Leadership & Staff

Program Director

As Program Director, Lauren is responsible for directing and overseeing large-scale public health programs, setting operational goals, supervision of staff, working closely with partners to ensure best practices and overseeing existing projects.

Lauren is a maternal and child health expert with strong cross-cultural competencies gleaned from living and working in a variety of countries. She has developed a passion for eliminating the disparities and inequalities that plague large segments of most populations, particularly those with traditional and nontraditional vulnerabilities. Lauren has experience in public speaking at national venues and in engaging representatives of national governments, non-governmental organizations and industries, as well as those of multinational entities. Lauren holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in Psychology from Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland and a Master of Public Health degree, with a focus in Maternal and Child Health, from The George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health, in Washington, D.C.

Country Project Manager

Amadou is responsible for overseeing and implementing our Healthcare Support and Strengthening in the Gambia (HSSG) Project side by side with the Gambia Red Cross Society.

Amadou has a National Higher Degree Diploma from the Gambia College School of Public Health and a Bachelors Degree in Public Health from the University of The Gambia. He has extensive experience in the field of public health working in The Gambia as a Regional Health Promotion and Education Officer and as a Capacity Development Officer for the United Nations World Food Programme Gambia Office.

He is passionate about the promotion of Maternal and Child Health.

Program Coordinator

As Program Coordinator, Rose provides technical, operational and administrative support to the core team. She leads on grant-writing and communications, and works closely with SolHealth’s fundraising consultant to meet donor acquisition and retention targets. 

She holds a BSc in Population Health and Data Analysis and an MSc in Global Health and Development from UCL (University College London). In addition to this role, she works full-time for Women for Women International. She is based in London.

Mr. Bulson has a 30-year history of delivering water, wastewater and environment projects in developing countries. Currently, he is CEO of Dalco Point, a water and sanitation consultancy focusing on Southeast Asia. Recent projects include an evaluation and re-design of Indonesia’s entire rural sanitation program, and sanitation sector reviews for Vietnam, China and Myanmar. Prior to Dalco Point, Mr. Bulson was Asia Director for MWH, then the world’s largest wastewater engineering firm. He has a MS degree in Environmental Engineering from Washington State and a BSc degree in Microbiology. 

Mr. Pakzad is a finance advisor with over 30 years' experience in Finance and Administration Management of donor programs and private sector projects.  He has managed projects in Africa, Asia and the Pacific and has also conducted one-on-one training and capacity building in Finance and Administration for small organizations and enterprises in the Asia-Pacific region.

Dr. Farid is currently researching education policy in China as a Visiting Scholar at the University of Stanford’s Graduate School of Education. she also teaches in the Department of Social Work and Social Administration at the University of Hong Kong.

Dr. Masroori serves as a Senior Legal Officer at the Baha'i World Centre in Haifa, Israel. Prior to this, he was Vice President and General Counsel for Honeywell International, Asia Pacific. Earlier, while working in private practice in Beijing as an advisor to multinationals and state-owned enterprises, he also dedicated time to teaching graduate students. 

Dr. Romisch is a public health physician, specialist in tropical medicine, epidemiology, preventive pediatrics and aeronautical medicine. She was deputy of the Mother and Child Welfare Department of French Guiana before joining in 1990 the Pan American Health Organization/Regional Office of the World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) as medical epidemiologist then PAHO/WHO Representative to Haiti, before becoming PAHO/WHO Representative to Peru. In 2003 she became Director of the Department of Country Focus at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland until reaching retirement age in June 2013. Marie-Andrée served on the International Board of Directors of Save the Children International (2013- 2016).

Since May 2015 she is member of the Independent Advisory Committee of the WHO Regional Director for Africa and works as independent senior consultant on Development Cooperation and Global Health; in this capacity she has been working on country support and performance assessment with different partners such as the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, the health Department of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); and the WHO at country, regional and HQ levels; in 2018, under exceptional humanitarian circumstances, she served a two-month assignment in Cox’s Bazar (Bangladesh) as WHO/SEARO Chief Advisor for the Rohingya Crisis.

Secretary

Bahia Mitchell is a member of the Permanent Board of the Tahirih Justice Center, a national non-profit organization that serves immigrant survivors fleeing gender-based violence. Before retiring in 2018,  she served at the U.S. Department of State for 9 years managing several successive organizations tasked with the expeditious deployment of expert civilians to Iraq and Afghanistan. Previously, Dr. Mitchell served as the Health Officer for the Baha’i World Center in Haifa, Israel. She holds a 1972 doctorate in the medical sciences from the University of Illinois Chicago Medical Center. 

He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Athene USA, and from 2011 to 2015 he served as the President of Athene Holding Ltd. He has also held the Chief Financial Officer position at Athene Holding Ltd. Prior to joining Athene, Mr. Kvalheim was a senior executive of Barclays Capital (“Barclays”) from early 2001 to the end of 2007, becoming Co-President in September 2005. Prior to joining Barclays, Mr. Kvalheim held senior executive positions in the investment banks of Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch. Mr. Kvalheim is a SolHealth Founding Board Member.

Michael O’Leary is Senior Infectious Diseases Advisor in the Office of Health at the U.S. Agency for International Development in Hanoi, Vietnam. Previously, he served as WHO Representative in China (2009-2013) and Cambodia (2005-2009). Dr. O'Leary's 30 year career in Asia and the Pacific has focused on infectious disease epidemiology; the management of programs in non-communicable diseases; in health systems and services; and in partnerships and inter-country initiatives in global health, with partners in and outside of government. Dr. O'Leary is a SolHEALTH Founding Board Member.

Dr. O'Leary received his Medical Degree from the University of Minnesota. His Internal medicine residency was completed at the University of Hawaii, where he also was awarded his Master of Public Health degree. In addition, Dr. O'Leary is an adjunct faculty member of the School of Global Studies, Thammasat University, Bangkok and a retired U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Officer.

Treasurer

Retired as Chairman & CEO of Aegon Asia.  Prior to joining Aegon, he held senior executive positions in Aetna Inc., AIG Life, and Sun Life Financial. Outside the insurance industry, Mr. Henck served as Chief Financial Officer at the Bahá'í World Centre. During his career, Mr. Henck has been a member of dozens of boards of directors of organizations. Currently, he is also serving as a Senior Adviser to the consulting group NueBridge, and on the Senior Management Advisory Board of Assured Enterprises, a cyber risk firm.

Founder & Board President

As a senior health executive, public health expert and clinician, Dr. Rutstein has created and led innovative clinical, administrative, management, emergency response and executive level teams and organizations during a 35 year career.

Prior to founding SolHEALTH, Dr. Rutstein was the Vice President for Medical Affairs for United Family Healthcare in China. A retired United States Public Health Service Rear Admiral, he served as the Deputy Surgeon General of the United States until 2011.

Dr. Rutstein received his Medical Degree from Brown University and his Master of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. His Family Medicine residency was completed at Natividad Medical Center in Salinas, California. He is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine, maintains current medical licenses in California, Maine and Beijing and has received numerous honors and awards from both the public and private sectors.

Dr. Sabet is a former academic and a veteran of the United Nations System where she served at the Staff College (UNSSC) and was responsible for academic partnerships and senior leadership development across the system. Her learning programmes have reached thousands of United Nations professionals around the globe, and her activities have taken her to over 60 countries on all continents. She brings more than 25 years of experience in international organizations, academia, education, and private sector ventures. Dr. Sabet holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science from St. Gallen University, Switzerland. 

The 17th Surgeon General of the United States. After completing his statutory 4-year term he was named to the position of vice chairman of Canyon Ranch, the United States' leading health and wellness company, and was named president of the Canyon Ranch Institute Board of Directors. Dr. Carmona is a SolHealth Founding Board Member.

Professor Barbara Bowman is one of three faculty founders of Erikson Institute, the premier independent institution of higher education committed to ensuring that all children have equitable opportunities to realize their potential, where she is currently the Irving B. Harris Professor of Child Development. She served as president of the Institute from 1994 to 2001 and as interim president of external affairs from June to December 2013.

She is an authority on early education, a national advocate for improved and expanded training for practitioners who teach and care for young children, and a pioneer in building knowledge and understanding of the issues of access and equity for minority children. She was chief early childhood education officer for the Chicago Public Schools and a former consultant to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. She is past president of the National Association for the Education of Young Children and has served on numerous boards, including the High Scope Educational Foundation, the Institute for Psychoanalysis, Business People in the Public Interest, the Great Books Foundation, the Chicago Public Library Foundation, and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

Dean of the China Global Philanthropy Institute

William Liu is currently Professor of Space Physics, National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Yangtze Chair Professor, College of Electronic and Information Sciences, Wuhan University. He is a Special National Expert advising the Chinese Government on space science and international cooperation. He obtained a Ph.D. from the Department of Space Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, in 1987. After a brief stint in the US as a postdoctoral fellow, William went to the Department of Physics, University of Alberta, joining the Canadian Network for Space Research, In 1995, William joined the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to manage its programs in solar-terrestrial sciences. In this role he rose to become the most senior scientist in the CSA.

William was a founding member and then Chair of International Living with a Star, an interagency program coordinating more than $5 billion space assets in operation or development. In 2012, William was recruited by the Chinese Government through its talent program “1000 People Project” and appointed as Chief Scientist of the Kuafu Project, a three-satellite mission studying the physics of how solar energy eruptions develop into “space weather” in the Earth environment. William has a keen entrepreneurial interest and is Founder of three companies. He is particularly skilled in bridging the gap between cutting-edge researches and the market.  

Dr. Wang Qinghong is a founding member of the East-West Philanthropy Forum (EWPF), currently serving as Executive Vice President of the EWPF, Adjunct Researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Chief International Cooperation Officer at the China Global Philanthropy Institute (CGPI). He is frequently interviewed by Reuters, Al Jazeera and other international mainstream media on US-China relations, the North Korea Nuclear Crisis and the Iran Nuclear Crisis, among other security threats.

He is currently pursuing a postdoctoral program at Peking University, focusing on the role and impact of cooperation between the East and the West along the One Belt One Road initiatives.

Dr. Ray Yip is a global health specialist with program development and management experience in Nutrition, Maternal & Child Health, Immunization, Emergency Response, Infectious Disease Control and HIV/AIDS with 25 years of overseas experience including 20 years in China. Currently, Dr. Yip serves as a Special Advisor to Gates Ventures on China Partnership Development. Additionally, he provides strategic advice for organizations on business or partnership development in China and he also supports Chinese health and technology enterprises who want to invest in Africa to improve access to medical service.

Dr. Yip served as the Chief of Health and Nutrition for UNICEF in China and later as the Country Director of CDC and the Global Aids Program in China from 1998 to 2007. He then served as the founding Director of the China Program for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation from 2007 to 2015. Dr. Yip is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School and School of Public Health and certified as a pediatric hematologist-oncologist.

Mrs. Hanna is retired from the U.S. Federal government where she worked first as an inspector/auditor and then as a management officer for the U.S. Diplomatic Service. After retirement, she was the Director of Human Resources for two non-profit organizations and later was an advisor at the International Monetary Fund. She also started consulting businesses in human resources management and in conflict resolution.