Mary-Ann Etiebet is a member of the Center for Global Development's Board of Directors.
Dr. Etiebet is a distinguished global health leader, health care executive, and staunch advocate for women’s health and health equity. As the new President and CEO of Vital Strategies, she leads an organization that has become a major force in global health, with an annual budget of $110 million, a team of world-class talent, and programs in over 80 countries. Vital Strategies believes every person should be protected by an equitable and effective public health system and partners with governments, communities, and organizations around the world to reimagine public health. Today, more than 3.3 billion people around the world are covered by public health policies that Vital Strategies helped achieve.
Dr. Etiebet previously served as the Lead and Executive Director of Merck for Mothers, Merck’s $650M global health initiative created to help end preventable maternal deaths. Under her leadership, Merck for Mothers increased access to high- quality and respectful maternal health care for more than 30 million women in more than 70 countries. Dr. Etiebet later served as Merck’s Associate Vice President for Health Equity, developing the company’s first enterprise-wide health equity strategy, developing partnerships to improve health outcomes for underserved communities, and driving efforts to increase access to health in low- and middle-income countries.
Dr. Etiebet began her career as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Disease at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where she also served as the Senior Technical Advisor of the Institute of Human Virology-Nigeria, leading the development of their PEPFAR-supported HIV/AIDS public health and clinical service delivery programs that reached over 70,000 people across Nigeria. As the Director of Ambulatory Care Strategies for New York City Health and Hospitals and later as a Principal Consultant in the Population Health Management team at Premier, Inc. she was responsible for implementing various Medicaid and Medicare delivery system reforms and value-based payment initiatives in hospital systems across New York City and state.
Dr. Etiebet earned her M.D. and MBA from Yale University. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell and her fellowship at New York-Presbyterian Columbia University Medical Center, becoming board-certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases. She is a member of the Board of Directors at the Center for Global Development and Vital Strategies. She has also served on numerous global health advisory councils, including the World Bank’s Global Financing Facility Investors Group, the World Health Organization’s Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, the United Nations Population Fund High-Level Commission for ICPD25, and the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council.