World leaders will convene in New York this September for the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). During this session, three health-related high-level meetings will take place, with the objective to strengthen health systems to ensure equitable, sustainable, and accessible health for all.

According to a WHO report, countries are struggling to achieve their health-related SDG targets, worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic and other crises. Living Goods has been advocating for the inclusion and prioritization of community health workers (CHWs) in-country and global plans, because of the critical role they play in ensuring access to health services at the last mile. There is need for collaboration and resource utilization to expedite progress towards achieving SDGs.

A select team of our staff—led by our CEO—will be at UNGA and look forward to connecting with you and other leaders of like-minded organizations, funders and government officials. They will be calling attention to the urgent need for digital solutions for CHWs and rallying support for countries to ensure they are equipped to deliver on the promise of universal health coverage.

You can connect with the team at partner events from 12 September – 20 September, and you will also find them speaking at:

1. From Words to Action: Winning the budget line for Professional Community Health Workers
Date: Monday, September 18
Time: 7:30 – 8:45 am (EDT)
Location: Hearst Tower, 300 West 57th Street, New York, 44th Floor (closed event)
Speaker: Liz Jarman, Chief Executive Officer

2. Shaping the Future of UHC: Perspectives from Health Workers and Communities
Date: Monday, September 18
Time: 15:00–16:30 (EDT)
Location: The Yale Club of New York City, The Tap Room, 50 Vanderbilt Ave., New York
Speakers: Liz Jarman, CEO, Living Goods, and Thomas Opiyo Onyango, Country Director, Living Goods, Kenya

3. Aligning Our Advocacy: Addressing the Global Health Workforce Shortage
Date: Tuesday, September 19
Time: 15:00-17:00 pm (EDT)
Location: Smile Train Headquarters, 633 3rd Avenue 10017 (closed event)

4. A Child-Centered Approach for Resilient Families and Stronger Health Systems
Date: Wednesday, September 20
Time: 16:30-19:00 (EDT)
Location: Monarch Rooftop, 71 W35th Street, New York
Speaker: Liz Jarman, Chief Executive Officer

Meet our UNGA 2023 delegation and visit our website to learn more about Living Goods’ strategy and activities.

Liz Jarman, Chief Executive Officer

Liz was named CEO in 2018 and is a member of the Living Goods Board of Directors. She sets the vision for how Living Goods partners with African governments to effectively strengthen and deliver high-impact, life-saving community health services. Based in Kenya, where she has lived for more than 10 years, she leads a team of over 450 colleagues across 3 African countries and the US.

During her tenure, Liz has overseen a 50% increase in revenue and doubled the number of CHWs supported, new country expansion efforts, and the incorporation of family planning and immunization tracking services. She also led the development of an ambitious new 5-year strategic plan (2022-2026) that will ensure Living Goods continues to save lives at scale through country-led digitally enabled community health systems.

Thomas Opiyo Onyango, Kenya Country Director

Thomas joined Living Goods as Country Director Kenya in June 2018 and is responsible for driving and executing country-level strategy, team development and representing the organization with key stakeholders. He is a dynamic global health leader and has close to two decades of experience in healthcare.

Before joining Living Goods, Thomas built his career in the pharmaceutical world with progressive leadership responsibilities across Africa with Merck and Novartis. His current focus is to effectively implement the new multi-year strategy and specifically enhance Government partnership to drive national impact that leverages digital technology. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biochemistry & a Master’s in Business Administration from Strathmore University.

Emilie Chambert, Chief Program Officer

As Chief Program Officer, Emilie reviews and refines Living Goods’ theory of change and helps ensure high-impact service delivery through strategic program design, innovation, monitoring, research, evaluation, and learning. She also oversees incubator stages of our new country operations so that they deliver desired results and ensures we effectively measure our work at each stage.

Emilie joined Living Goods in 2014 and has held progressive leadership roles as our Uganda Operations Director, Uganda Deputy Country Director, Uganda Country Director and, most recently, Regional Director for Expansion. A leader committed to driving positive social outcomes and durable change, Emilie has more than two decades of leadership and management experience in the public and private sectors. She got her MBA from EDHEC in Lille, France and is fluent in English, French, and Spanish.

Tom Sessions, Director of Development

Tom leads the business development team at Living Goods. He is a strategic social innovator with 16 years’ experience in the not-for-profit, commercial and philanthropic sectors. Tom is interested in co-creating relevant and responsive partnerships for the future. He has a wealth of experience engaging businesses around shared value—a core business approach to drive sustainable impacts for both positive commercial and social outcomes.

Tom led several funding and partnerships teams across CARE International, working globally with businesses, governments and foundations. He has also worked for UNICEF, small national NGOs and the private sector. He holds a Master’s in Business Management and Sociology from the University of Glasgow.

Lisa McCandless, Executive Director US

As the Executive Director-US of Living Goods, Lisa oversees Living Goods’ global fundraising, communications, and advocacy teams. Her job is to ensure Living Goods has the strategy and the resources—the funding, the partnerships, the relationships, and the brand and visibility—to achieve its mission. Since joining Living Goods, Lisa has overseen a 10x growth in annual revenue to $30 million and grown from a team of 1 to 20 people across the US, Europe, and East Africa. Key wins for Living Goods under Lisa’s leadership include: GiveWell Standout Charity Recognition, Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, and being named a TED Audacious Project Inaugural Winner.

Prior to Living Goods, Lisa spent five years at Chemonics International Inc., where she led strategy, program design, and proposal development for large-scale development projects in Africa. As Director of Business Development, East Africa, she oversaw growth for the division, developing and managing a strategy to grow Chemonics’ portfolio in the region. In this role, she secured USAID funding opportunities up to $50 million in value.  Lisa holds a B.A. in International Development Studies from UCLA.

Mandy Folse, Global Advocacy Director & Strategic Advisor to the CEO

With over a decade of experience in global health policy and advocacy, Mandy brings significant expertise in advocacy strategy development, policy analysis, communications, and coalition building to her role at Living Goods. She previously served as the inaugural Director of the Frontline Health Workers Coalition at IntraHealth International, where she positioned the coalition as a leading voice in global health workforce advocacy.

Prior to this experience, Mandy served as Head of Policy and Advocacy at WaterAid America, where she developed the organization’s first policy and advocacy program in the U.S., focused on global water and sanitation issues. She also worked as Associate Director of Policy and Advocacy for Save the Children, leading the organization’s advocacy work on global health and development issues, including nutrition, HIV/AIDS, and education.

Most recently, Mandy led fundraising as the Chief of Strategic Advancement for a New Orleans-based non-profit organization, securing over $70 million to support local education initiatives. Mandy received her Master’s in Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley.

Sarah Lindsay, Acting Deputy Director of Global Advocacy

Sarah Lindsay is a seasoned public health advocate with over 12 years of experience in global health policy change and coalition building. At Living Goods, Sarah works to advance the community health enabling environment and ensure equitable access to quality healthcare for all. Prior to this experience, Sarah was the manager of the Coalition against Typhoid at the Sabin Vaccine Institute where she helped lead policy change efforts for new vaccine introduction.

Sarah has also worked at Management Sciences for Health on the USAID-funded Leadership, Management and Governance Project and the Aspen Institute. Sarah holds a Master of Arts in Ethics, Peace, and Global Affairs from American University and a Bachelor of Arts in English Language & Literature from North Carolina State University.