Washington—Humentum today announced that its board of directors has appointed Christine Sow, PhD, MPH, MA, as Chief Executive Officer, starting November 18th. Dr. Sow joins Humentum with 25 years of proven success designing, managing, and leading global health programs, including 15 years working in francophone Africa.
“I am so pleased and proud that Dr. Sow will lead our organization as we continue to expand the voice of our community in this time of sector transformation and deliver enhanced value utilizing our growing organizational, digital, and local capabilities,” said Richard Collier-Keywood, chair of the Humentum board of directors. “Dr. Sow has a deep passion for our mission, and the leadership track record and breadth of non-profit, academic, and international development experience we believe are critical to lead Humentum successfully into the future. Speaking on behalf of the board, we welcome Dr. Sow and look forward to working closely with her as CEO.”
A recognized thought leader and public speaker, Dr. Sow has broad experience in advocacy and technical programming around health systems, sexual and reproductive health and rights, malaria, HIV/AIDS, and child survival. She has worked with boards of directors to develop and implement sustainable change and expand resources and partners – notably, she led the relaunch of Global Health Council, the membership organization which connects advocates, implementers and stakeholders around global health priorities worldwide. She is a skilled operations director who has provided oversight to teams and annual budgets of all sizes, from a three-person start-up with a budget of less than $1 million, to a multi-team division overseeing a staff of more than 4,000 and an annual budget exceeding $400 million.
Before joining Humentum, Dr. Sow led Palladium’s impact bond work, directing the world’s first maternal and child health development impact bond, supported by USAID, UBS Bank Optimus Foundation, and Merck for Mothers. As Senior Director of Country Programs, Dr. Sow was instrumental in providing oversight and guidance to a portfolio of more than 20 global and bilateral projects within Palladium’s health practice, and led Palladium’s Journey to Self-Reliance task force, developing recommendations to effectively respond to the U.S. government’s increasing emphasis on country-level capacity strengthening, contracting ability, and sustainability.
Over the span of her career, Dr. Sow has worked for non-profit, academic, bilateral and multilateral agencies across more than 30 countries worldwide. Prior to her role at Palladium, Dr. Sow served as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Population Services International (PSI). Before joining PSI, she was President and Executive Director at the Global Health Council, and also served as Vice President of International Programs at Plan International USA. She has also held positions with UNICEF and USAID, Family Health International and Tulane and Georgetown Universities. She has native proficiency in English and French.
Sarah Degnan Kambou, PhD, President and CEO of the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) and Humentum member commented, “ICRW relies on Humentum for its wealth of knowledge and experience in operational excellence. Christine’s career is the embodiment of the Humentum mission; they have chosen a leader with deep experience directing operations across so many organizations and cultures in order to build a better world.”
“I am honored and excited to lead Humentum at a time when our industry is adapting to the new realities of international development and the challenge of meeting the Sustainable Development Agenda,” said Dr. Sow. “Humentum plays a unique and critical role in supporting partners to do their best quality work, and we look forward to expanding upon this promise to new geographies in the Global South. Equally as exciting, I look forward to leading Humentum to increasingly serve as an advocacy platform for improved ethical and impactful practice across the sector.”
Dr. Sow participated in a webinar for Humentum members on December 5 and will be participating in several member and client events throughout early 2020 to engage the community around their needs, challenges, and aspirations.
Dr. Sow succeeds Tom Dente, who stepped down as CEO in July 2019. Chris Proulx, Global Director of Membership Engagement and Learning, served as interim CEO up until Dr. Sow’s appointment.
About Humentum
Humentum is a global membership network providing training, convening, and consulting support for organizations working for social good by strengthening capacities: managing compliance and risk, stewarding finances, managing effective programs, and helping people perform at their best. Humentum serves development, humanitarian, civil society, and other international social sector organizations with a focus on supporting operational excellence for its members. For more information, please visit https://www.humentum.org.
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