Shawn K. Baker, MPH 

Shawn Baker leads Helen Keller Intl’s efforts to support our world’s most under-resourced communities through strengthening health and food systems using scientifically proven solutions that are feasible, scalable, and equitable. He joined as Chief Program Officer in 2023 and became Executive Vice President, Programs and Partnerships in 2025.

Prior to re-joining Helen Keller, Shawn was the inaugural Chief Nutritionist at USAID and first Director of Nutrition at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He has more than 35 years of experience in global public health and nutrition, including 19 years at Helen Keller Intl in previous roles and 30 years living in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.  

While at USAID, Shawn chaired the Agency’s Nutrition Leadership Council and the US Government’s Senior Nutrition Champions group. He served for over eight years on the Technical Review Panel for The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis, which he chaired until November 2014. He was previously chair of the Executive Committee of the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement, later serving as special advisor, and served on the board of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition from 2013-2016. He was awarded the Officier de l’Ordre du Mérite du Niger by the Presidency of the Republic in 2001.  

Shawn serves as Chair of the Board of The Micronutrient Forum. He was Chair of the Paris Peace Forum’s Independent Expert Panel on nutrition for the 2025 Nutrition for Growth Summit and on the Summit’s International Advisory Group. Shawn has a Master of Public Health from Tulane University, with concentrations in international health and nutritional epidemiology and a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of Miami. He is based in Dakar, Senegal.