Mariam Thabit Johari

Major successes: Co-developed investment case for Tanzania securing an additional investment of USD 70M through the Beginnings Fund to scale up the NEST360 bundle of care to 12 additional regions in Tanzania, reaching over 210 health facilities nationwide.

• Provides strategic leadership and oversight for a five-year, $7 million national health initiative, leading a multidisciplinary team to strengthen systems and scale nationally an integrated innovation package that improves newborn survival.
• Led capital engagement efforts with global donors by aligning program strategy with partner priorities, resulting in renewed multi-year funding and expanded investment in newborn care.
• Managed donor relationships in country (Gates Foundation, ELMA,CIFF) to ensure program coherence and accountability.
• Collaborates with government, partners, and global stakeholders to align with national priorities, drive policy change, and deliver sustainable, high-impact solutions.

Major successes : Managed a $3 million multi-country program focused on monitoring temperature during vaccine transportation. Implemented effective strategies that ensured the program's success across multiple regions. This initiative played a crucial role in maintaining the integrity of vaccines during transit, contributing to improved healthcare outcomes and health equity. Utilised data from the project to advocate for practice and policy, institutionalising temperature monitoring protocols during vaccine transportation, and formulating standard operating procedures (SOPs) for vaccine packing.

• Managed implementation of a $3M multi-country pilot and scale-up of a technology solution to monitor vaccines during Transportation in Tanzania and Kenya
• Served as a senior representative in high-level meetings with DFIs, multilaterals, and country governments, positioning Nexleaf as a trusted partner in health technology
• Developed the scale up strategy ensuring alignment with company goals and global practice
• Led the implementation of the project in tracking progress and deliverables against timelines and milestones
• Led implementation research for the project, overseeing IRB processing and ensuring regulatory compliance. Managed consultant contracts for data collection, ensuring respondent safety and anonymity
• Identified and planned mitigation strategies for risks and took corrective action as needed during implementation ensuring agility of the project
• Led a multidisciplinary cross functional team which included contracting in country an implementing partner and data collection firm, product, engineering and monitoring and evaluation personnel working together to meet project deliverables
• Developed outreach materials for evidence and knowledge development and dissemination to donors and stakeholders including abstracts, posters, and papers including other communication collaterals
• Led the development and execution of the impact evaluation documenting impact and success stories developing different materials for dissemination and organisation wide knowledge management
• Led the technical and financial reporting for grant agencies and sponsors
• Led the exploration and market research for introducing the technology other markets leading to the expansion of the project to Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda and Pakistan
• Engaged with key stakeholders in the Government, Ministries and end users strengthening relationships
• Lead trainings and workshops for health care workers
• Supported initiatives to build culture of data among health care workers

Major successes : Successfully managed a 1.4 million Euro program at GIZ, encompassing activities related to equipment maintenance, Basic and Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (BmONC and EmONC) services, youth access to family planning, Digital Health, Healthcare Financing and Health Governance The implemented initiatives resulted in a notable 60% reduction in complications during pregnancy. Additionally, access to modern contraceptive methods increased by 20% from the baseline.

• Managed a €1.4M project developing the operational plan and financial plan, activities schedules, milestones and metrics which guided the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the RMNCAH component of the program
• Technically supported the development of the implementation strategy including formulating outcomes, milestones and indicators for monitoring
• Led multiple teams in implementation activities, encompassing support for day-to-day operations, troubleshooting challenges, and proactively managing risks and mitigation plans.
• Collaborated with external consultants to conduct needs assessment, baseline, and end-line impact evaluations, securing IRB approval and ensuring regulatory compliance while prioritising respondent safety and confidentiality
• Collaborated with multidisciplinary teams within the program including Digitalisation and Health Governance ensuring synergy and complementarity within the different components
• Worked closely with Ministry of Health and Community Development, Gender Elderly and Children (MoHCDGEC) and President's Office, Regional Administration and Local Government (PORLAG) in implementing the jointly agreed work plan
• Served as a trusted advisor representing the GIZ Health Program at technical meetings, actively collaborating with technical experts, implementing partners, donor agencies and stakeholders
• Managed the PR Portfolio of the Health Program as the PR Focal Point, ensuring program visibility, evidence, and knowledge development, dissemination, including writing abstracts, posters, papers, and articles to enhance outreach and communication efforts.

Major successes: Utilised project data as an advocacy tool in multiple countries to address behavioural biases in accessing Family Planning services, thereby increasing overall FP service access for adolescents. The data-driven advocacy approach contributed to fostering positive changes in FP service utilisation among adolescents across different regions.

• Lead multi-country (US,Pakistan,BurkinaFaso) program teams to share program experience, lessons learnt and best practices
• Organised and participated in training and mentoring of enumerators, including the planning and coordination of the Program (Summit) Launch, which had a 98% attendance rate
• Conceptualised and established individual performance objectives, goals and timelines that ensured timely performance management and assessment of the teams
• Critically assessed bottle necks in data collection and provided quick troubleshoot solutions in a structured and logical manner
• Documented best practices highlighting high impact approaches and lessons learnt, sharing across multi-country program teams

Major successes: Developed first policy brief of its kind, which lead to the development of another evidence in to practice briefing, these were instrumental and important advocacy pieces and in In April 2023, the UK Government announced that all pregnant women who smoke will be offered financial incentives in the form of vouchers alongside behavioural support by the end of 2024.

• Provided technical support in the development of the first ASH series of ‘evidence into practice briefings’ for incentive schemes to encourage smoking cessation during pregnancy to inform policy and advocate for scale-up and national adoption
• Led the execution of documentation for the evidence of smoking in pregnancy cessation programs by reviewing relevant policies, strategies and existing programs to determine the effectiveness, feasibility, acceptability and cost effectiveness of these programs
• Provided support in the planning of advocacy meetings and campaigns by preparing succinct presentations for both internal and external audiences

Major successes: Effectively mobilised partners, stakeholders, and policymakers through diverse engagement strategies to raise awareness of the National Resource Centre for Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT). This proactive approach increased visibility and support for national PMTCT initiatives, contributing significantly to improved maternal and child health outcomes. Demonstrated strong business development acumen by leading efforts to diversify funding through the identification and successful application of technical EOIs, strengthening programme sustainability and expanding resource opportunities.

Duties performed as a program officer:

• Led the development of the National Resource centre including planning and hosting mobilisation events
• Provided technical assistance to the National Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS (PMTCT) program by developing technical strategies and approaches, ensuring these were inline with National Policies and international with best practices
• Established, maintained and improved communication and coordination with the Ministry of Health and Community Development, Gender Elderly and Children (MoHCDGEC), President’s Office, Regional Administration and Local Government (PORLAG), implementing partners, civil society and other health sector stakeholders through preparation and facilitation of working groups and partner’s meeting and the development and dissemination of a quarterly Listserv
• Represented FXBT Health at technical, policy and strategic meetings as well as working groups with the Ministry of Health, implementing partners and donor agencies
• Supported the design, planning and implementation of all program activities, developing detailed work plans and budgets for implementation of program activities Tracked progress of program activities and delivery of outputs against budget allocation ensuring effective execution of program budget
• Prepared quarterly and annual reports
• Led the execution of the organisation’s communication strategy to ensure organisation visibility and promotion of the organisation’s work and best practices

Duties performed as a consultant:

• In my role as a consultant, I provided leadership and oversight in various aspects of research and data collection activities, offering consultancy services to organizations such as UNICEF, Africare, WEI BANTWANA, ICF, and Johns Hopkins University Centre for Communications Program. This included securing IRB approval and ensuring regulatory compliance, as well as respondent safety and anonymity throughout the process. I led data collection teams, contracted data collectors, formulated study designs and protocols, managed research budgets, developed data collection tools, conducted qualitative and quantitative data collection, oversaw database development for data input, analyzed data, prepared detailed analysis reports, and facilitated dissemination meetings to present results to stakeholders.

• Implemented and led health promotion initiatives within the hospital. Orchestrated multifaceted campaigns to raise awareness and foster behaviour change, utilising a combination of traditional and innovative approaches.
• Developed and executed community workshops, school programs, and digital media campaigns, leveraging LED displays for impactful communication. Successfully engaged local leaders and collaborated with NGOs to ensure a comprehensive and sustainable approach.
• Attended inpatient and outpatient cases, assessing, stabilising and initiating treatment. This included the diagnosis, treatment and subsequent follow up of patients
• Carried out daily ward rounds and followed up on patients' progress.
• Facilitated training of nurses and students allocated to the emergency department and coordinated and prepared weekly based learning sessions.