Our Staff - WACI Health

The full-time Staff is in charge of running our affairs.

The Executive Management is in charge of running WACI Health’s affairs. It works in compliance with WACI Health’s charter and with the decisions of the General Assembly and requirements by the Board of Directors. Take a look behind the scenes and get to know the members of our staff here.

Rosemary Mburu

Executive Director

Tabeth Chitimbe

Finance and Administrative Manager

Joyce Ng’ang’a

Senior Policy Advisor

Nombasa Gxuluwe

Programs Manager

Robinson Muigai

ICT Advisor

Gloria Mululu

Program Officer

Fitsum Lakew Alemayehu

AU Liaison Manager

Munashe Mhaka

Policy and Advocacy Officer

David Kabera

Programs Assistant

Laura Philidor

CSEM Advocacy and Communications Officer

Rosemary Mburu

Executive Director

Based in Nairobi, Kenya. Ms Mburu is a global health advocate and civil society leader in Africa working to create political will for improved health outcomes in Africa. Her areas of expertise include policy analysis; building political support for health outcomes; influencing decision making processes; mobilizing civil society and community voices for action; and promoting good participatory practice in clinical trials.

Ms Mburu has extensively worked on building and strengthening civil society and community organizing for health Advocacy in Africa. She oversees the Civil Society Platform on Health in Africa (CiSPHA); the Global Fund Advocates Network (GFAN)- Africa hub; and the Africa free of New HIV Infections (AfNHi) Network. She is a member of the Vaccine Advocacy Resource Group (VARG). Mburu is the Southern CSO representative on UHC2030.

Ms Mburu has published several peer-reviewed articles and blogs including on: clinical trial ethics- International Journal of Clinical Practice; investments in HIV Prevention Research- African Journal of Reproductive Health; Biomedical HIV Prevention- BMC Proceedings; and strengthening primary health care- Lancet Global Health blog.

Ms Mburu holds a Masters in Public Health (MPH), Ohio University and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA), Frostburg State University.

Tabeth Chitimbe

Finance and Administrative Manager

Based in Cape Town South Africa. Key responsibilities include developing budgets, and leadership on financial systems, processes and reporting. Tabeth holds comprehensive knowledge of financial, strategic and human resource management, including setting up financial systems and procedures as well as various organizational policies. She holds a Masters Degree in Strategic Management majoring in Finance and a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Banking. Tabeth is a member of Association of Certified Chartered Accountants of London. She is also a member of the Institute of Risk Management South Africa, as an Associate Risk Practitioner.

Joyce Ng’ang’a

Senior Policy Advisor

Based in Nairobi, Kenya. Works closely with WACI Health colleagues by leading advocacy efforts on specific advocacy priorities, representing WACI Health to high profile policymakers, practitioners, think-tanks, academic partners, the media and the public; working closely with ACTION Global Health Partnership advocates to support the development of WACI Health advocacy strategies and activities on ACTION-related priority issues; working closely with partners to develop coordinated advocacy and public campaigns on WACI Health priority themes and countries; manage Policy and Advocacy temporary staff and Interns. Joyce is a Registered Community Health Nurse in Kenya with undergraduate training in Health Systems Management.

Nombasa Gxuluwe

Programs Manager

Based in Cape Town, South Africa. Key responsibilities include civil society and community capacity strengthening around key health and development issues including HIV, human rights, GBV, ending violence among women and girls, and health financing. Ms Gxuluwe is a Health and Human Rights activist and has been in the field since 2003. She has extensive experience in campaigning, lobbying and advocacy. She has experience working with diverse group of communities to mention the few traditional leaders, LGBTI community and People Living with HIV/AIDS. Ms Gxuluwe holds a Bachelor of Education honors in Educational Psychology.

Robinson Muigai

ICT Advisor

Robinson Mwaniki, an experienced ICT Advisor based in Nairobi, Kenya, specializes in optimizing digital footprints and driving effective communication strategies. With a strong emphasis on internal and external communications, Robinson has a proven track record of enhancing organizational visibility and engagement through online platforms.

Robinson’s expertise lies in developing innovative solutions to strengthen WACI Health’s digital presence and amplify their message. He excels in managing campaign websites, strategically leveraging social media accounts, and utilizing existing brand accounts for advocacy purposes. Additionally, Robinson is adept at coordinating internal communications, analyzing communication systems, and implementing necessary adjustments to improve overall efficiency.

With a comprehensive skill set and unwavering dedication, Robinson Mwaniki is committed to maximizing WACI Health’s digital footprint, increasing visibility, and fostering meaningful engagement across various online channels. His proficiency in digital communication and strategy makes him a valuable asset in achieving organizational objectives.

Gloria Mululu

Program Officer

Based in Kenya, Gloria is an experienced Public and Occupational Health advocate with over a decades experience. Her skill sets include and are not limited to , Mobilization ,Content and curriculum development, bespoke training, program development and implementation. Prior to WACI Health, she was involved in high level and civil society advocacy for PHC on the
National platform. An alumni of the University of Nairobi, she is a BA holder (Double major in Psychology and
Communication )and brings to the WACI family, her dedication and zeal to advocate for health
care rights for all.

Fitsum Lakew Alemayehu

AU Liaison Manager

Fitsum is the liaison officer to the African Union Commission (AUC). He represents WACI Health on the Specialized Technical Committee (STC) for health and the African Leaders Meeting (ALM) Declaration advocacy and communication; which are Technical Working Groups (TWG) for health within the African Union.

Fitsum has a rich experience in field research; by which he has led numerous researches, evaluations, need assessments at Regional and National level on Education, Livelihood, Health and Agriculture. Furthermore, he has engaged with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) as a consultant to map and capture of good practices on the school-to-work transition in three (3) AU member states. Additionally, he is a member of the C-20 Health working group and has served a technical youth advisor of the Women and Youth TWG of the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) 2015/16.

Munashe Mhaka

Policy and Advocacy Officer

MUNASHE MHAKA is a Zimbabwean Mechanical Engineer with an entrepreneurial spirit and a passion for youth advocacy. She is a member of the AfNHI Youth Cohort and an ambassador of Inside My Purse, where she is vibrantly involved in youth SRHR and HIV Prevention advocacy.

She founded Mighty Me Motivations, a foundation which focuses on transforming lives through the empowerment of the mind, and also serves as a youth trainer for Student Connect Trust (SCOT), facilitating leadership trainings to young people.

She is also part of the UNESCO’s pool of young trainers on meaningful Youth Engagement, skilled to deliver relevant trainings to key stakeholders on how to work and partner with young people in programme design and implementation, notably but not limited to staff of international institutions.

David Kabera

Programs Assistant

Based in Nairobi, Kenya, David is a young advocate for Global Health specifically Health Financing. His background in Financial Engineering has seen him engage in research around Health Financing specifically on the Integration of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning with Health Systems. Responsibilities also include civil society and community capacity strengthening around key health and development issues including Health Financing, Research and Development, HIV TB and Malaria as well as Youth Advocacy for Health.

Laura Philidor

CSEM Advocacy and Communications Officer

Laura is the Advocacy and Communications Officer for the Civil Society Engagement Mechanism for UHC2030 (CSEM), co-hosted by WACI Health.

She brings nearly four years of international experience in public relations and global communications, including in global health and human rights.

Prior to joining the CSEM, Laura was a Youth Advocate at ONE Campaign where she advocated for the end of preventable diseases by 2030. She was also a Public Affairs researcher at IPSOS on international public health concerns before joining Rare Diseases International (RDI) to raise awareness of challenges faced by the over 300 million Persons Living with a Rare Disease (PLWRD) worldwide. At RDI, she was responsible for coordinating policy change campaigns in partnership with high-level international Institutions (such as WHO, UNESCO), decision-makers, patient organisations, and other stakeholders; supported several publications in influential newspapers, including the Guardian and Media Planet UK; and led the development of social media content.

Laura holds a double master’s degree in Global Communications and Culture from CELSA (communications and journalism school) and Sorbonne Paris University.

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