Dr. Mary-Ann Etiebet

Lead

Dr. Mary-Ann Etiebet has two decades of experience improving healthcare outcomes for underserved populations and transforming healthcare delivery at the frontlines. She serves as AVP for Health Equity at Merck and the Lead of Merck for Mothers*, Merck's $500M global health initiative to help create a world where no woman has to die giving life. Since 2011, Merck for Mothers programs and partnerships have resulted in healthy pregnancies and safe deliveries for over 13M women in 50 countries.

Building on her experiences as a physician, researcher, implementer, funder and advocate across the public, private and global development sectors, Dr. Etiebet brings a diverse set of perspectives to advancing health equity. She joined Merck from Premier Inc, where she was a Principal Consultant in the Population Health Management team. Previously, she served as Director of Ambulatory Care Strategies for New York City Health and Hospital. Her work in global health includes serving as the Senior Technical Advisor of the Institute of Human Virology-Nigeria, a PEPFAR implementing partner, while she was Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Disease at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Dr. Etiebet holds an MD and MBA from Yale University. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell and fellowship in Infectious Diseases Hospital System at New York-Presbyterian Columbia University Medical Center, becoming Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases. She is a member of the Center for Global Development Board of Directors, the Board of Trustees of Vital Strategies, and the Advisory Committee for the Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Health Equity Leadership at Yale University. She also serves as the private sector representative on the World Health Organization (WHO) hosted Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health Board and the Investors Group of the World Bank’s Global Financing Facility.

* for Mothers is known as MSD for Mothers outside of the U.S. and Canada.

Ms. Jacquelyn Caglia, MPH

Head, Merck for Mothers
Director, Social Impact and Sustainability

Jacquelyn (Jacque) Caglia brings over 20 years of experience in public health and global development to her role as Head of Merck for Mothers within the company's Social Impact and Sustainability team. In this leadership position, she drives the strategic vision and implementation of Merck's global health initiative aimed at ending preventable maternal deaths. Jacque leads a dedicated team focused on improving maternal health outcomes and fostering transformative public-private partnerships with collaborators and grantees around the world. She joined Merck in 2019 as part of the Merck for Mothers team, and previously managed strategic communications, impact evaluation, and U.S. programs.

Prior to joining Merck for Mothers, Jacque served as Associate Director of the Women and Health Initiative at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where she directed knowledge management and communications for the Maternal Health Task Force, co-authored the Lancet Commission on Women and Health report, oversaw administration and operations, and taught a course on gender and health.

Earlier in her career, Jacque was Program Director at World Connect, a nonprofit organization focused on community-led solutions to improve the health and well-being of women and children. She has also worked with the Institute for Community Health, researching the impacts of race, ethnicity, language, and culture on health services. Her experience includes evaluating health interventions and communicating their outcomes with organizations such as the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy and Circle of Health International. Jacque began her public health career with the Montgomery County Health Department in Pennsylvania and served as a community health specialist in the Dominican Republic with the Peace Corps.

Jacque holds bachelor's degrees in biology and psychology and a master's degree in public health, all from Boston University. She is a proud alumna of WomenLift Health. With a deep commitment to health and community engagement, Jacque leverages the power of collaboration and innovative solutions to create lasting change in maternal health outcomes and inspire future generations of leaders in corporate social impact.

Ms. Allyson Coniglione, MPH

Communications Manager

Allyson Coniglione is a health care communications professional with expertise in both consumer and scientific communications across a variety of disease areas. She holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Health Communication and Maternal & Child Health from the Boston University School of Public Health. During her graduate studies, she completed a fellowship with the Boston Healthy Start Initiative, where she supported the planning and implementation of a community coalition aimed at reducing infant mortality rates and addressing racial disparities in maternal and child health.

Prior to her MPH, Allyson earned a Bachelor of Science in Human Ecology from SUNY Oneonta. She is passionate about using strategic communication to support meaningful health care initiatives and improve health outcomes.

Mr. Scott Higgins

Director of Operations, for Mothers

Scott Higgins is an accomplished business executive with over 25 years of experience in the health care industry with a focus on Corporate Responsibility. As the Director of Operations for for Mothers, he leads strategy and execution for ’s $500MM initiative to ensure that no woman has to die while giving life. His responsibilities include strategy development and execution, project and portfolio management, financial management, contracting and oversight over portfolios related to evidence generation and innovative finance approaches.

Prior to his current role, Scott has served in leadership roles in Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) chemical manufacturing, environmental control operations, strategic sourcing and process improvement. Scott led the /Schering-Plough merger efforts to deliver savings of over $600MM.

Scott is a Board Member of the Aspen Management Partnership for Health. He earned a degree from Bucknell University and is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt.

Mr. Jeffrey Jacobs

Director of Product Innovation and Market Access, for Mothers

Jeff Jacobs has two decades of experience in the areas of regional leadership, marketing, health policy and corporate responsibility, with a keen interest in expanding access to quality treatment. As the Director of Product Innovation and Market Access, he is responsible for the end-to-end management and market introduction of products and technologies that seek to reduce maternal mortality in partnership with public and private partners. This work includes the coordination of internal and external stakeholders across work streams that include product development, supply chain, affordability, market shaping and market introduction.

Prior to for Mothers, Jeff held regional responsibility for Latin America and the Caribbean for virology (HIV and Hepatitis) at . Earlier in his career, he managed the Company's longest running corporate responsibility project, the Mectizan Donation Program focused on river blindness (onchocerciasis), and held positions based in Latin America and Central Asia/Caucuses, as well as other roles in Asia and Africa. Prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry, Jeff worked for World Learning, a non-profit supporting nascent, local organizations in the former Soviet Union and for CARE International, where he managed humanitarian assistance programs in the same region. He initially joined CARE in Togo, West Africa, supporting the implementation of various development projects, with a primary focus on micro-enterprise. Jeff’s initial entry into the development field was in Côte d‘Ivoire, working on micro-enterprise development.

Jeff earned a master’s in International Management from Arizona State University Thunderbird School of Global Management and a Bachelors in International Studies from the School for International Training (World Learning).

Ms. Iyadunni Olubode

Lead of Nigeria & Kenya Programs

Iyadunni Olubode has over 17 years of experience in private and development sectors in Nigeria. She is a strong advocate for the development of youth and women in Nigeria as key contributors to the economy. As Consultant and Nigeria Director, Iyadunni is responsible for the Nigeria Portfolio.

Prior to for Mothers, Iyadunni was Executive Director of LEAP Africa, a non-profit focused on leadership development for youth and entrepreneurs. In this role, she oversaw the development and implementation of several capacity development programs in collaboration with private and public-sector stakeholders and development partners. She also worked as a management consultant with Accenture on a range of strategy and talent management engagements in the energy, financial services, products and public sector.

Iyadunni earned her MSc in Energy Economics from University of Surrey, Guildford and a BSc in Economics from University of Lagos. She is a certified in the Prosci Change Management methodology.

Mr. John Reading

Contracts Manager, for Mothers

John Reading is a contracts management professional with a successful track record of managing complex, multi-sectoral programs and strategic initiatives in both the public and private sectors. As the Contracts Manager, he is responsible for managing the for Mothers contracts and compliance processes across all of our programs around the world.

Prior to for Mothers, John was the Compliance Officer and a Portfolio Incentives Officer, with the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, managing the Authority’s tax incentive programs throughout the state of New Jersey. John started his professional career with Novartis International AG as an Ethics and Compliance Associate.

John earned a B.S. in Administration of Justice from Rutgers University and a JD from Loyola University College of Law. He is an admitted attorney in New York and New Jersey.

Ms. Pompy Sridhar

India Director, for Mothers

Pompy Sridhar has two decades of experience working in health care and the financial sector in India, and is a strong advocate for using market-based approaches to tackle social challenges. She firmly believes in aligning financial incentives to drive improved quality of care among providers and brings strong relationships with government, private sector, and development partners to the team. As the India Director, Pompy is responsible for for Mothers’ India Portfolio.

Prior to for Mothers, Pompy was with ICICI Group for almost a decade, and led the development of financial inclusion initiatives, health insurance and microinsurance products to increase access to affordable health care. More recently, she offered advisory services for the development of the primary health care component of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana and for the Insurance Industry, including companies such as the Manipal Group and IFMR Rural Finance. Pompy also contributed to the development of Aadhaar enabled solutions for health care and insurance. Aadhaar is the world's largest biometric ID system, with over 1.123 billion enrolled members.

Pompy earned a master’s degree in Occupational Therapy from Seth GS Medical College and KEM Hospital, and did her diploma in Management from Symbiosis. She went to the London School of Economics on Chevening Scholarship for a course on Leadership and Globalization. Pompy has also served as a faculty for the Wharton Executive Education program. She has won the NABARD AWARD for Innovation from the Union Finance Minister of India in 2012.

Ms. Wilna Paulemon

Associate Director of U.S. Programs, for Mothers

Wilna Paulemon is a public health professional with a passion for promoting health equity and improving global maternal health outcomes. As Associate Director of U.S. Programs, she is responsible for supporting activities related to the U.S. Safer Childbirth Cities initiative and priority global maternal health advocacy engagements.

Wilna first joined the for Mothers team in 2019 as a graduate summer associate through the internship program. Her tasks included developing recommendations for the community of practice of the Safer Childbirth Cities initiative and supporting other activities related to the announcement of the first cohort of grantees under the Safer Childbirth Cities initiative in the fall of 2019.

Prior to her role as Associate Director of U.S. Programs at for Mothers, Wilna worked at Partners In Health, where she developed COVID-19 related materials that helped public sector partners implement effective and equitable pandemic response programs. She also has experience as a global health consultant, where she supported various programmatic, policy and strategic projects focused on COVID-19, vaccine confidence and health systems strengthening.

Wilna holds bachelor’s degrees in Community Health and Child Development from Tufts University and a master’s degree in Public Health from Columbia University.