Kellogg School of Management - Global Health Initiative

Our Alumni

GHI would like to feature our alumni for their outstanding contribution towards improving global health.

	Sang’ona Oriedo '09 During her time at Kellogg Sang’ona majored in Marketing and International Business and explored her interests in medical technology and new product development for emerging markets through her participation in the GHI. As part of the GHI, she worked on a year-long research project to better understand the market for medical device payers and their impact on the HIV diagnostics market in several African countries. During her second year, she served as the External Marketing Co-Chair on the GHI Steering Committee. Sang’ona’s passions also led her to participate in a Global Lab class during which she visited Turkey to develop a market entry strategy for a Turkish medical equipment manufacturer. In addition to these activities, she was also involved in the Global Initiatives in Management program where she served as the Main Leader for the 2008 GIM India class and in-country trip. She also served on the executive board of the Black Management Association, where she worked as the Professional Development Chair. After graduation, Sang’ona joined Johnson and Johnson Lifescan as an Associate Marketing Manager in Milpitas, CA. Sang’ona holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University. Prior to attending Kellogg, she worked for Applied Materials in Santa Clara, CA and for Novartis Corporation (formerly Chiron Corporation) in Emeryville, CA. Sang’ona is the product of Midwestern and East African upbringing who considers San Francisco her adopted home.

	Andrea Hanson '09 Andrea Hanson was involved in the Global Health Initiative as soon as she arrived at Kellogg. She was selected as co-main leader for the first GIM trip dedicated to global health, and helped organize a class and field research trip to East Africa. Prior to Kellogg, she worked as a Management Consultant in a variety of industries across many countries. The projects that interested her most were those related to social impact issues. During the summer, she spent time working for Becton Dickinson as a strategy intern on their Global Health team. Click here to read more about her experience. Andrea was responsible for Internal Marketing and Communications as part of the GHI Steering Committee in 2009. Read More [+] One of the major things that drew me to Kellogg for my MBA was the opportunity to get involved in socially-oriented initiatives that really have an impact. My interest existed before I knew much about the Global Health Initiative. I learned about briefly it at Day At Kellogg (DAK), the orientation weekend for admitted students, and proceeded to learn more when I arrived as a full time student in September. When I learned about a class that would be going to Tanzania to help conduct research on HIV/AIDS, I knew I wanted to be involved from the beginning. For me, this opportunity reinforced why I came to Kellogg and enable me to learn more about an area that I am interested in exploring in my professional future. Fortunately, I was selected to join the leadership team and spent months planning and developing the course and trip with fellow classmates and faculty members. Throughout the Fall I attended different conferences and speakers related to Global Health. However, but it wasn’t until I was immersed in the research design aspects of the class that I became hooked on what I was doing. My project team worked to develop a technique to collect information across different types of stakeholders on different product concepts and the decision making process for new medical devices in Tanzania. One of the big challenges we faced finding ways to calibrate findings across all the teams, to ultimately answer the question, “what should GHI do next?” During the GIM Tanzania class, a speaker from Becton Dickinson’s Global Health Team told me about a very exciting summer internship opportunity. It was described as developing an opportunity assessment or business case for new product or service opportunities for global healthcare focusing on resource-limited settings. Upon returning from Tanzania, I flew out to San Jose and New Jersey to meet with several people on the team to discuss my experiences and the project objectives. The people were great, the opportunity is just what I am looking for, and it looks like I will have a very exciting and rewarding summer experience.

	Lauren Mikulski '09 Lauren’s long-term career goal is to work in those countries most affected by HIV/AIDS. During her first year at Kellogg, she served on the GHI steering committee and attended GIM Tanzania where she worked on her GHI project with a focus on International Agencies and NGOs. Before Kellogg, Lauren worked for Africare in Uganda, served on a non-profit board of directors for HIV/AIDS in Austin, and as a HR Generalist at Dell Inc. During her summer internship she had the pleasure to work in Marketing at Tibotec Therapeutics for the launch of a new HIV/AIDS drug within the U.S. Lauren worked to develop and execute an external marketing plan for GHI to expand its reach around the globe and identify future global health projects. Lauren graduated from Cornell University with a BA in Industrial & Labor Relations. Outside of the GHI steering Committee, she served as the Co-President of the BMA and Move.

	Hadar Kramer '06 During her time at Kellogg, Hadar was the first chair of the Global Health Initiative, assisting with the establishment of its infrastructure and organizing more than 150 students on projects. She received a Dean's Distinguished Service Award for her efforts in support of the Kellogg community. After business school, Hadar went on to work as an assistant brand manager for McNeil Consumer Healthcare, managing brands such as Motrin, Sudafed and Tylenol Sinus. Hadar now works as a manager for marketing, participation and engagement at Johnson & Johnson's Wellness & Prevention Inc., and is based in the Philadelphia area.

	Meredith Parfet '07 Before Kellogg, Meredith worked as a chief operating officer at Trail Ridge Capital. At Kellogg, Meredith acted as a leader in the collaboration between the Gates Foundation and Northwestern University to develop low cost HIV diagnostic tools under the Global Health Initiative. While performing product development field work in East Africa, she developed expertise in global health, and went on to work as a global product manager at Abbott Laboratories, overseeing HIV and AIDS drugs in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Meredith now works as a director for Advizent, a membership organization for investment advisers, and is based in Boulder, Colorado.

	Li Pan '09 Prior to Kellogg, Li was a research scientist and worked on various drug development projects at Merck. She interned at Novartis marketing during her summer at Kellogg. She was involved with leading volunteer activities related to AIDS in China. Li plans to develop a career in health care or pharmaceuticals.

	Reema Sabastian '09 During her time at Kellogg, Reema majored in Marketing and Finance. She received her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University in Industrial Engineering. Prior to Kellogg she worked in IT, Marketing, and Procurement at an industrial supply company in Chicago. She has a personal interest in GHI’s mission because she grew up in Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya and has witnessed first-hand some of the HIV-related issues facing people in these countries. As a first year student, she was involved in leading a year-long GHI research project team that worked to understand the key payers in HIV-related diagnostic spending. Reema is pursuing a career in economic development in under-privileged communities.

	Allana Jackson '09 Allana Jackson majored in Social Entrepreneurship and Strategy. Prior to Kellogg, Allana worked in management consulting at Bain & Company and nonprofit consulting at the Bridgespan Group. While at Kellogg she spent a summer in Kenya working with One Acre Fund, a poverty alleviation program. Allana was a participant in the GHI trip to Tanzania in 2008 and sought ways to integrate GHI into the Kellogg curriculum. Allana graduated from Harvard University with a joint degree in Economics and Sociology.

	Nsesa Kazadi '09 Nsesa majored in International Business and Strategy. Prior to Kellogg, she worked at a firm that provided investment management services to public agencies. She was involved in leading a GIM trip to Tanzania. Her goal is to work on economic development in emerging markets and viewed GHI’s mission, with its emphasis on market research to support the launch of a new AIDS diagnostic product, as the first step towards reaching her long-term goals.

	Katherine Nelson '09 Katherine studied International Relations and Economics at Boston University for two years before transferring to the University of Texas at Austin to complete a BA in Finance. She joined Kimberly-Clark Corporation in a business analysis role at a manufacturing site in South Carolina and then moved to the World Headquarters in Dallas for a Corporate Treasury opportunity. There she worked with affiliates all over the world and traveled extensively to Ireland and England. It was during this time that Katherine decided to attend Kellogg to pursue career opportunities in consulting and emerging markets. At Kellogg Katherine discovered an interest in global health as a means to apply her business skills and passion for social innovation in developing countries. She participated in a variety of GHI projects during her first year at Kellogg and participated in a Kellogg Corps GHI trip after graduation. Katherine was also the President of Kellogg Corps, the External Marketing Chair for Social Impact and the Programming Chair for the Women’s Leadership Workshop. She interned at The Boston Consulting Group during the summer of 2008 and she planned to continue exploring career opportunities in global health.

	Aaron Church '07 Aaron focused on three main pieces of work for GHI: setting up market research trips to Africa; understanding how environmental factors (ambient temperature, reliability of electricity supply, etc) influenced product design; and determined the process for (and politics of) regulatory approval in each country. Prior to Kellogg, Aaron worked as a consultant for The Boston Consulting Group, with Aboriginal tribes in far north Australia, and spent considerable time traveling in Africa, South-East Asia and South America.

	Andrew Youn '06 Andrew led several instrumental market research projects as a member of GHI. In addition, as founder of One Acre Fund, he continues to improve global health by helping to solve the chronic hunger problem in Africa. Andrew was also recently featured in BusinessWeek Online for his efforts with One Acre Fund.