Gary Saffitz

I am a seasoned communication professional with a life-long career focused on improving the health and well-being of families across the globe. As much personal mission as employment, I have worked in over 25 countries in a wide range of areas including: family planning, safe delivery, nutrition (1,000 days), MCH/MNCH, WASH, malaria, HIV/AIDS, gender, tobacco control, and chronic disease. Much of this work has focused on designing national strategies and country based programs, combining advocacy, strategic communication, social marketing, and social/behavior change interventions that result in measurable and often times game changing impact. I bring considerable experience working with the public sector and host country governments; not for profits, private sector, academia, and foundations along with excellent relationships built on years of collaboration with donors, international organizations, and host country NGOs. During this time I was a Vice President/Account Group Head at Porter Novelli; Founder and President of my own agency; Deputy Director/Associate Director/Senior Faculty at the Johns Hopkins Center For Communication Programs; Advocacy Manager at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition; and more recently the Executive Director – Operations and Administration at the Mbirikani Clinic, a remarkable rural health facility located among the remote Maasai ranches in south eastern Kenya. These experiences have allowed me to work at the global, national, community, local and most-underserved community levels; providing a deep understanding of the opportunities and challenges at and across these levels and an enormous appreciation and respect for the people who work, live and do their best to survive and thrive in making better lives. I also bring an excellent reputation as a leader, collaborator, innovator, and hands-on practitioner; known for integrity, vision, mentoring, and getting results. My interests are in working with like-minded organizations who are out to create meaningful and sustainable change that directly improves the lives and well-being of families throughout the world.