2022 Leadership Journey Project: Strengthening Country-Level Communication Strategies to Improve Health Research Utilization
Esther Lwanga Walgwe is the Resource Mobilization Lead for the International Programs Division at the Population Council, Inc. She works closely with teams on business development initiatives to sustain a robust donor base of multi-and bilateral donors and foundations and facilitates the establishment of strategic partnerships to broaden the Councils impact. In addition, Esther provides technical, strategic, and operational support to two of the Councils large complex multi-country multi-year research programmes facilitating the use of evidence in policy and practice.
As a global health development professional throughout her career Esther has managed the planning and operations of large-scale complex health programs in sub-Saharan Africa (Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Zambia, Egypt and Ethiopia) and South Asia (Bangladesh and Nepal) targeting poor and marginalized populations. Before joining the Council, Esther was a Technical Advisor at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) where she oversaw a global multifaceted portfolio of health-related programs in sub-Saharan Africa and contributed to the design and management of a $100Million comprehensive health research portfolio.
Originally from Uganda, she is based in the Councils office in Nairobi. An avid believer in the value of reverse mentorship Esther is a Project Girls for Girls (G4) mentor for cohorts in Kenya and Uganda – G4G aims to provide women with skills, tools and networks to take on public leadership. Esther holds a Master’s in Public Health from Yale University.
