Christine Sow joined Humentum as CEO & President in November 2019 from a 25-year career in international development, having worked at all levels of the sector from providing technical assistance to leading global operations and project management in some of the sector’s largest organizations.

A seasoned convener and coalition-builder, Dr. Sow brings deep experience in best practices associated with organizational membership models, having relaunched and led the Global Health Council, which connects advocates, implementers and stakeholders around global health priorities worldwide. Most recently Dr. Sow led Palladium’s impact bond work and directed the first development impact bond for maternal and newborn health in India in addition to providing oversight to Palladium’s USAID-funded health portfolio. Prior to joining Palladium, she served as Chief Operating Officer of Population Services International, where she led global operations across more than 60 countries.

Over the span of her career, Dr. Sow has worked for non-profit, academic, bilateral and multilateral agencies and spent more than 14 years in West Africa with organizations including UNICEF and USAID. She has been actively engaged in numerous global and national policy and partnership forums including the World Bank’s Civil Society Consultative Group for Health, Nutrition and Population and the Global Working Group of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She holds a PhD in epidemiology from Tulane University, two Masters Degrees from the University of Michigan, a bachelor degree from Vassar College, and is fluent in French and English.

Published content:
Opinion: New harmonized financial reporting will truly shift power (Devex, October 2024)
Practical steps to strengthen relationships between funders, grantees, and community stakeholders (Alliance Magazine, October 2024)
Speaker at The Future Can’t Wait: Shaping Tomorrow, Today, Devex at UNGA 79, September 2023, 
From buzzwords to blueprints: building a more equitable and transparent funding system (March, 2024)
Shifting the power and breaking norms (December, 2023)
Transforming global development with Dr. Christine Sow (December, 2023)
Dr. Christine Sow on embracing local expertise and equitable practices (September, 2023)
Humentum’s Christine Sow on operationalizing locally led development (Devex, 2023)
The NGO starvation cycle is global. Here are three recommendations for funders (Alliance Magazine, 2022)
Opinion: A necessary operating model for equity in global development (Devex, 2022)
Opinion: How INGO CEOs are acting their way into the future (Devex, 2021)
Opinion: Post-pandemic opportunities to improve global development (Devex, 2020)
COVID-19 reveals weak spots in NGO contingency planning (Devex, 2020)
Careers During COVID – with Dr. Christine Sow (Devex, 2020)