Dr Teguest Guerma, Director General
Dr Teguest Guerma
Dr Teguest Guerma, an Ethiopian national, has over 26 years experience in public health. Prior to joining AMREF, she was the Associate Director and later the acting Director of the Global HIV and AIDS Department at the World Health Organisation (WHO), Geneva. She also served as the WHO Africa representative to UN Headquarters and WHO representative in Nepal and Botswana. She co-led the WHO 3x5 Initiative which made antiretroviral treatment available to developing countries.
She is currently serving as a Commissioner in the UN Commission on Life Saving Commodities for Women and Children.
Dr Guerma started her career as a medical practitioner in Burundi in the mid-1980s and holds a medical Doctor degree with postgraduate degree in Infectious Diseases and a certificate in epidemiology. She is a fellow of the Royal college of Physicians (FRCP).
Mette Kjaer, Head of Programme Management
Mette Kjaer
Mette obtained her degree in Master of Food Science and Nutrition from the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Denmark in 1983. In her current position, she is responsible for the implementation of the 3-year AMREF Business Plan, programme management, coordination and harmonisation. She is in charge of day-to-day supervision of country and regional directors of AMREF in Africa. Mette previously worked as Country Director for AMREF Kenya providing overall leadership and direction for the 300 staff and a multi million annual budget.
She was the founder and first chairperson of the Kenya Health NGO Network (HENNET), and is a member of the CSO committee of the International Health Partnership (IHP+). Mette has worked as a country director for MS-Kenya, and director, international department MS head office in-charge of country programmes in 11 countries; development worker and consultant for MS and DANIDA in Kenya, Uganda, Ghana and Nepal; and programme coordinator and deputy director for Dansk AFS.
Dr Peter Ngatia, Director of Capacity Building
Dr Peter Ngatia
Dr Ngatia joined AMREF about 26 years ago and within this time has held key positions within the organisation such as Acting Director General, Director of Programmes, Country Director and Chief Technical Advisor to various Ministries of Health in the region.
He has led several consultancies on AMREF’s behalf for African governments, the World Bank, European Union, the World Health Organization, CIDA, SIDA, DFID and USAID.
He has also authored several publications in community and public health and training of frontline workers.
His academic accolades include a BSc in Rehabilitation Medicine, MEd in Medical Education and Public Health, and a PhD in Medical Education, Planning and Development from the University of Alberta in Canada.
Dr Ngatia was honoured with the Order of the Burning Spear (EBS) by HE Mwai Kibaki, President of the Republic of Kenya in 2010 for his contribution to Public Health and Community Development in Kenya and Africa.
Nancy Muriuki, Director of Human Resources
Nancy Muriuki
Nancy Muriuki has been with AMREF since June 2005. In her current role, she is responsible for ensuring timely and economic availability of a highly competent and motivated workforce that helps to deliver the AMREF strategy while developing the organisational capacity and practice in managing human resources for mutual benefit.
She has previously worked as Corporate Human Resources Manager, AMREF HQ; Company Secretary and Human Resource Manager, CIC Insurance and Personnel Officer for various ministries in the Government of Kenya.
Nancy is currently studying for a PhD degree in Organizational Leadership at Regent University, Virginia Beach USA. She holds an MBA specialising in HRM and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Nairobi. She is a certified and registered Public Secretary of Kenya with the Institute of Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya and holds a Diploma in Management from the Kenya Institute of Management
Wanjiru Ruhanga, Director of Communications
Wanjiru Ruhanga
Wanjiru has held several positions in the development and media sector. She previously worked with the Aga Khan Development Network overseeing communications in East Africa and providing technical support to the various Aga Khan agencies in social, economic and cultural development. She has also worked for ICRAF, Transparency International, Centre for Corporate Governance and Shelter Forum.
She has extensive editing experience having been the editor of, among others, Young Nation and Sparkle magazines and also supported Executive magazine. She holds a Master of Arts (Literature), a Postgraduate Diploma in Mass Communication from the School of Journalism, a Bachelor of Arts, from the University of Nairobi, and a Certificate in Knowledge Management from UNISA.
Jenny Panow, Chief Operations Officer
Jenny Panow
Jenny Panow has been with AMREF for the last nine years and serves as the Chief Operations Officer. She is a Chartered Accountant and has an MBA. Her work experience includes 10 years as a strategic development and HR management consultant with PwC. Jenny’s areas of expertise include financial, ICT and human resource management as well as facilitating change management and strategy development.
AMREF is a transparent organisation distributing funds of up to $85 million per year.
