Helga Fogstad is the Executive Director of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH). Strongly committed to human rights, public health and gender issues, Ms. Fogstad has extensive experience in forging partnerships for the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents. She is a health economist with more than 30 years of public health experience, which includes developing countries at the sub-national, national and global levels.  Prior to PMNCH, Ms. Fogstad was the Director of the Department of Global Health, Education and Research at the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), where she guided the rapid scale-up of proven cost-effective interventions focused on the health MDGs for women and children. In this capacity, she was actively engaged in political mobilization and advocacy initiatives, including the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health. Helga continues to be involved on many Boards and committees as an active advocate and influencer in the global health sector.