“Global health advocates, experts and practitioners in the Washington area have a special bond which has incubated ideas, advanced solutions and accelerated careers. Establishing the Washington Global Health Group will enhance the community’s potential to multiply its impact — and highlight how much we benefit from being together.”
Steering Committee
FOUNDER
Jirair Ratevosian
Dr. Jirair Ratevosian (he/him) has over two decades of experience in public service, non-profit, private sector, and diplomacy. He is a global health security and public health leader renowned for bringing communities together to solve major challenges. As a community organizer and public health doctor by training, Jirair has spearheaded global health advocacy efforts, resulting in raising billions of dollars for the global HIV/AIDS response, modernizing laws and policies in line with public health evidence, and promoting global peace and justice for genocide survivors. Jirair holds a doctoral degree from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, an M.P.H. from Boston University, and a B.S. from UCLA. Dr. Ratevosian has contributed to articles appearing in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, The Lancet, New York Times, The Body, and Washington Post.
CONVENER
Crystal Lander
Crystal Lander leads Pathfinder International’s strategic engagement and high-level partnerships. As part of Pathfinder’s global leadership council, Ms. Lander plays a critical role in shaping organization’s strategic and programmatic activities around the world. She drives the broader global health and development agenda through leadership positions, including as Chair of the Frontline Health Workers Coalition and board member for the Coalition for Racial & Ethnic Equity in Development (CREED). Prior to this role, Ms. Lander established the advocacy team at Living Goods, where she led the organization’s work in global health policy. She is engaged in her local community as an active member of the National Association of Parliamentarians, Alexandria West Rotary Club and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
CONVENER
Lisa Bos
Lisa Bos is the Senior Director of Government Relations at World Vision. She leads World Vision’s advocacy and education efforts with Congress and the Administration, in addition to working to engage World Vision’s supporters and donors in supporting policy change impacting the lives of the most vulnerable. She has testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and been featured in publications such as Devex, the Religion News Service, and Time Magazine. She has served as a co-chair of the InterAction Public Policy Committee (PPC) and currently serves as a member of the PPC Steering Committee. Previously, Ms. Bos co-chaired the Children and Youth Working Group at InterAction and served on the President’s Advisory Council at the Global Health Council. Ms. Bos is a native of Michigan and a graduate of Hope College in Holland, Michigan. She currently resides in Fairfax City, VA.
CONVENER
Matt Mowers
Matt served as a Senior White House Advisor at the U.S. Department of State, where he advised the Secretary of State and was engaged on issues including North Korea, immigration reform, and The Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. Later he helped lead the $6 billion United States’ global HIV program (PEPFAR) which has saved over 15 million lives and led to 2.6 million babies being born HIV-free. Prior to Matt’s diplomatic experience, he served as a senior official on the historic Trump-Pence Presidential campaign and the subsequent transition team, capping a ten-year career of advising political leaders including New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and helping lead the New Hampshire Republican Party as its Executive Director. He also served on the “whip team” for the 2016 Republican National Convention, one of four that he has attended.
Matt was the Republican nominee for U.S. Congress in New Hampshire’s First Congressional District in 2020, the results of which were one of the closest in the country. Matt has been featured on television networks including Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, and in print in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal.
CONVENER
J. Stephen Morrison
J. Stephen Morrison, PhD, is a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and directs its Global Health Policy Center. Through several high-level commissions, he has shaped decisions in Congress and the administration on HIV/AIDS, reproductive health and gender equality, and health security, including pandemic preparedness. He is a trustee of the China Medical Board, a member of the board of the Rostropovich Vishnevskaya Foundation, and a member of advisory boards to the International Division at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Johns Hopkins University Center for Humanitarian Health. He served in the Clinton administration on the secretary of state’s Policy Planning Staff and on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa. He taught for 12 years at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, holds a PhD in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is a magna cum laude graduate of Yale College.
CONVENER
Margaret Richardson
Margaret is the chief of staff at Devex where she is a senior advisor to the president & editor-in-chief and directs strategic engagement, communications, and media partnerships for the organization. In addition to her work as an advisor to the president & editor-in-chief, Margaret built and led the Devex people operations team, the Devex podcast strategy, as well as leading Devex’s impact work. She has previous experience working on congressional campaigns, and with foundations and non-profit organizations. Margaret is a Board Member of Streetchild USA, a Term member on the Council on Foreign Relations, and holds degrees from Smith College and the Fletcher School at Tufts University.
CONVENER
Jessica Kraft
Jessica Kraft is a seasoned Family Nurse and Public Health Practitioner with nearly two decades of experience in public health, nursing, and global health. Her diverse career includes ten years of providing primary care and sexual health services to a wide range of populations, and five years of program implementation. At Fenway Health, Jessica led several groundbreaking STD and HIV prevention trials, significantly contributing to the advancement of CDC guidelines. Prior to her clinical roles, Jessica served as the Director of Client Services for the HIV/AIDS Services Division at the Boston Public Health Commission.
Jessica holds an M.P.H. from Boston University and an MSN from the MGH Institute of Health Professions. She is also a former Peace Corps Volunteer in Mozambique.
