Deepika Kandula (she/her), Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives, plays a lead role in determining organizational strategies and designing cross-sector Innovation Hubs that aim to strengthen our partnerships with frontline communities as they turn their priorities and ideas into policies and laws. She is a global health leader with over fifteen years of experience in strategy, program management, and designing and scaling evidence-driven public health initiatives at local and national levels. Deepika’s work has focused on eliminating health disparities experienced by communities of color in the US and underserved communities across Africa, Southeast Asia and Central America. She began her career as a Public Health Epidemiologist at the NYC Department of Health, Office of AIDS Research and prior to joining Just Solutions was the Director of Malaria Program Support at the Clinton Health Access Initiative where she oversaw a portfolio of fifteen countries. She lived in Zimbabwe and South Africa for over five years and is passionate about contributing to social justice work aimed at strengthening the health, wellbeing and resilience of communities worldwide. Deepika received her MPH from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business. She is currently based in Chicago, IL and loves exploring national parks, trying out recipes from different countries, and on most days, can be found enjoying a cathartic carpool karaoke session with her young daughter.