2017.12
- (A GSK-funded project that aims to address the key barriers to routine immunization in Nigeria, which includes poor supply chain logistics and weak data quality) Responsibilities: Led State Routine Immunization team, including managing the vaccines working group at the state and federal level to enable the Government of Nigeria and its partners to achieve a transformational impact in increasing routine immunization coverage rates and reducing childhood mortality in Nigeria
- Main responsibilities include Providing overall project leadership, management, and technical direction to national and state teams.
- Guide implementation of the project's strategic long-term vision and develop work plans and reports to be submitted to the Donor and the Federal Ministry of Health
- Serve as the project's primary liaison with project partners and government stakeholders on technical implementation activities.
- Work with the State Primary Health Care Development Agency (SPHCDA) on the deployment and implementation of strategies to improve Routine Immunization coverage and strengthen underlying Immunization supply chain systems.
- Work with the SPHCDA and State Ministry of Health to ensure effective coordination of the pilot in the state.
- Provide strategic guidance on theimplementation of arobust supportive supervision process to achieve the following objectives: Evaluation of mVacciNation tool (a mobile vaccines data management system) adoption and utilization, Troubleshooting health facility-specific challenges through on-site mentoring Ensuring that appropriate feedback is generated from performance data and channel accordingly for evidence-based decision-making Lead project team in preparation of periodical reports, dissemination of lessons learned and provision of field data to support monitoring and evaluation efforts.
- Represent ASI at relevant Technical Working Group (TWG) meetings and provide appropriate technical support to the TWGs as required. Lead the project team in preparing periodic reports, disseminating lessons learned, and providing field data to support optimal decision-making.
- Directed and supervised team of 6 engaged in innovative vaccine management
- Established clear performance metrics for the team which helped in tracking progress towards set targets effectively.
Malaria Regional Manager, West, and Central Africa
Clinton Health Access Initiative (Chai)
2014.01 - 2017.05
- Responsibilities: Led the expansion of CHAI's malaria support in its Central and West African region, which includes Cameroon, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Nigeria as well as Ethiopia
- Main responsibilities include but are not limited to the following: Planning and Coordination: Supported CHAI's country offices to plan effective malaria programs across West and Central Africa Worked with country offices and global technical staff to develop and update evidence-based and technically sound strategies for CHAI's local malaria programs Engaged with country offices during the development of funding proposals to ensure joint ownership and sufficient program capacity for the execution of funded projects
- Supported country offices in developing annual work plans and setting quarterly milestones Ensured planning draws upon CHAI's experiences in other countries and regions Coordinated engagement of global staff from across all relevant technical programs in the planning process Supported country teams to manage the implementation of all ongoing malaria programs and evaluate progress
- Monitored program activities against project goals, identified operational bottlenecks or weaknesses, and worked with country and Global Malaria leadership to strengthen programs as necessary
- Management and communications: Managed the malaria program in key endemic countries- Ethiopia, Cameroon, DRC, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria Streamlined communications between Global Malaria leadership, technical staff, and country offices and provided regular updates on opportunities and progress to each
- Managed budgets across all technical areas, including working with country teams to determine annual allocations, helping with costing, and forecasting of budgets
- Worked with country teams to develop programmatic and financial updates for donor reporting Reviewed and provided feedback on country team documents, including strategic plans, project reports, and/or communications with partners
- Develop expertise on regional malaria activities and partnerships: Facilitated coordination of activities between country teams within the region and acted as liaison for learning from other regions Represented CHAI at regional meetings and conferences such as WHO/RBM meetings (East Africa, West and Central Africa), and World malaria meetings
- Communicated with regional Roll Back malaria partners to ensure coordinated activities across the sub-regions Collaborated with global technical staff to engage global experts and partners and facilitate their work in the region as appropriate- such as engaging malaria consultants to support Liberia GF application
- Policy and strategy: Contributed to the development of countries' national malaria strategic plan for 2014-2020 (Nigeria, Cameroon, and DRC), specifically assisting in the drafting of the private sector component of the strategy, which will ensure continuous access to quality treatment and diagnosis through the private sector where 70% of malaria cases are first seen.
Senior Malaria Program Manager
Clinton Health Access Initiative (Chai)
2009.01 - 2014.01
- Responsibilities: Coordinated all aspects of the malaria landscape in Nigeria on behalf of the Roll Back Malaria to reduce maternal and child mortality rates and bridge the gaps for achieving the country's Millennium Development Goals
- Including, but not limited to, the following: Policy and regulation: Worked closely with SUNMAP project & Malaria Consortium supported regulatory review and developed the policy framework for the inclusion of Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention to the national malaria case management strategy Contributed to the development of Nigeria's national malaria strategic plan for 2014-2020: specifically assisting in drafting the strategy's private sector component, which will ensure continuous access to quality treatment and diagnosis through the private sector, where 70% of malaria cases are first seen
- Supported the NMEP and RBM partners to officially classify ACTs as OTC as a requirement for applying to the AMFm and advocating to NAFDAC on the removal of duties and other chargers for Private sector importers of ACTs who did not benefit from national project waivers Supported the National Malaria program and drug regulatory authority to reclassify SP-AQ (preventive treatment used for SMC) to enable access in commercial quantities
- Through advocacy and engagement, ensured that injectable artesunate for severe malaria and other essential medicines for childhood illnesses are included in the essential medicines list of over 10 states, including the national essential medicines list (EML) Worked with the National Malaria program to include injectable Artesunate in the national treatment policy as the preferred treatment for severe malaria following WHO approval, ensuring that Nigeria was the first country to adopt the treatment in its national policy Developed training manuals and SOPs, which were adapted for the severe malaria case management nationwide
- Was a member of the national treatment guidelines and policy review, working alongside key RBM partners and experts in Nigeria
- Malaria partnership & Stakeholder engagement: Developed and fostered critical relationships with Nigeria's MOH, supporting to National Malaria Program (SUNMAP) and Society for Family Health to be best placed to provide technical assistance to the National malaria control program on the implementation of the Affordable medicines facility for Malaria (AMFm), Elected as Chairperson of the National Malaria Quantification Committee 2013-2015 to manage and coordinate the country's procurement and supply chain for anti-malaria commodities
- Cultivated robust public-private partnerships by engaging 65 local and international pharmaceutical companies to ensure accessibility of the highest quality drugs in the private sector, where 70% of Nigerians access anti-malaria treatment and diagnosis
- Coordination and Implementation: Guided the introduction and scale-up of the most effective treatments for Malaria through advocacy for national and state policy changes, Behavior Change Communication (BCC), and demand creation campaigns working closely with key partners such as the SUNMAP project and GF Principal Recipient Built the capacity of the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) and national malaria partners to maximize resources and achieve targets of the Global Fund's Malaria grant and the Affordable Medicines Facility for Malaria (AMFm), totaling $600M+
- Worked with the National Malaria Control Program in Nigeria and other RBM partners to develop detailed budgets, work plans and other documents necessary to achieve rapid grant signing with the Global Fund; Coordinated with other initiatives in-country such as SUNMAP to ensure that AMFm-related activities fit within a broader national context; Identified potential bottlenecks to AMFm implementation and develop pre-emptive solutions, such as designing the AMFm taskforce to deal with issues concerning the private sector in the import of subsidized AMFm drugs Supported the development of processes and benchmarks to ensure quality control of all programs and other deliverables; Identified, contract with, and manage experts, consultants or local organizations to rapidly fill gaps in further developing or executing key deliverables of the national malaria program; Grant development and execution: Identified and executed potential opportunities for supporting increased access to treatment and diagnosis that are complementary to the AMFm and the World Bank supported booster project, such as the private sector copayment mechanism for ACTs and RDTs Developed the business case for DFID investment in the private sector for the post AMFm transition years ~$70m Secured resources and oversaw initiatives funded by the UK Department for International Development and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation totaling $3M+ for the malaria project in Nigeria
- Played a major role in drafting Nigeria's proposal and budget to the Global fund worth +US$50m for building capacity in the public health sector, strengthening health systems in Nigeria and procurement of Anti-malaria commodities Program management Managed and built the capacity of the CHAI malaria team in 10 states to deliver successful malaria interventions worth ~US$2M annually for five years and support state malaria programs in implementing their malaria programs Managed the launch and implementation of a rapid assessment to identify cost‐effective delivery strategies to inform scale-up of Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention: This involved Project development, planning, budgeting, program management, data collection, and analysis, reporting, monitoring and evaluation; Managed and oversaw the training of clinicians and health officers to plan and implement the scale-up and appropriate use of parenteral artesunate for the treatment of Severe Malaria in 10 states in Nigeria, covering over 250 health facilities
- Managed the DFID-funded Rapid diagnostic project aimed at scaling up the appropriate and effective use of rapid diagnostic testing kits for malaria in the private sector.
- Managed and supervised administrative and daily program operations, complying with policies and regulations.
Education
Master of Science - International Finance
Liverpool John Moores University
Liverpool, United Kingdom 01.2008
Bachelor of Science - Accounting
The University of Benin
Benin City, Nigeria01.2005
Skills
- Strong interpersonal skills and ability to build relationships with government and stakeholder representatives;
- A very strong understanding of the public health landscape at both global and regional levels
- Ability to work effectively in a challenging political and multicultural environment;
- Ability to absorb and synthesize a broad range of information, ability to work independently in unstructured settings, and communicate effectively within a remote, decentralized team;
- Monitoring and Evaluation
- Organizational Development
- Cross-cultural communication
- Government relations
- Grant Management
- Proposal Writing
- Human Resources Management
- Training and Facilitation
Languages
English language (excellent)
French (basic)
Timeline
Country Director,
Clinton Health Access Initiative (Chai)
2019.06 - Current
Program Director, Malaria
Clinton Health Access Initiative (Chai)
2018.01 - 2019.05
Team Lead
Adam Smith International (ASI)
2017.05 - 2017.12
Malaria Regional Manager, West, and Central Africa
Clinton Health Access Initiative (Chai)
2014.01 - 2017.05
Senior Malaria Program Manager
Clinton Health Access Initiative (Chai)
2009.01 - 2014.01
Master of Science - International Finance
Liverpool John Moores University
Bachelor of Science - Accounting
The University of Benin
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