As a Senior Consultant at GHV, Ilana Kirsztajn works with the infectious disease program, advocacy, and communications team at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Working across malaria, HIV, TB, and neglected tropical diseases, she brings technical expertise, along with experience in policy development, strategy, and grants management to this portfolio.
Ilana has 15+ years of expertise in global health and international development, health systems strengthening, and global education. She began her career as a Program Manager with the Clinton Health Access Initiative seconded into the Ministry of Health in Mozambique to support lab systems strengthening. Later, she managed large technical assistance projects at PEPFAR; served as Advisor to the Minister of Health in Lesotho as Vice Chair of the Global Fund Board; and developed the Global Fund’s 5-year strategy as a Strategy and Policy Advisor. Immediately before joining GHV, Ilana took a break from her work in global health and spent four years at the Global Partnership for Education, a trust fund within the World Bank, focused on increasing access to quality education globally.
Ilana holds a Bachelor of Arts from Smith College and a Master of Public Health from Yale University’s School of Public Health. She has lived on 5 continents and worked in 20 countries across Africa, Asia, Central and South America, and Europe. She currently resides in France.
Outside of work, Ilana can be found with her family, hiking, biking, or swimming in beautiful Lake Annecy.
Areas of Expertise:
• Policy development
• Program management
• Multilateral governance
• Strategic partnerships
• Monitoring and evaluation