Professional Experience:
I am a Nigeria-trained medical doctor, public health, and health development professional, with more than 15 years’ experience and significant accomplishments. I have designed, delivered, and evaluated health projects and programs for community and state health systems in Nigeria and other African countries, in collaboration with governments, Universities, UN agencies and other development partners. I have led the implementation of USG, GAVI, Global Fund, and Global Affairs Canada (GAC) funded health projects, providing guidance in relation to my core areas of expertise which include maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (MNCAH) & nutrition, health systems strengthening, program design, implementation and management, quality improvement in health care, strategic planning, program management, capacity development and evaluation of health programs. I have also gained considerable experience in conducting and analyzing quantitative and qualitative research.
In the past, I successfully led teams and programs to achieve organizational priorities, plans and objectives. I have led the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the different Maternal & Child Health and Nutrition projects including Iron & Folic Acid Supplementation (IFAS) for pregnant women, Vitamin A Supplementation (VAS) and the Zinc LO-ORS supplementation for children under five years old. While working at Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Nigeria Program as the Head of the Health Systems Strengthening (HSS) Unit, I oversaw 55 staff on four (4) health development projects. The projects included the Core Group Partners (Polio) Project (CGPP), a Polio Eradication initiative; the Global Fund Sub-recipient grant for HIV which included strong PMTCT and Pediatric HIV components; the GAVI-funded CSO Constituency Health System Strengthening project; and the Nutrition International-funded Vitamin A Supplementation (VAS) project. Under my watch, we saw the projects and programs under the HSS Unit flourish and record outstanding achievements. Our team played a key role in ensuring that Nigeria achieved the Polio-free status in 2020. A documentary was produced to showcase the work we did. This can be viewed at: https://1drv.ms/v/s!BHIgX1EhT46ak49U_hb8J-lzrmNzyg?e=jwW2TO.
In 2018, I was in Ghana to lead the start-up of the Developing Acute Care and Emergency Referral Systems (ACERS) Maternal and Child Health Implementation Research Project. I also provided technical assistance to the CRS North-East Nigeria Office team on Nutrition, leading to the development of a Nutritional Supplementation Implementation Manual which is currently in use globally by the Emergency/Humanitarian Programs at CRS. The manual can be found at: https://www.crs.org/sites/default/files/tools-research/21os-307544_tom_brown_high_res.pdf.
Having held several leadership positions and worked in complex relationships with governments, donors and other development partners, I have learnt to maintain strategic communication with high sensitivity to data and information-sharing in an ethical, confidential and trustworthy manner. I am highly proficient with the use of Microsoft Office software including MS Word, MS Excel, MS Power Point and Publisher. I have proven excellent verbal and written communication skills in English. I am adept at data collection, assessment, and reporting. I have several years of experience in providing short-term consultancies covering end-of-project evaluations and capacity development for Program Managers and health professionals.