UNC Gillings alumna named CEO of EngenderHealth
September 12, 2018
Traci Baird
Gillings School alumna Traci L. Baird (MPH, 1995, health behavior) has been named president and chief executive officer of EngenderHealth, a leading global women’s health and sexual and reproductive rights organization. She will step into the role Oct. 1.
After graduation from UNC Gillings, she joined Ipas, a global reproductive health organization, where she held numerous leadership positions over more than 20 years. Ultimately, she served as Ipas’ executive vice president of programs before accepting a new position as the CEO of SHIFT NC, a nonprofit organization working to improve adolescent and young adult sexual health across North Carolina.
In her pending position with EngenderHealth, Baird will draw on extensive experience in the field of global public health, including organizational strategy; business development; fundraising; program leadership, design and evaluation; and board relations. To date, she has worked in nearly every region of the world, focusing on East and West Africa and South and Southeast Asia. She also has published articles in multiple public health and medical journals.
“Traci is the ideal leader for the next phase of EngenderHealth’s work,” said the organization’s board chair, Robert D. Petty. “She has a blend of mission-driven passion, managerial expertise, deep technical experience, and program design and management. She has shown a proven ability to grow organizations and expand funding. After a comprehensive search, I am confident that Traci is the right person to successfully lead this organization.”
Baird added, “This is an exciting time to join EngenderHealth. With a mission to advance women’s and girls’ health and rights and its highly respected field operations and technical expertise, EngenderHealth is well positioned to grow its work with partners globally. Having watched EngenderHealth for over 20 years, I have always been impressed by the quality of its programs, and I now look forward to working with the entire team to advance our mission and increase our impact.”
The original version of this article was published by EngenderHealth.
If you are interested in pursuing a similar career path, consider exploring the Gillings School’s Master of Public Health program with a global health concentration.
Contact the Gillings School of Global Public Health communications team at sphcomm@listserv.unc.edu.
