Desta Lakew leads global partnerships for Africa. In this role, she has been engaged in securing high level strategic global partnerships for Amref Health Africa. Desta has served on the Executive and Senior Management teams of Amref since 2014. Desta leads thought leadership and external engagements at the corporate headquarters of Amref working closely with global partners and the senior leadership team of Amref Health Africa. She was instrumental in the establishment and leadership of the first bi-annual Africa Health Agenda International Conference in 2014; leading a global south dialogue knowledge exchange platform on Universal Health Coverage in Africa and Asia; and the launching various campaigns including Communities at the Heart of UHC global advocacy campaign.

Prior to joining, she was the Director of Development at a New York based foundation where she also served as Director of Marketing from 2006. She is a founding board member of the NY-Westchester Chapter of the National Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). Her experience includes various roles in USA based university teaching hospitals and consulting with international organizations including the UNDP, and Public Health Innovations. Desta holds a Masters of Public Health from the State University of New York and currently serves on Acumen East Africa’s regional advisory board and the Thematic Working Group on Private Sector of Health Systems Global.