Influential Woman · Global Health

Kelsey Fisher

Program Manager, Stanford African Scholars in Global Health Program, Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health

San Francisco, CA

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree Master's in Public Administration (MPA) Degree San Jose State University Degree 2015 Degree Undergraduate degree Degree Stanford University Cert Master's in Public Administration (MPA)

Her Story

About Kelsey

My key area of expertise is really program design and development, and that has been my focus at Stanford now, where I was kind of tasked with a concept of a program and then charged with really building it. One of my main strengths is building relationships and connecting people - whether it's connecting donors to causes that they're passionate about, or now I work with African physicians that are coming to Stanford, and a big part of my job was connecting them to Stanford faculty team mentors in their areas of expertise to help with their training once they come to Stanford. Throughout my career, I've been on the grant receiving side, whether at a nonprofit or now at Stanford where this program that I work at is fully grant-funded. In the next 5 years, I would love to be in a position on the grant-making side, because having been on the grantee side, I could offer a lot of value to potential grantees and also to foundations or corporate philanthropy in terms of how you can really support the grantee and work in partnership with them.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Kelsey

01What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

The field of global health as a whole has seen really significant funding cuts, just given what's happening globally and with the current administration. That is really hard for anyone working in global health, but I think with women specifically, there's a lot on women's shoulders - we bear the brunt of a lot of society's ills. As young women, you're thinking about raising a family in this environment while having a job that funding cuts are impacting. So it's like, how do you kind of weigh continuing to try to make an income to support a family with just rising costs? I think it's just a hard time to be a young professional in a field that's under attack. We just have to make it through the next 2 or 3 years. One year in, there's already been so much damage.

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