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Leah Dyson brings over two decades of experience within human services and the pursuit of health, social, and justice equity as a strategic planner, organizational and business developer, partnership builder, and facilitator. She has expertise in behavioral health, direct community programming, and support to priority populations. Dyson has worked on technical assistance, implementation, capacity-building, organizational transformation, and qualitative evaluation efforts with a number federal agencies and partners, including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and Veterans Health Administration (VHA). She also has worked within academic, nonprofit, and local government spaces, implementing informed and practical responses to organizational and community needs and bridging diverse stakeholder perspectives.

As senior health informatics advisor at Abt, Miquel Sitjar provides technical leadership for comprehensive digital health solutions on projects in 30 countries. Having previously led health informatics on USAID’s Infectious Disease Detection and Surveillance project at ICF, he has crucial expertise expanding capacity and interoperable systems for real-time surveillance and pathogen identification in 22 countries. His extensive background in epidemiological and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance, as well as medical research, health policy, cybersecurity, and supply chain management in over 30 countries greatly enhances Abt’s global health security approaches.

Dr. Stephanie Frost has over 15 years of experience working in public health research and evaluation, in areas including program evaluation, communications formative research, and evaluation technical assistance. Dr. Frost specializes in chronic disease prevention and management but has also leveraged her technical skillset to lead projects focused on adolescent health, the opioid epidemic, and Veteran-related disability. Having worked at the federal, state, and local levels and having produced research products for a range of audiences, she brings a strong understanding of the different informational needs across stakeholder groups and the importance of translating research to build capacity and facilitate program improvement. With a background in the social determinants of health and assessing the contextual factors influencing public health and public health programs, Dr. Frost also applies an implementation science lens to her work and has led multiple implementation-focused studies.  Her work has helped clients identify and address research and practice gaps, implement workflows, assess program impacts, and reach key audiences with critical public health-focused information and resources. Through her work she has also developed numerous reports, briefs, informational materials, presentations, and peer-reviewed publications.

Alexandra Nastase is the Chief Technical Director, based in London. She has more than 15 years of experience in design, implementation, and evaluation of large reform and technical assistance programs to improve public sector performance and strengthen civil society.Nastase has held leadership and senior advisory roles for multi-million technical assistance programs funded by World Bank, European Commission, World Food Programme, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Australian Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade, United Nations Development Program, and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO).

Nicole Keane, MSN, RN, CPHQ has an extensive clinical and research background in healthcare quality improvement, measure development, team-building and formative evaluation in post-acute and primary care settings. Her focus is providing technical assistance to healthcare systems and clinicians to drive quality improvement through learning and implementing the skills of measure development, implementation, benchmarking, analysis, and report writing.

Shelly Spoeth brings more than 25 years of strategic communication and social marketing experience to tackling complex health and social issues.  She  worked for a decade with pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients while at public relations firms including Ketchum, FleishmanHillard and Cohn & Wolfe. She then worked as a consultant for government and nonprofit clients, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on behavioral change challenges ranging from HIV/AIDS to COVID-19. Spoeth has implemented, evaluated, and managed dozens of projects that improved health outcomes. Her capabilities include formative research and digital outreach.

Lisa Tarantino has 25 years of experience designing, managing, and evaluating complex global health and development programs. She has managed global, regional, and national initiatives for health finance, system strengthening, and private sector financing in 20+ countries. Lisa is a thought leader in sustainable approaches that enable transition from development partner support. Lisa has been a professor and advisor to the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs’ Economic and Political Development program and the Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies’ International Development program.

Tarekegn Abate Biru has more than 25 years of experience working in the Ethiopian health, finance, and economic development sectors. He has held senior positions on USAID projects and in government.As a health care financing expert, Biru has provided technical support in planning, implementing, and assessing the implementation of health care financing reforms throughout Ethiopia. This includes training and supportive supervision to strengthen the capacity of decision-makers and front-line implementers at all levels of the health system.