Directors

  • Krisila Benson, MBA Director, Program Development

    Krisila Benson has over 15 years of overseas development experience in West and Central Africa and India with Population Services International, Hewlett Packard and as a consultant to the US State Department in global health, education and information technology. She has led complex multimillion dollar social marketing and social franchising programs in HIV prevention, family planning and maternal and child health. As director of program development, Benson is responsible for leading IntraHealth’s strategic efforts to maintain and grow a solid, diversified revenue stream and donor base that support the organization’s health programs worldwide. Prior to joining IntraHealth, Benson was director of Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities at the Center for American Progress, where her foreign policy analysis was featured in print, electronic and new media. 

  • Karen Blyth, MS Director, HIV/AIDS Programs

    Karen Blyth has more than 25 years of leadership and technical program management experience in public health projects in Africa and Asia. She formerly served as chief of party for the IntraHealth-led Capacity Project in Rwanda; prior to moving to Rwanda in 2003, she was the associate director of program development for the global, IntraHealth-led PRIME II Project. For 15 years she worked in quality improvement, training systems, and supervision with ministries of health in Kenya, Senegal, Mali, Tanzania, Madagascar, Seychelles, Mauritania, and Guinea. She is an authority on international adult education and has developed curricula and programs in on-the-job training, training of trainers, and preservice and in-service training.

  • Laura Gibney, PhD, MA Director, Monitoring, Evaluation & Research

    Laura Gibney has engaged in research and evaluation for over 30 years, both in developing countries and North America.   Her work has focused mainly on reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and health care utilization in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the US. She has published extensively (peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, monographs) and edited a book on biomedical and behavioral approaches to HIV prevention in developing countries. Dr. Gibney has held positions in academia, with NGOs and at philanthropic foundations. As director of monitoring, evaluation and research at IntraHealth, Dr. Gibney provides leadership to ensure the overall quality of monitoring and evaluation systems and products across the organization.

  • Laura Hoemeke, MPH Director, Strategic Communications

    Laura Hoemeke has 20 years of experience in health communication and international health, including field assignments in the Central African Republic, Benin, Senegal and Rwanda, and short-term assignments throughout East, West and Central Africa.  Ms. Hoemeke began her career as a journalist in Chicago, focusing on health and social issues. After working with Africare and for USAID in Benin, in early 2003, she joined IntraHealth as the Regional Director for West and Central Africa, overseeing country and regional efforts for the PRIME II Project and other initiatives.  From 2005 through early 2010, Ms. Hoemeke served as the Chief of Party in Rwanda for IntraHealth’s $30-million USAID-funded Twubakane Decentralization and Health Program.  Ms. Hoemeke has an MPH in International Health from Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health and a BS in journalism from Northwestern University. 

  • Marylin Keating, Attorney at Law Director, Human Resources

    Marylin Keating, an attorney specializing in employment law, workers’ compensation, and immigration law, became IntraHealth’s director of human resources in 2009. Having spent nearly ten years in human resources management, she has extensive expertise in recruiting, strategic planning and policy development, employee relations, training and communication, insurance negotiation, program development and benefits implementation, and human resources information systems.

  • Matthew McMichaels Director, Information Technology

    Matt McMichaels has worked in the IT field for 15 years. His leadership includes the development and implementation of IntraHealth’s global information and communication technology systems and infrastructure. He also spearheaded IntraHealth’s internal systems support teams, including the Helpdesk, network/systems administration and the internal systems development team. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

  • Marcus Pridgen Director, Contracts, Grants & Procurement

    Marcus Pridgen joined IntraHealth in 2007. He has extensive experience working for USAID, the Futures Group International, International Foundation of Elections Systems (IFES), Pal-Tech, Inc., Triumph Technologies, Inc., and Primerica Financial Services. He also served eight years in the military.

  • Hazel Ryon, CPA Director, Finance for Programs & Proposal Development

    Hazel Ryon has worked in international development for over 20 years. She joined IntraHealth in 2006, and now serves as director of finance—External Affairs and Programs, a key component of effective program development and implementation. She has extensive expertise in accounting, auditing, and program monitoring. Previously, as a training specialist and program manager with RTI International, Ms. Ryon led programs funded by USAID and the World Bank to expand the financing systems and capacity of local governments in developing countries. 

  • Barbara Stilwell, PhD, MS, FRCN Director, Human Resources for Health and Systems Strengthening Programs

    Dr. Barbara Stilwell is an internationally-recognized expert in human resources for health and health systems strengthening, and a principal author of the World Health Report, 2006. She is best known for her influence in advancing the role of nurse practitioners as an important cadre of health workers in the UK. She was recently named one of the most influential nurses of the past 40 years by the UK’s Nursing Times. Dr. Stilwell worked for the World Health Organization for almost a decade in health systems development. She has published extensively and currently lectures on topics such as the global health workforce shortage, impacts of health worker migration on developed and developing health systems, and educating nonphysician clinicians in sub-Saharan Africa.

  • Sara Stratton, MPH Director, Maternal, Newborn & Child Health/Family Planning/Malaria Programs

    Sara Stratton has more than a decade of experience managing international and domestic public health programs. She has extensive experience in the areas of program planning, management and evaluation, performance improvement, maternal and child health services, and community health training. Her field assignments have included Ethiopia, Benin, Rwanda, Niger, Nigeria, Togo, Kenya, India, and Thailand. Prior to joining IntraHealth, Ms. Stratton directed a nonprofit organization promoting maternal and child health, as well as an HIV and substance abuse outreach program.

  • Doris Youngs, MPH Director of Administration

    Doris Youngs has over 17 years of senior management experience in public health programs. For four years, Ms. Youngs directed all field operations for the IntraHealth-led Capacity Project, supervising 200 staff in 33 countries and nine field offices with field budgets totaling 74 million dollars. Before joining IntraHealth, she was the deputy chief of USAID’s Health, Population and Nutrition Office in Amman, Jordan. Ms. Youngs has conducted numerous consulting assignments for WHO and UNICEF throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Additionally, she was the project manager for the Save the Children National Training Program based in Lebanon.