Aidspan’s Board: a new member, a new Chair, and a farewell

Author:

Download PDF Aidspan’s Board of Directors held its most recent biannual board meeting in Amsterdam, at the start of AIDS 2018, the IAS international AIDS conference in late July. The Aidspan Board undertook three changes to its composition at, and shortly after, the board meeting. Joining the Board is Dr Jesse Boardman Bump, executive director of the Takemi Program in…

Article Type:

Article Number:

ABSTRACT Aidspan’s Board sees some changes in 2018, and with regret and appreciation sees the departure of one of its founding Board members, Dr James Deutsch.

Aidspan’s Board of Directors held its most recent biannual board meeting in Amsterdam, at the start of AIDS 2018, the IAS international AIDS conference in late July. The Aidspan Board undertook three changes to its composition at, and shortly after, the board meeting.

Joining the Board is Dr Jesse Boardman Bump, executive director of the Takemi Program in International Health and lecturer on global health policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr Bump leads the global health field of study in the Master of Public Health degree. He brings extensive experience and interest in the development of health systems and the implications for development assistance, as well as a focus on advancing health for people in low- and middle-income countries, while helping their governments understand and manage the complex political economy of donor policies.

“Accountability and transparency are fundamental to equitable and effective development cooperation,” Dr Bump told Aidspan. “Aidspan’s reporting and analyses uphold these principles when agencies cannot or will not.” Dr Bump’s own research examines the historical, political, and economic forces that are among the fundamental determinants of ill health. His work also addresses the most significant contextual factors that shape institutions and the approaches they embrace.

Isaac Awuondo, who has been an Aidspan Board member for more than four years, was elected as Aidspan’s Board Chair.Mr Awuondo is the Group Managing Director of Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA Group), the largest privately held commercial bank in Kenya with a regional focus, also operating in Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Ivory Coast. Mr Awuondo sits on the Boards of several public and private organizations, including as Chair of the Kenyan Airports Authority, as a Board member of WWF Kenya, and as Trustee of the Zawadi Africa Education Fund, an educational charity supporting disadvantaged girls in four African countries.

Finally, longtime Board member Dr James Deutsch, the Director for Biodiversity at Paul G. Allen Philanthropies, has stepped down from the Board. Dr Deutsch joined the Board when Aidspan was created in 2002, under the leadership of Bernard Rivers, and leaves after 16 years of service and support to Aidspan to pursue other interests.

Aidspan’s Executive Director Ida Hakizinka said, “We are of course sad to see James go but appreciate his long and dedicated years of service to Aidspan. We are also delighted to welcome Dr Jesse Boardman Bump, who brings to Aidspan wide-ranging public-health expertise and a strong commitment to improving the health and health systems of developing countries. And we are honored to have Isaac as our new Board Chair, with his extensive financial and governance experience. Aidspan extends a heartfelt thanks to each of these three exceptional individuals.”

Aidspan’s Board comprises Professor Alan Whiteside, a health economist; Dr Djalo Mele, President of the Country Coordinating Mechanism in Niger, and Aidspan Executive Director Ida Hakizinka, in addition to Dr Bump and Mr Awuondo.