Vidya Putcha ’07: Program Officer on the Global Education team at the Results for Development Institute (R4D). Vidya works primarily on R4D’s early childhood development projects, and is coordinating the development of a virtual knowledge hub for early childhood on the Center for Education Innovations (CEI). In addition, Vidya is supporting a new global initiative to strengthen and support the early childhood workforce. Prior to joining R4D, Vidya was a Consultant at the Center for Universal Education at Brookings where she worked on research studies related to financing early childhood development, as well as at the World Bank, where she worked on providing countries with policy guidance related to improving their educational assessment systems. Before this, Vidya taught middle school students in Indian government schools. She completed her M.A. at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in International Relations and International Economics and her A.B. in Development Studies at Brown University.
Cate Oswald ’04: As the Director of Policy and Partnerships for Partners In Health (PIH) in Liberia, Cate works together with the Liberian Ministry of Health on restoring essential health services in the aftermath of the recent West African Ebola outbreak. With PIH in Haiti, she worked hand-in-hand with her Haitian colleagues on efforts to improve monitoring and evaluation and research activities, helped launch their mental health program, supported the implementation of their emergency cholera response, and was an integral member of the leadership team that crafted the response to the 2010 earthquake and the resulting opening of the University Hospital Mirebalais. Cate received her bachelor’s degree from Brown University and her Master’s in Public Health from the Boston University School of Public Health in epidemiology and global health. Cate has experience working on issues of social justice and equality locally in Rhode Island and Massachusetts through homeless rights initiatives, especially in access to nutrition, housing, and health care. Internationally, Cate has worked in Sub Saharan Africa, South America, and the South Pacific on projects aimed at understanding the social context of disease while working alongside communities to improve health outcomes.
Emily Ellison Taylor ’07: Currently Director of Communications and External Relations at Vecna Cares, Emily directs organization efforts around thought leadership, strategic partnerships, marketing/communications and university engagement. Her areas of expertise are in clinical quality improvement, process improvement and digital health initiatives. As the director of Maternova Research she managed several initiatives including a project in Bangladesh testing a smart-phone enabled urinalysis device for the detection of pre-eclampsia. At the National Institute for Children's Healthcare Quality she managed several large federally funded quality improvement projects focused on improving the quality of clinical care in pediatric settings. Emily graduated from Brown University with an honors degree in Development Studies where is a Fellow of the Watson Institute for International Relations. She is also a graduate of the Institute for Nonprofit Management and Leadership at Boston University, where she earned a certificate in Nonprofit Management, and is a DONA trained labor doula.
Yuki Davis ’15: After spending time in Bamako, Mali working for Mali Health as their mHealth Coordinator, Yuki joined Every Mother Counts, a non-profit dedicated to making pregnancy and childbirth safe for every mother. Yuki already has a wealth of experience working with community-driven organizations to address inequalities of access, especially in the domain of public health, and to advance development in the most sustainable and culturally conscious way possible. Her passions rest in advocating for global health, reproductive justice, refugee and immigrant rights, and post-conflict reconciliation which inform her research, internship, and work experiences, as well as her future goals. Yuki recently graduated from Brown University with an A.B. in Development Studies.
