Kristen has worked in global health and development for the past 17 years, with an emphasis on strategic advocacy, accountability, and policy change efforts for women’s and children’s health. She has deep knowledge in immunization as well as broad experience with strategic planning and execution of advocacy and communications efforts.  

Since joining Global Health Visions in 2012, Kristen has worked extensively for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, providing strategic guidance and support to foundation advocacy and communications teams including family planning; maternal, newborn and child health; tobacco control; water, sanitation and hygiene; enteric and diarrheal diseases; pneumonia; and global delivery programs. As part of this support, she has often focused on cross-cutting realms such as resource mobilization, health systems strengthening, issue integration, civil society coordination and capacity strengthening, and accountability systems.

For the past five years, she has worked in depth on immunization, playing a role in the successful resource mobilization efforts for Gavi 5.0 and the COVAX facility. She also works in particular depth on cholera elimination, supporting the efforts of the Global Task Force on Cholera Control (GTFCC) secretariat at the World Health Organization, the GTFCC Country Support Platform at IFRC, the Gates Foundation, and the Wellcome Trust. Kristen has also worked as a consultant for organizations including the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), the Paul Allen Foundation, several WHO teams, and the UN Population Fund.

Prior to joining GHV, she worked as Director for the City University of New York's Institute for Health Equity, helping to support the capacity of community-based organizations and developing a multi-year research initiative to uncover causes of persistently high infant mortality in the South Bronx. She started her career at the United Nations Association of the USA – a grassroots organization of Americans dedicated to championing the UN system, supported by the UN Foundation.

Kristen holds a Master of Public Health degree from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, a Master of Public Administration degree from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Haverford College.

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