For more than a decade, GBCHealth has recognized companies with exemplary achievements in health with the Business Action on Health Awards. As part of our Every Women Every Child commitment, GBCHealth introduced a new award category in 2016, Women and Girls, to recognize companies that have demonstrated leadership and commitment to improving the health and well-being of women and girls, through the implementation of a high-impact, evidence-based health program.
Winners are determined through a rigorous evaluation process by an internationally-respected external panel of judges—comprised of experts from across government, multilateral, NGO, academic and business sectors. The wealth of experience and insight of our judges ensures GBCHealth is bestowing the Business Action on Health Award to the company that has made the most meaningful impact in driving improvements to health and wellness of women and girls.
The 2016 Awards Judging Panel: Women & Girls
Judge Biographies
Sheetal Bhadekar
Senior Corporate Affairs Manager, DSM North America
As Senior Corporate Affairs Manager at DSM North America, Sheetal Bhadekar is responsible for sustainability, culture change, and managing partnerships such as with the United Nations World Food Program and Department of Energy. She has completed a strategic project at DSM to build a nutrition business model in India to address malnutrition issues in women and children at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP).
Ruchi Dass
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, HealthCursor Consulting Group
Dr. Ruchi Dass is the Founder & CEO of HealthCursor, and is regarded as one of the leading global innovators in both Healthcare ICT and public health. She has embraced technology for the deployment of health services in developing countries and has been involved in several projects that seek to use mobile phones and wireless technologies to accelerate the achievement of the United Nation’s health-related Millennium Development Goals. Dass has previously held innovation roles with Apollo Group of Hospitals, World Health Organization, BOSCH, Commonwealth Connects Program, Religare Technologies and ASHOKA. Her many innovations have received international recognitions, most notably by the GSMA, IPIHD (World Economic Forum) and TED.
Frances Ganges
Chief Executive, International Confederation of Midwives
Frances Ganges brings vast global experience to the position of Chief Executive of the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM). She has honed her expertise working in different settings and fulfilling different roles, including project manager, educator, advisor and clinician. Ganges has worked with a number of global agencies and prior to ICM, held the position of Technical Director at the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood. As well as being a midwife, Ganges holds an MPH from Johns Hopkins University. Born and raised in the USA, she has spent a significant amount of time living and working in the eastern-southern Africa region.
Sandii Lwin
Founder & Managing Director, Myanmar Health and Development Consortium
Sandii Lwin, founder and Managing Director of Myanmar Health and Development Consortium, is a public health specialist with over twenty years of experience in the international health and development area with regional and country operational experience in more than 20 countries across 6 regions. She previously worked for a number of organizations including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the World Bank, United Nations Development Program, International Monetary Fund, and National Network of Asian and Pacific Women.
Lwin served on the Roll Back Malaria Partnership Board from 2005-2008, represented the Global Fund as Speaker at the 65th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in October 2010, and served on WHO Global Technical Steering Committee for Malaria Control and Elimination (2016-2030). She is currently serving on the Board of Myanmar Business Coalition for AID; PATH’s Executive Working Committee for Myanmar; and Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance Regional Financing Task Force hosted by Asian Development Bank. Lwin is also a Charter Member of the Yangon Rotary Club.
Halima Mwenesi
Director, Infectious Diseases Division, Global Health Population and Nutrition, FHI 360
Dr. Halima Mwenesi brings immense expertise in research, program implementation and policy advocacy to the office of Director of Infectious Diseases Division for Global Health Population and Nutrition at FHI 360.
Over the years, Halima has been technical lead and overall director of 3 large and complex projects, coordinated research in 24 countries in Africa; worked with 49 ministries of health, research institutions as well as universities; and built lasting partnerships in the process. She has previously served FHI 360/AED in various capacities including as Director Public Policy Initiatives, Center for Health Policy and Capacity Development (CHPCD), GHPN; and Project Director, Malaria Taxes and Tariffs Advocacy Project (M-TAP).
Eric Ostern
Director of Global Partnerships for Health & Well-being, Unilever
Eric Ostern is responsible for developing partnerships that drive transformational change and support Unilever’s goal of helping more than 1 billion people improve their health and well-being. Additionally, he is responsible for managing relationships with global stakeholders in North America around Unilever’s sustainability agenda. Ostern is a key member of Unilever’s brand and business teams, providing on-going counsel and support. Prior to joining Unilever, Ostern spent more than a decade in a Fortune 10 corporation where he managed corporate responsibility strategies and programs.
Susan Rae Ross
Senior Private Sector Partnership Advisor at Global Health Bureau, United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
With over 20 years of experience in Africa and Asia, Susan Rae Ross is a highly regarded multi-sector partnership expert, international health and development specialist, author and speaker. As the Senior Private Sector Partnership Advisor for USAID/Global Health, Ross engages with the private sector to facilitate successful cross-sector partnerships to achieve USAID’s development objective of ending preventable maternal and child deaths by 2030.
Ross’ award winning book, Expanding the Pie: Fostering Effective NonProfit and Corporate Partnerships, provides a meta-analysis of successful partnership cases studies from around the world and articulates a step-by-step decision-making framework on how to select and manage partnerships.
Patrik Silborn
Department Director, Private Sector Engagement and Innovative Financing, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Patrik Silborn works to secure contributions from private corporations, private foundations and high-net worth individuals as Head of Private Sector Engagement Department in the External Relations Division of the Global Fund. The Department leads the Innovation Hub—a partnership platform to engage business and other actors to support program implementation and strengthening country systems—as well as the Global Fund’s work on the development of innovative financing models.
Silborn has been at the Global Fund since 2007. Prior to taking on his current position in 2014, he served as a Senior Fund Portfolio Manager managing Global Fund investments in a number of countries in Southern and Eastern Africa. On his watch, Rwanda launched a first-of-its-kind grant with the Global Fund with evaluation and future disbursements directly tied to key outcome and impact indicators, known as results-based funding. Before joining the Global Fund, Silborn worked at Accenture and at the United Nations Development Program, both in the field and at headquarters.
Anastasia Thatcher
Global Health Lead, Partnership Services, Accenture Development Partnerships
Anastasia Thatcher is the Global Lead for Partnership Services at Accenture Development Partnerships, an impact consulting practice. In her career, she has facilitated dozens of multi-stakeholder partnerships—to strengthen healthcare infrastructure, build health worker capacity, create access to medicines, address nutrition challenges and create sustainable livelihoods. Thatcher works with INGOs, UN agencies, faith-based organizations and companies across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. She is committed to collaborating to address the challenges that most impact the lives of women and girls.
Janeen Uzzell
Global Director of Operations, Global Research and External Affairs and Technology Programs (EATP), General Electric (GE)
As Global Director, Janeen Uzzell directs and oversees $100M P&L, and all operational and business development models of external funding for Technology Programs while carrying out the strategy and vision of the EATP organization. She and her team lead portfolios of GE core technologies (healthcare, aviation, energy, transportation) as well as new, innovative technologies funded by global commercial partnerships, external relationships and US and Global governments.
As a pioneer with the $6 billion healthymagination initiative since 2009, Uzzell spearheaded the design and positioning of the rural health platform for India and Asia, and in 2012 she expanded her focus in Africa. She has been a lead advocate in positioning GE as a trusted advisor in rural health. Uzzell strategizes with Ministries of Health, Heads of State, and global partners on how to best align GE’s innovation to solve global health challenges and expand access to healthcare through “disruptive” models. Her strategic focus on healthcare solutions in low resource settings has earned her leadership roles on United Nations and Global Health councils. She co-authored joint publications focused on maternal and newborn health.