Grace serves as Regional Program Manager for Research Engagement at AVAC, where she leads work on the People’s Research Agenda, the Clinical Trial Design Academy, community engagement and tracking of the HIV prevention and multipurpose prevention technologies R&D pipeline. She is a public health leader with more than 15 years of experience implementing and advocating for HIV prevention, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and community-led advocacy in Malawi, Africa, and globally.
Before joining AVAC, Grace held senior leadership roles at Pakachere Institute for Health and Development Communication, including Chief of Party for the PEPFAR-funded Local Endeavors for HIV Prevention, Care and Treatment program, which supported 12 specialized clinics for key populations in Malawi. She was also a Technical Lead for donor-supported programs funded by PEPFAR, Global Fund, USAID, OSISA, UNFPA, and UNICEF. She served as a co-investigator on Malawi’s implementation science project delivering oral PrEP to adolescent girls and young women and sex workers. Grace serves in country, regional and global leadership spaces, including the Infectious Diseases and Equity Consortium International Advisory Board, the African Women Prevention Community Accountability Board, Generation Empowerment Movement (GEM) Board and the CROI Community Liaison Subcommittee. She holds a BA in Humanities, a Master of Arts, and a Master of Science in International Public Health, and is a Coady Institute Global Change Leaders Fellow (2015) and Perennial Leaders Fellow (2020).