Kate Stratten, Senior Program Manager

“Working here has given me deep respect for health workers,” says Kate Stratten, senior program manager for IntraHealth’s Ethiopia projects. “Health workers do their best to provide caring, quality services in the most difficult conditions.”

It was Kate’s passion for reproductive and women’s health—as well as IntraHealth’s mission and culture—that drew her to the organization in 2008. She took the job, too, because she wanted to gain experience in improving health systems.

As senior program manager, Kate supports all of IntraHealth’s Ethiopia projects, and she explores new business opportunities to expand IntraHealth’s presence in Ethiopia. She also sees that IntraHealth’s successes are documented and distributed through the IntraHealth website, conferences, and international meetings.

Recently, Kate and her team helped open an emergency obstetric care center at a health center in rural Ethiopia—a proud professional moment. Though the center was completed in 2008, it took another two years to open. In part through Kate and her team’s efforts, the center opened in 2010 and is the only emergency obstetric care facility offering 24 hour/7 days a week services in the region. “The impact on the women and children is literally life-saving,” Kate says.

It also represents the thing she loves most about her job: “witnessing the changes our work has made to people’s lives.”

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