Dr. Anne Swindale has over 20 years of experience providing technical assistance in food security and nutrition strategy and program assessment, design, monitoring and evaluation, with an emphasis on food aid programs. She has extensive experience with the collection, management and analysis of large and complex primary income, expenditure and consumption data sets from households and individuals; and with program impact measurement and performance reporting. Her technical background is complemented by many years of field work in Latin America. Dr. Swindale has a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University with a specialization in food, nutrition, agricultural policies and development economics. She is fluent in Spanish.

Deborah Ash, based in Tanzania, brings a wealth of experience in quality assurance, nutrition research, social marketing of nutrition products, and program management. Before joining AED, Deborah worked for University Research Corporation as the Deputy Chief of Party for the USAID Health Care Improvement Project in Tanzania where she developed a national initiative for quality improvement of HIV care, treatment and PMTCT services. Prior to that, she worked for Harvard University on a number of cutting-edge research projects focused on micronutrient supplementation, home fortification, anemia prevention, and HIV. She has partnered with private sector companies in Tanzania to support social marketing of innovative nutrition products. Deborah has a Ph.D. in Nutrition from Cornell University. She is fluent in French and Kiswahili.

Before joining AED, Dr. Gilles Bergeron spent 8 years with the International Food Policy Research Institute and the Institute of Nutrition for Central America and Panama. During that time, he conducted research on natural resources and sustainable agriculture; developing and validating user-friendly methods for the detection of food insecurity and the design of intervention programs. He served as the FANTA food security advisor and as team leader for the Monitoring & Evaluation Cluster before becoming the project's deputy director. Dr. Bergeron comes with a Ph.D. from Cornell University in development sociology, and a strong background in research methods. He is a native French speaker and is fluent in Spanish and English.

Kevin Blythe has provided backstopping and communications assistance to projects at AED in the areas of education, maternal and child health, and avian influenza. Before joining AED, Kevin worked for six years in natural resources conservation. He has Master's degrees in Food and Resource Economics and Latin American Studies from the University of Florida with concentrations in agricultural extension and tropical conservation. Kevin conducted research on food security and watershed management in Haiti. He speaks Spanish, French, and Haitian Creole, and is a professional photographer.

Kristen Cashin is a Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition Specialist with the FANTA-2 Project. She focuses on child survival and women's nutrition and serves as FANTA-2's liaison to the CORE Group. Her experience includes supporting food security and maternal child health programs in Senegal, Vietnam and Tajikistan. She has also worked with child survival, microcredit and maternal and child health programs in Peru. Most recently she developed a regional anemia prevention program for adolescent girls in East and Southern Africa and is currently working to implement the Essential Nutrition Actions in East Africa. Kristen holds an MS degree in Food Policy and Applied Nutrition from Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition. She speaks Spanish.

Tony Castleman has more than 15 years of experience designing and managing programs and providing technical assistance and program guidance in the areas of nutrition, food security, child health, and HIV/AIDS. Before joining AED, Tony spent six years as the Director of an NGO in India that implements a range of health, nutrition, education, and poverty alleviation projects. He also worked for the World Bank for one year on applications of participatory appraisal methods in Morocco. Tony has an Ph.D. in Economics from George Washington University. He is fluent in Hindi.

Camila Chaparro has been involved in the development, conduct and analysis of population-based nutrition research in both international and domestic settings for the past nine years; previous areas of work include determining approaches for supporting early breastfeeding initiation, evaluating breastfeeding practices and barriers, assessing infant and child growth, and investigating strategies to prevent iron deficiency during infancy, such as delayed umbilical cord clamping. Prior to joining FANTA-2, Camila worked at the Pan American Health Organization, where she was involved in developing material to promote the adoption of essential delivery care practices to improve maternal and infant nutrition. She holds a Ph.D. in Nutrition, with an emphasis in International Nutrition, from the University of California, Davis. She speaks Spanish.

Diane De Bernardo has 12 years of experience in humanitarian aid and international development. She has previously worked in the Balkans and Africa with NGOs and multi-lateral organizations, and in USAID’s Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance based in the DC headquarters. Her focus in recent years has been emergency nutrition. Diane has an MPH from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health with a focus on Public Health Nutrition. She is fluent in French.

Hedwig Deconinck has 20 years of experience in emergency health and nutrition with the International Committee of the Red Cross, as an academic researcher at CRED School of Public Health Louvain, as a WHO staffmember, and a program manager with Save the Children. She comes to FANTA from Save the Children where she most recently served as Senior Emergency Nutrition Advisor. She holds an MA in Social and Cultural Anthropology, an MSc in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and an MPH in Developing Countries. Her mother tongue is Dutch; she is fluent in English and French.

Sara Desai comes to the FANTA-2 project from AED's Center for International Exchanges where she provided administrative and logistical support for CIE's International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). Sara received her bachelor's degree in Sociology from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. After graduating from university, Sara spent a year abroad in Paris, France and Santiago, Chile where she lived and worked, and further developed her love of languages and other cultures. She speaks French and Spanish.

Dr. Serigne Mbaye Dične has over 30 years of experience working in public health nutrition including 13 years with AED. Before joining FANTA-2, Dr. Diene worked for 8 years for the USAID-funded BASICS I and II projects as West and Central Africa Regional Nutrition Advisor based in Dakar and Nutrition Team Leader based in Arlington. He was seconded to Helen Keller International in 2005 and 2007 to provide technical support to the MOST project and USAID/OFDA in the areas of micronutrients, nutrition and HIV, food security and emergency programs for West Africa. His technical expertise includes program planning and evaluation in public health and nutrition, food security, and community development. Dr. Diene holds a PhD in Nutrition from Cornell University and an MPH in Nutritional Epidemiology from Tulane University, as well as a Diploma of Specialized Studies (DESS) in Public Health and Nutrition from the University of Paris 1 Sorbonne. He speaks French and Wolof.

Megan Deitchler has more than 10 years of experience in the areas of infant and young child feeding, micronutrients, food security, survey design and sampling methods (including Lot Quality Assurance Sampling), and program monitoring and evaluation (M&E) for nutrition and food security programs. Megan has Master of Public Health degree from Tulane University with a specialization in the field of international nutrition. She speaks French.

Rachel Elrom comes to FANTA-2 with communications experience in migration and refugee issues with the International Catholic Migration Commission in Geneva. Rachel has a B.A. in International Relations and Muslim Studies from Michigan State University’s James Madison College of Public Affairs. She is a native Hebrew and English speaker.

Heather Finegan's previous work includes managing web sites for USAID's Office of Women in Development. She specializes in print and web development for project communications and emphasizes design for the global audience. Heather has a Master of Science degree in Information Systems from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Wendy Hammond has 19 years of experience in program assessment, design and management related to maternal and child health and nutrition, HIV/AIDS prevention, education, and child development. Before joining FANTA she worked with infant and young child feeding and prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, India, and Jordan under the LINKAGES Project. Previously she worked for 13 years with Norwegian Save the Children in Southeast and South Asia, consulted for international organizations and NGOs in Asia and Africa, and served as a Peace Corps nutrition volunteer in Colombia. Her experience includes development of guidelines and training materials, teaching and training, and technical writing. Wendy has a Master's degree in education from Reed College. She speaks French, Spanish, Norwegian, Thai, and Khmer.

Before joining the FANTA project, Charles Hess developed project communications products for Chemonics International. Charles received his Master's degree in International Development from the University of Denver in 2005 and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania from 2000 to 2002. He speaks Swahili.

Rabi Lamichhane has 10 years of experience in financial management and accounting with United Nations’ agencies and NGOs in Nepal. He worked as Administration and Finance Officer at United Nations Development Program in Nepal where he oversaw the financial management of a complex multi-donor project. Rabi has a Master’s in Business Administration as well as in Sociology from the Tribhuvan University at Katmandu, Nepal and is pursuing his accounting MBA from Maharishi University of Management at Iowa. He is a native Nepali speaker and is fluent in English and Hindi.

Emily Levitt has worked in international development since 1996, specializing in public nutrition and its integration with other sectors, such as health and agriculture. She has experience as an ethnographer, collecting and analyzing both qualitative and quantitative datasets. Her recent work has emphasized policy and strategy support at the national level. Emily has worked extensively in Bolivia, Haiti, Senegal and Afghanistan. Before joining FANTA-2, Emily consulted for the World Bank, USAID BASICS III Project, and the UN FAO assisting with nutrition planning for Afghanistan. One of her great loves is teaching and she enjoys serving as an adjunct professor in the School of International Service at American University. She holds a M.S. in Community Nutrition and Ph.D. in International Nutrition from Cornell University. She is fluent in Spanish and French, and conversant in Persian, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole.

Kathleen MacDonald has specialized experience in health communications focusing in the areas of nutrition, maternal child and reproductive health. Before joining AED, she worked in Mali for four years. She spent her initial two years there as a Peace Corps volunteer in a rural village working with a midwife in a community health center. Later she worked with CARE and Johns Hopkins Center for Communications Programs to implement a community health education program across Mali. Kathleen has a B.A. in Communications from Marquette University. She speaks French and Bambara.

Nana Maiga comes to FANTA-2 with experience in financial management and accounting of complex international development projects. Before joining AED in 2006, she worked for Hospital Corporation of America. Nana received a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Business Administration degree from Marymount University. She is a native Bambara, French, and Songhai speaker, and she is fluent in English. Nana also has basic language skills in Arabic.

Ellen Mathys has 12 years of experience working in 19 low income countries in the areas of nutrition and food security. From 2004-2006 she served as the Livelihoods Advisor with the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) in Washington, DC. Recently she assisted FANTA and FFP with developing guidance on early warning and response, including trigger indicators, for the PVO community. She has developed global tools and best practice guidance for the UN and the Global Nutrition Cluster related to international nutrition and food security assessment in emergencies as well as integrating food/nutrition and HIV programs in crisis and refugee settings. She has an MPH from Tulane University, with a focus on International Nutrition and Food Security and Complex Emergencies and Disaster Management. She is conversant in French.

Vicky Michener is a social scientist specializing in strategic planning and performance measurement of USAID programs across a variety of sectors including agriculture, natural resource management, microcredit, health, labor, gender equity, education, and democracy and governance. She has extensive experience developing and analyzing monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems. Before joining FANTA, she was the activity development and monitoring and evaluation officer for the USAID country mission to Guinea. Vicky has a Master’s degree in Anthropology and a Certificate in Women in Development from the University of Florida, Gainesville. She is fluent in French.

Phil Moses has over 15 years of experience relevant to maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, food security and behavior change communication. Mr. Moses worked for six years in rural Nicaragua conducting a community-based primary health care project and has provided technical support to PVOs conducting maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS and food security programs in East Africa, Latin America and Haiti for seven years. He has a Master's degree from the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill School of Public Health in Health Behavior and Health Education. He speaks Spanish and French.

Earnest Muyunda, based in Nairobi, brings a rich technical background and 18 years of experience in health and nutriton, including five years with AED as Task Leader of a Global AIDS program and as the LINKAGES Project's Regional Director in Africa. Earnest has extensive experience in managing USAID-funded nutrition and health programs in the region and providing technical assistance in nutrition, HIV, PMTCT, and maternal health. Earnest is a medical doctor and has a Masters in Public Health from University College Dublin.

Robert Mwadime, based in Uganda, has more than 18 years of experience in the design, implementation and evaluation of child health and HIV/AIDS projects with particular emphasis on nutrition. His recent work with the Regional Center for Quality of Health Care (RCQHC) supported development of nutrition guidelines, training, and IEC materials and the design and implementation of short courses related to quality of care of health services, integrated management of childhood illness, and nutrition. Dr. Mwadime received his Ph.D. in Economic Development and Health from Wageningen University, the Netherlands, and his MPH from Johns Hopkins University. He speaks Swahili and Luganda.

Alice Nkoroi, based in Ghana, has more than six years of experience in designing, implementing, managing and providing technical support to nutrition programs. Prior to joining AED, Alice worked for Concern Worldwide as a nutrition manager and advisor in Eritrea, South Sudan, Malawi and Timor Leste. Alice has extensive experience in supporting Ministries of Health in various countries to integrate Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM). Alice holds a Masters degree in Medical Science Human Nutrition from the University of Glasgow in Scotland. Alice is fluent in English and Swahili.

Erica Oakley comes to FANTA-2 from Futures Group International where she helped manage projects in India, Indonesia, and Malawi.  Erica received her bachelor's degree in International Studies from Meredith College in Raleigh, NC.  She studied abroad in Sri Lanka and Madrid, Spain.  She speaks Spanish.

Alain Otárola has over 17 years of experience working on domestic and international development projects on public health, HIV/AIDS, nutrition, and education. He has extensive experience working with international development organizations including CDC, WHO, UN, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, PVOs, and universities. He has intimate knowledge of all project management areas, including contracts and procurement management, financial and budget administration, office operations, coordination and logistics of field activities and operations. He has worked for over 13 years as a translator and editor/proofreader of technical publications in most areas of international development. Mr. Otárola attended the Universidad Austral de Chile majoring in tourism.

Alejandra Santillan comes to FANTA-2 after supporting a range of domestic and international projects at AED. She provided logistical and programmatic support for multiple NIH projects and financial field support for various USAID projects. Before coming to AED, Alejandra was a junior accountant at Emerging Markets Group. She also served as reporter/editor of a monthly publication with distribution throughout the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Alejandra received her bachelor's degree in International Relations from Texas State University. She speaks English, Spanish and French.

Dr. Kavita Sethuraman has over 15 years experience working on Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition in community-based nutrition programs, policy-level analysis, program design and management, technical assistance, and capacity-building in Bangladesh, Ghana, India, and the South Pacific. Before joining AED, Kavita spent six years working at an international NGO undertaking research on the linkages between nutrition and gender in South Asia and West Africa. She conducted primary research in South India looking at the association between women’s empowerment and child growth. Her technical expertise includes qualitative and quantitative mixed method research, gender analysis, and capacity-building. She holds a PhD in Nutrition from the Centre for International Health and Development, Institute of Child Health, University College London, UK, and an M.S. degree in Nutrition from the School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. She is fluent in French.

Pam Sutton is a senior writer and editor who has been with AED since 2001. A veteran journalist, Pam spent nearly 20 years as a news and rewrite editor with The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and U.S. News & World Report. At AED, Pam has worked for Information Services, the Center for Social Marketing and Behavior Change, the Communications Department, and several Centers and projects throughout the organization. Pam's strengths are writing and editing for news-style clarity and brevity, packaging information in user-friendly ways, streamlining concepts for general audiences, and crafting copy that translates passion into words and shapes information into tools.

Monica Woldt has 14 years of experience developing, managing and evaluating international community health and nutrition programs. She served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala, worked four years as a Nutrition and Health Technical Advisor with World Vision International in Mozambique, and provided technical assistance in emergency relief to World Vision in Ethiopia. Monica has a Master of Science degree in nutrition from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master of Public Health degree in international health and humanitarian assistance from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.