People

PHI is home to more than 100 project directors and principal investigators that are leading innovative public health projects and programs. Below, you will find the biographies of two of these leaders.

Josie Ramos

Project Coordinator
GOJoven

Josie Ramos is a program coordinator for the International Health Program (IHP)’s GOJoven project at PHI. As such, she administers GOJoven’s Summit Educational Scholarship Fund, which supports youth health leaders’ educational goals. She also oversees the professional development of GOJoven’s Summit Fellows.

Since starting at IHP six years ago, Ramos has worn several hats. She joined the IHP team as a program assistant. Then she took on the role of grants manager for the Compton Emergency Contraception Grants and facilitator of GOJoven, which administers the Summit Fellowship Program and provides technical assistance and health leadership training to Mexico and Central American countries.

Throughout her career, Ramos has pursued a deep interest in Latino and women’s issues. Raised by Mexican-American parents in Pasadena, California, this bilingual Spanish speaker has worked at several nonprofits including Defensa de Mujeres, a Latina-based domestic violence agency in Santa Cruz, California.

Currently, this Stanford graduate is a member of the Board of Directors at Triangle Speakers, a nonprofit that works to eliminate homophobia. She also volunteers with her neighborhood council in Oakland, California. Santa Cruz County recently nominated Ramos for a Queer Youth Leadership award.

In addition to her work as program coordinator at GOJoven, Ramos plays a key role in implementing the Emergency Contraception Leadership Initiative (ECLI), which is funded by the Compton Foundation. She also serves on PHI’s Institutional Review Board.

To read more about GOJoven’s Summit Educational Scholarship Fund, visit our Programs page.

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Sereen Thaddeus

Fellow
Global Health Fellows Program

Sereen Thaddeus is a Global Health Fellows Program fellow serving as Senior Technical Advisor in Behavior Change Communication with the Health, HIV/AIDS and Education Team of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)'s Uganda mission. She is responsible for all aspects of USAID-supported social marketing and behavioral change communications in Uganda. Thaddeus also manages USAID Uganda’s Reproductive Health/ Family Planning activities. She has a master’s in public health from Columbia University and a master’s in cultural anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania.

We asked her to share what she has learned while serving as a fellow.

Question: What is the focus of social marketing efforts in Uganda and what are some of the most common messages?

Answer: Our social marketing program is promoting a range of healthy lifestyles and products that include malaria prevention, FP, and personal care for HIV positive patients. One of its key messages is that simple things can help maintain your health. Health promotion is the overall goal. We have been very clear to marry marketing and communication approaches to products and lifestyles.

Q: Which tools are used to communicate these messages?

A: All vehicles: media, road shows, drama, newsletters, and game shows. You name it.

Q: What is the biggest challenge to implementing social marketing campaigns in developing countries?

A: Ensuring the sustainability of products is our first and most enduring challenge. Social marketing is a promising approach to ensuring sustainability.

Q: Describe a project that was important to you, the challenges involved, and what you were trying to accomplish.

A: Developing a communication initiative for and by young people that would be innovative was my first challenge. That was in 2003. We were trying to develop a campaign for young people that would be popular and different from the often didactic, top-down approaches that others were developing. We also wanted to attract different sources of funding so that USAID was not the only donor. Today, the Young Empowered and Healthy (YEAH) communication initiative is a mature, popular and engaging multimedia effort with young people at its heart.

Visit our Programs page to read more about the Global Health Fellows Program.

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