Nina Schwalbe, MPH, PhD, is a New Yorker, small business owner, and public health practitioner, scientist, and advocate who has spent her career working to ensure that everyone, everywhere has access to health.
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In 2021 she was appointed by the Biden-Harris Administration to design, launch, and implement a US$7 billion USAID emergency initiative delivering one billion COVID-19 vaccines to low- and lower-middle-income countries.
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Nina is a relentless doer who turns bold ideas into tangible actions—making systems fairer, resources go further, and improving people’s lives and livelihoods. She has held leadership roles at private and public multinational organizations, transforming them to deliver better outcomes for people worldwide.
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From organizing local grassroots action to international head of state summits, she believes that progress happens when people work together, listen to one another, and lead with empathy.
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Led the implementation of an initiative developed by Nobel Prize–winning economists that has helped prevent more than 700,000 childhood deaths and drove policies that enabled tens of millions of children worldwide to access new, life-saving vaccines.
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Designed a program with the World Bank leveraging public and private finance to deliver a 700% return on investment for women’s and children’s health.
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Successfully negotiated radical price reduction of the cervical cancer vaccine so it could be widely available in low income countries.