Leadership
Executive Leadership Team
Sarah Bouchie
- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sarah Bouchie
President and Chief Executive Officer
Sarah Bouchie became President and Chief Executive Officer in January 2024. In this role, she collaborates with Helen Keller Intl’s Board of Trustees, leadership team, and staff, along with partner organizations and global leaders, to advance Helen Keller’s mission around the world.
With nearly three decades of international development leadership, Sarah has sat at both sides of the table – as an implementer and advocate with prominent global nonprofits and as a leader of the philanthropic investments that shape humanitarian and development impact. Prior to joining Helen Keller, Sarah served as Chief Impact Officer at the LEGO Foundation. Under her leadership, the LEGO Foundation deepened its commitment to children in vulnerable circumstances, expanded its footprint, and more than tripled its philanthropic investments. Prior to her time at LEGO Foundation, Sarah has led institutional fundraising, advocacy, and program efforts for organizations including ChildFund International, CARE USA, Save the Children, and the Aga Khan Foundation.
Sarah has served on steering groups for the multi-lateral investment funds at Education Cannot Wait, the Education Outcomes Fund, and the World Bank, as well as serving as Vice-Chair of the Steering Group for the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies.
She is a mother of two creative, inquisitive daughters and lives in Harare, Zimbabwe with her family.
Shawn K. Baker, MPH
- Chief Program Officer
Shawn K. Baker, MPH
Chief Program Officer
Shawn Baker leads Helen Keller Intl’s efforts to support our world’s most vulnerable communities through strengthening food and health systems using scientifically proven solutions that are feasible, scalable, and equitable.
Prior to 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 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 Vice Chair of the Board of The Micronutrient Forum. He has a master’s of public health from Tulane University, with concentrations in international health and nutritional epidemiology and a bachelor’s of science in biology from the University of Miami. He is based in Dakar, Senegal.
Volkan Cakir
- Regional Director, Eastern, Southern, and Central Africa
Volkan Cakir
Regional Director, Eastern, Southern, and Central Africa
Volkan Cakir serves as Regional Director of Eastern, Southern, and Central Africa, providing management and program oversight to Helen Keller’s work in six countries – Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Tanzania – ensuring our programs operate with high standards to fulfill Helen Keller’s mission. He also provides management support to regional initiatives, such as the bouillon cube fortification.
Volkan is a skilled health economist and manager, with almost 30 years of experience in health sector reform and has worked in more than 10 African countries over the past 20 years to create policy change that achieves better development outcomes on the ground. He has managed large and complex health programs and built effective working relationships with U.S. Agency for International Development and European Union missions, the World Bank, United Nations agencies, various global development funds, and host country counterparts across Africa. Volkan has MSc in economics and speaks English, French, and Turkish. He is based in Dakar, Senegal.
Jim Cox
- Chief Operating Officer
Jim Cox
Chief Operating Officer
Jim Cox has 25 years of senior management experience in the field and in the US offices of international development organizations.
He comes to Helen Keller directly from Lutheran World Relief and IMA World Health (LWR-IMA), where he was Executive Vice President of Health and Emergency Programs. He was Chief Operating Officer for IMA World Health for nearly five years, after serving as Country Director for IMA in Tanzania for five years.
Jim’s expertise in program management includes emergency interventions, as well as livelihoods and health initiatives in partnership with vulnerable communities and major donor agencies including USAID, DFID, UN agencies, and private foundations. He has also improved global operational efficiency for IMA World Health and United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), where he held various positions over ten years, including that of Executive Director.
Fatoumata Diouf
- Regional Director, West Africa
Fatoumata Diouf
Regional Director, West Africa
Fatoumata Diouf serves as Regional Director for West Africa, ensuring quality programming for children and families across seven countries – Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone and Senegal.
Fatoumata brings a wealth of experience including strategy development, execution, and monitoring; program development and delivery; policy formulation; and advocacy. She has extensive experience interacting with high-level external stakeholders such as governments, multilateral agencies, parliaments, media, and donors. Prior to joining Helen Keller, Fatoumata was Regional Director at Sightsavers in charge of 13 countries in West and Central Africa.
She holds an MBA in strategy and is currently pursuing a PhD in health economics and policy at Lancaster University. Fatoumata is fluent in French and English and is based in Dakar Senegal.
Maura Fitzgerald
- Chief People and Culture Officer
Maura Fitzgerald
Chief People and Culture Officer
Maura Fitzgerald leads Helen Keller Intl’s People and Culture team, overseeing organizational design; learning and development; people operations; and talent management throughout the employee life cycle in support of our mission, values, and strategy. She partners with Helen Keller’s diverse senior leadership across the globe to cultivate a healthy and inclusive workplace culture where a positive employee experience ensures strong program outcomes.
Maura brings more than 20 years of experience working in all aspects of human resources management in the international nonprofit sector. She started with Helen Keller in 2011 and previously worked in the US section of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières for 13 years during a period of tremendous growth.
Susan Kotcher
- Chief External Relations Officer
Susan Kotcher
Chief External Relations Officer
Susan Kotcher is a seasoned senior leader, creative fundraising strategist, and external relations expert who has built, restructured, and led high-performing teams for major international development organizations, as well as for national nonprofits.
Her transformative leadership at, most recently, the Rubin Museum of Art, as well as at Pro Mujer, International Rescue Committee, UNICEF USA, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and Barnard College, significantly increased revenue; rallied new donors, media, and thought leaders; and strengthened brand awareness, positioning, and market share to advance these organizations respective missions.
Patricia Manyari
- Chief Financial Officer
Patricia Manyari
Chief Financial Officer
Patricia Manyari oversees all fiscal and fiduciary responsibilities of the organization. In her role, she ensures that Helen Keller Intl has strong financial and accounting systems in place in order to provide transparency, accountability and efficiency in all financial transactions of the organization. Patricia started at Helen Keller in January 2012. She brings 23 years of experience in financial management of international nonprofit organizations, implementing sound accounting practices and high financial standards, both in the field and at the headquarters level; and has extensive experience in compliance with various governmental regulations.
She comes to Helen Keller from the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) in Washington, DC, where she served as Director of Finance for over six years, three of them in Bogota, Colombia. At PADF headquarters, Patricia managed the organization’s annual budget of $55 million and monitored approximately forty projects in seven different countries in Latin America.
Other prior experience includes serving as Deputy Chief Financial Officer at CHF International’s headquarters in Washington, DC, for five years and as Vice President for Finance at PACT Inc.’s Washington headquarters for ten years, three of them in Peru.
Satish Raj Pandey
- Regional Director, Asia
Satish Raj Pandey
Regional Director, Asia
Satish Raj Pandey joined Helen Keller Intl in 2022 as Regional Director of Asia, supporting work in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal, and the Philippines. He works closely with the Country Directors and Chiefs of Party to ensure organization-wide planning, decision making, and efficient implementation of program objectives and activities across Asia.
Satish has more than 28 years of experience in public health, development, and humanitarian response program. He has managed large, complex programs; led program design and implementation; maintained donor relations; and supported business development.
Prior to joining Helen Keller, Satish worked as Chief of Party for FHI 360 in Nigeria for a large PEPFAR/USAID-funded HIV and tuberculous integration project. Prior to that he was Country Director for FHI 360 in Nepal while also leading the flagship HIV project as Chief of Party. Satish has also worked with UNICEF Regional office for South Asia and Asia Regional office of Adventist Development and Relief Agency in Nepal.
Senior Management
Rahul Ali
- Vice President, Eye Health
Rahul Ali
Vice President, Eye Health
Rahul Ali has over 25 years of clinical and international experience as an ophthalmologist, with a strong passion for public health and a deep commitment to ending avoidable blindness. He provides technical oversight and strategic leadership for Helen Keller Intl’s global vision work.
Previously Rahul was Head of Global Programs and Grants at the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation. There he provided strategic leadership and oversight to the grant management team and nine regional teams worldwide, focusing on implementing programs and partnering with governments and local organizations to tackle uncorrected refractive errors. At Orbis, Rahul was the Country Director of India, later the Vice President, Asia and Africa Programs, and conceived and implemented numerous projects focusing on the eye health of children and healthcare quality assurance. He has also been a faculty member at the International Center for Advancement of Rural Eye Care (ICARE) at L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) in Hyderabad, India and served on the Board of VISION 2020: The Right to Sight India.
Rahul holds an MPH and MBA from Johns Hopkins University and a MS in Ophthalmology and MBBS from Christian Medical College, Vellore and Ludhiana respectively. He is based in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates.
Rolf Klemm
- Vice President, Nutrition
Rolf Klemm
Vice President, Nutrition
Rolf Klemm has more than 25 years of professional experience in international public health nutrition with expertise that spans nutrition efficacy and effectiveness research and program design, management, and evaluation.
He served as a Peace Corps Volunteer (Philippines, 1979-81), Indochinese Refugee Program Supervisor (1982-84), Program Manager and Country Director for Helen Keller Intl (Philippines, 1986-98), Senior Technical Advisor and Technical Director of USAID’s flagship A2Z micronutrient program (2009-11), and Johns Hopkins University faculty member and principal and/or co-investigator (1998-present) for studies in Asia (Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Philippines) and Sub-Saharan Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia).
He currently serves as Vice President for Nutrition with Helen Keller and holds a faculty appointment at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Alix de Nicolay
- Managing Director, Helen Keller Europe
Alix de Nicolay
Managing Director, Helen Keller Europe
Alix de Nicolay opened the independent, affiliated Helen Keller Europe Paris office in 1998 with the two-fold mission of raising funds and increasing visablity for Helen Keller Intl in Europe. This includes identifying and building relationships with European corporate, institutional, and foundation partners; raising awareness through events and media relations; and overseeing European funded programing including PlanVue, a French school-based program established in 2018 that provides vision care for low-income neighborhoods. Alix works closely with and reports to the Paris Board of Trustees.
Alix was formerly in charge of development for the French American Foundation in New York. She has previously worked for several French and American corporations, UNICEF’s Special Events Section, and the Department of Information at the United Nations Secretariat. She joined Helen Keller in December 1998 and is based in Paris.
Ric Plaisance
- Vice President, Information and Operations Systems
Ric Plaisance
Vice President, Information and Operations Systems
Ric Plaisance has worked with Helen Keller Intl since 2004. He is responsible for the development and management of systems that support the work of headquarter operations and Helen Keller’s international network of field offices.
Previously, Ric served for ten years as the Executive Director for Settlement Health where he managed the operations and services of this community health center providing primary health care to the East Harlem community. In addition, Ric created and led the NinthBridge program of EngenderHealth, providing information system consultation services to the international NGO community.
Sobana Prasad, CPA
- Vice President, Finance and Accounting
Sobana Prasad, CPA
Vice President, Finance and Accounting
Sobana Prasad manages Helen Keller Intl’s day-to-day finance and accounting operations for all locations in the United States, Africa, and Asia. This includes supervising financial accounting and reporting of all projects and grants and ensuring compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, International Financial Reporting Standards, Cost Accounting Standards, Uniform Guidance, regulatory requirements, and government/private grant-funding mandates.
Sobana is experienced in the design and management of cost structures, cost-control systems, and financial and operational systems. She works closely with the Chief Financial Officer on setting Helen Keller’s financial strategy and developing relevant policies and procedures.
Dr. Angela Weaver
- Vice President, Neglected Tropical Diseases
Dr. Angela Weaver
Vice President, Neglected Tropical Diseases
Dr. Angela Weaver is a public health professional with over 20 years of experience supporting, developing, and leading domestic and international health programs and initiatives. She provides technical oversight and strategic leadership for Helen Keller Intl’s neglected tropical disease program.
Angela joined Helen Keller in 2020. Previously, she served as the Senior Advisor for Neglected Tropical Diseases at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) where she was instrumental in launching USAID’s program and leading its expansion from 5 to 25 countries. During her 11-year tenure at USAID, she also served as the Agency’s technical lead for lymphatic filariasis and trachoma elimination. Throughout her career she has worked to advance policies and promote partnerships to reach more people in need of neglected tropical disease treatment and care. She is also an advocate for comprehensive neglected tropical disease control efforts including morbidity management and disability prevention.
Angela earned an MPH from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and a PhD in tropical medicine from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.
Country and Program Leadership
Sarmento Júlio Armando
- Country Director, Mozambique
Yves Ilunga Banze
- Country Director, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Georges Dimithe
- Acting Country Director, Niger
David Doledec
- Director, Vitamin A
Sugandh Juneja
- Country Director, Sierra Leone
George Kabona
- Country Director, Tanzania
Hou Krouen
- Country Director, Cambodia
Joy H. Marcus
- Chief of Party, Advancing Nutrition in Nigeria
Robert Mba
- Country Director, Cameroon
Aliyu Mohammed
- Country Director, Nigeria
Augustine Okoruwa
- Regional Program Manager, Food Fortification
Philomena Orji
- Program Director, Transforming Lives Through Nutrition
Pooja Pandey
- Chief of Party, USAID Integrated Nutrition
Bonaventure Rakotomalala
- Country Director, Madagascar
Maria Fatima Dolly R. Reario
- Country Representative, Philippines
Ouassa Sanogo
- Country Director, Mali
Mohamed Lamine Yattara
- Country Director, Guinea
Dr. Hubert Zirimwabagabo
- Country Director, Côte d’Ivoire