Call for Expressions of Interest for an HIV/AIDS Innovation Fund – India National AIDS Control Programme Phase III

DFID is supporting the National AIDS Control Programme in halting and reversing India’s HIV/AIDs epidemic by 2012. The programme uses a number of measures to provide a comprehensive prevention, care and support response at the district, state and national levels.

DFID support is being managed through the Futures Group [AIDS Technical Assistance Support Team (TAST)]. Accordingly, Futures Group is advertising the Call for Expressions of Interest for the HIV/AIDS Innovation Fund.

An Innovation Fund has been established to provide financial support to innovative projects that will improve the coverage, accessibility or quality of HIV prevention services. The Innovation Fund aims to test and develop:

• New ideas
• New approaches to working with high-risk groups or hidden populations
• New strategies and processes

Expressions of interest are being invited for projects that will meet all the criteria outlined in the Innovation Fund Information Pack. For details of the application process please visit Innovation Fund Information Pack or email innovationfund@futuresgroup.com.

The Innovation Fund is only able to provide grants to Civil Society Organisations or other non-profit institutions including but not limited to Community Based Organisations, Faith Based Organisations, Trusts, Societies and Foundations.

Last date for the submission of Expressions of Interest is Friday 17th September 2010

Futures Group Promotes Ed Abel to Chief Operating Officer

Futures Group, an international development firm known for an evidence-based, integrated approach to improving the health and well-being of people worldwide, announces the promotion of Edward Abel to Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. He will be primarily responsible for general management of the operations of the business globally, including general business operations, program operations, facilities, information technology, knowledge management, corporate communications, and business development.

“Ed’s experience in technical, operational, and management disciplines make him superbly qualified to provide oversight to how we operate our programs,” said Chris LeGrand, Chief Executive Officer of Futures Group, adding “he understands the needs and nuances of running programs in the field.”

Mr. Abel has spent his entire career in international development, 28 years of it with Futures Group. Throughout his career, he has specialized in applying modern technologies for modeling and assessing the impacts of population growth on social and economic outcomes. He also has recognized expertise in the strategic use of data for informed decisionmaking in development. More recently, Mr. Abel has served in various capacities of increasing responsibility including regional director for Futures Group’s Asia/Near East portfolio, and most recently Vice President of Business Development. Mr. Abel holds a bachelors degree in Political Science and a master’s degree in Public Administration.

Established in 1971, Futures Group equips governments with data and proven tools to improve health services for the people who need it most. Futures is a services and consulting company that develops and delivers innovative, locally relevant solutions for the most vexing health problems in the developing world. Globally, Futures Group assists governmental and non-governmental agencies, foundations, and the private sector by designing, implementing and evaluating programs in HIV and AIDS, reproductive health, population and family planning, maternal and child health, infectious diseases, and gender.

Futures Group assists its clients by employing deep expertise in policy and advocacy, research and strategic information, health markets and private sector engagement, modeling and economic analysis, health informatics, strategic consulting, and program management.

Over the past 39 years, Futures Group has worked closely with the United States Government to alleviate pain and suffering throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe by expanding health services throughout the developing world.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Futures Group has worked in more than 100 countries on more than 600 projects, and is currently running health programs in over 35 countries with over 500 staff worldwide.

Futures Group Names Dr. Shannon Hader Vice President and Director of the Center for Health Systems and Solutions

Futures Group, an international development firm known for an evidence-based, integrated approach to improving the health and well-being of people worldwide, announces the appointment of Dr. Shannon Hader to Vice President and Director of the Center for Health Systems and Solutions. She will be responsible for a global portfolio of projects and clients, delivering integrated health systems services such as research and strategic information, health markets and private sector engagement, health informatics, and monitoring and evaluation.

For media inquiries, contact Becca Simon at rsimon@futuresgroup.com or +1.202.775.9680

“Shannon’s wide-ranging technical management experience and her bold leadership and tenacity for getting things done make her a perfect match for Futures Group,” said Chris LeGrand, Chief Executive Officer.

Dr. Hader is a well-known public health and international development physician with a long-standing commitment to the HIV/AIDS response. She has worked in a diversity of challenging situations, from rural Mississippi to rural Russia, and has emphasized accountability, scale, and impact to build sustainable responses from Washington, DC, to Zimbabwe, where she directed the CDC office and team. She was Senior Scientific Advisor and Public Health Evaluation Coordinator at OGAC for the PEPFAR program in 2006 and 2007.

She graduated from Columbia University with joint MD/MPH in 1995 and completed epidemiologic training through the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service, and is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Infectious Diseases. She has worked clinically caring for children and adults in the United States and abroad in Brazil, China, Jamaica, and Zimbabwe.

Dr. Hader was most recently the director of the HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, STD and TB Division of the District of Columbia Department of Health where she leads an agency and eight bureaus of with a staff of 170 and a budget of over $90 million per year.

Established in 1971, Futures Group equips governments with data and proven tools to improve health services for the people who need it most. Futures is a services and consulting company that develops and delivers innovative, locally relevant solutions for the most vexing health problems in the developing world. Globally, Futures Group assists governmental and non-governmental agencies, foundations, and the private sector by designing, implementing and evaluating programs in HIV and AIDS, reproductive health, population and family planning, maternal and child health, infectious diseases, and gender.

Futures Group assists its clients by employing deep expertise in policy and advocacy, research and strategic information, health markets and private sector engagement, modeling and economic analysis, health informatics, strategic consulting, and program management.

Over the past 39 years, Futures Group has worked closely with the United States Government to alleviate pain and suffering throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe by expanding health services throughout the developing world.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Futures Group has worked in more than 100 countries on more than 600 projects, and is currently running health programs in over 35 countries with over 500 staff worldwide.

Health informatics synthesizes relevant information technology tools with an understanding of health information and how it can be used to support better decisions and better health outcomes.

The Health Informatics Forum provided a hands-on opportunity to exchange ideas on informatics applications used in settings with low technical capacities and discussion about how these tools inform decisionmakers at every level, from community health workers to policymakers.

Hands-On Solutions Demonstrations at the Health Informatics Forum

Effective ICT4D in Healthcare by Mathew Taylor, Intel Corporation

CommCare: Automated Quality Improvement to Strengthen Community-Based Health by Jonathan Jackson, Dimagi

EMR: IQSolutions Open Source Health Informatics Platform by Bobby Jefferson, Futures Group

Crowdsourced Pharmacovigilance: Protecting Patients from Fake Drugs by Alden Zecha, Sproxil

Mobile Diagnostics and Connectivity Solutions for Rural Clinics by Rich Fletcher, MIT Media Lab

More information about the presenters is available in the Futures Group Newsroom or by contacting Becca Simon at rsimon@futuresgroup.com.

Health informatics synthesizes relevant information technology tools with an understanding of health information and how it can be used to support better decisions and better health outcomes. The Health Informatics Forum will provide a hands-on opportunity to exchange ideas on informatics applications used in settings with low technical capacities and discuss how these tools inform decisionmakers at every level, from community health workers to policymakers.

Thursday, June 3
1:30 – 6:00pm
University Club
1135 16th St., NW
Washington, DC 20036

Mathew Taylor

Mathew Taylor is Senior Solutions Architect with the Intel World Ahead Program, developing sustainable ICT for emerging countries and regions of intermittent power and connectivity. He has recently been working with the World Bank, PEPFAR, USAID, and the non-government development community on efforts in support of education, agriculture, healthcare, and small business. He’s been with Intel 12 years, in prior lives being a marketing manager, webmaster, and software engineer. He holds a triple major in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon.

Jonathan Jackson

Jonathan Jackson is an entrepreneur and innovator with extensive experience in technology solutions. He has built software systems and led development teams for a variety of projects in both developed and developing countries. Since co-founding Dimagi, Jonathan has overseen the development of multiple innovative health projects in over 15 countries, including SmartCare, the National HIV medical record systems in Zambia and CommCare, a mobile phone based system for community healthcare workers. From 2006, he has led Dimagi as PI or co-PI with Vikram in the awarding of 4 NIH grants for a variety of patient-centered technologies being researched in the United States.

Rich Fletcher

Rich Fletcher, PhD is currently a research scientist at the MIT Media Lab working in the area of wireless sensors for physiological monitoring and mobile health. A significant part of this research involves mobile phone applications as a tool for health interventions. After graduating from MIT, Dr. Fletcher founded several companies, including United Villages and First-Mile Solutions, which provide Internet services to rural areas in developing countries. With family roots in Colombia, South America, Dr. Fletcher has also devoted much of his life to developing appropriate technologies for developing countries and was co-founder of two related courses at MIT (“D-Lab Mobile ICT” and “NextLab”) that provide students opportunities to design and deploy projects around the world.

Bobby Jefferson

Bobby Jefferson is Senior Health Informatics Advisor at Futures Group in Washington, DC. He provides information communication technology (ICT) technical leadership providing innovative solutions to support resource limited, rural hospitals treating those most affected by diseases. He provides technical expertise in developing electronic data collection and reporting solutions using cost effective, freely available software tools, as part of the technical solution.

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Alden Zecha

Alden Zecha is CFO and Strategist at Sproxil. He is responsible for the overall strategy, finance and administration of the privately backed US company which provides comprehensive anti-counterfeiting strategies for emerging markets through software and services that work anywhere there are mobile phones. Prior to joining Sproxil he was co-founder and CFO of ultra-luxury travel company PrivatSea and CFO of Rethos, a sustainability and corporate social-responsibility, social-media website.

Ambassador Mark Dybul

Ambassador Mark Dybul served as the United States Global AIDS Coordinator from 2006 to the end of the Bush Administration. In that role, he led the implementation of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the largest international health initiative in history for a single disease. He oversaw U.S. government engagement in the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and was Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee. He also served as chair of the Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS’ coordinating board and as a member of the board of trustees of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Chris LeGrand

Chris LeGrand currently serves as president and chief executive officer of Futures Group Global, LLC. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Futures Group specializes in the design and implementation of public health and social programs for developing countries and has 450 staff spanning the United States and 30 other countries. LeGrand was part of a management team that purchased Futures Group as a divestiture from SRA International in September 2008. Mr. LeGrand has been the recipient of numerous leadership awards, including Business Journal’s top 40 professionals under age 40 in the N.C. Research Triangle area in 2001 and Business Leader magazine’s top 100 Business Impact Leaders in the Triangle. He was also honored with the Outstanding Service Award by the Drug Information Association in 2007.

Farley Cleghorn

Farley Cleghorn is Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer for Futures Group. Dr. Cleghorn has more than 20 years of experience in international development, research, and program implementation. His research has focused on the epidemiology, natural history, prevention, and pathogenesis of HIV/AIDS and related infections in the United States and the developing world. He has made many original contributions to the field of human retrovirology in the areas of HIV-1 epidemiology, natural history, pathogenesis, prevention, and treatment.

Futures Group Presents IQSolutions at ICT4D Conference

For media inquiries, contact Becca Simon at rsimon@futuresgroup.com or +1.202.775.9680

Futures Group presented IQSolutions, a health data reporting tool for resource limited settings, during the three-day Information Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) Solutions conference at the Jacaranda Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, in March 2010.  The conference, sponsored by Catholic Relief Services (CRS), included experts from private sector firms, NGOs, and donors.  Participants included M&E practitioners, agriculture extension agents, HIV experts, health experts, and IT professionals.

IQCare Netbook Demonstration

Futures Group, a leader in health systems strengthening information technologies for the development sector, demonstrated a number of innovative solutions to capture, analyze and report on health systems data in resource limited settings.   The IQSolutions suite includes the Electronic Health Record system IQCare, IQMobile for PDA devices, IQSMS for PMTCT Reporting, integrated reporting using solar-powered mobile phones for distantly remote areas, and the Site Capacity Assessment Visual Dashboard.

The Futures Group team provide hands-on, real world demonstrations of these groundbreaking, freely available and open source technology solutions, which are directly applicable to health systems programs in the field.

For more on IQSolutions, please contact Bobby Jefferson at bjefferson@futuresgroup.com or Lanette Burrows at lburrows@futuresgroup.com, or visit the IQStrategy website, www.iqstrategy.net.

On February 25, Futures Group convened a meeting at the National Press Club in Washington, DC to answer the question “Does policy pay off?”  That question wasanswered with a resounding yes through three country examples: Kenya, Peru, and India.

Robert Clay, Director of the USAID Office of HIV/AIDS, Discusses What Works in Innovative Public-Private Partnerships for Reproductive Health

What is the Role of Policy? How Does Policy Pay Off?

How Has Policy Action Increased Resources for Health? The Case of Kenya

How Can Countries Improve the Flow and Use of Information for Decision-making? The Case of Peru

What Works in Innovative Public-Private Partnerships for Reproductive Health? The Case of India

Policy Pays Off Invitation

Futures Group Joins Forces with Business Movement to End Global Diseases

Press Release

For media inquiries, contact Becca Simon at rsimon@futuresgroup.com or +1.202.775.9680

Futures Group, an international development firm known for its evidence-based, integrated approach to complex health and development challenges, has joined the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria.

Futures has been actively engaged in global health for the past 30 years. It creates innovative solutions that assist governmental and non-governmental agencies, foundations, and the private sector in designing, implementing and evaluating programs in HIV and AIDS, sexual and reproductive health, population and family planning, maternal and child health, infectious diseases, and gender.

“Effective action to improve global health and economic development demands that business and organizations from other sectors join forces to share knowledge and coordinate actions,” said John Tedstrom, GBC’s President and CEO. “By linking the work of organizations like Futures with the corporate social responsibility goals of our business members, we can identify effective ways to leverage business resources and expertise to improve the reach and results of global health action.”

“Futures Group has a unique hybrid environment that harnesses the domain-based enthusiasm of our staff around the world to the tried and tested business processes that delivers best value for money to our clients,” said Farley R. Cleghorn, Senior Vice President & Chief Technical Officer, Futures Group.

Futures Group

Established in 1971, Futures Group equips governments with data and proven tools to improve health services for the people who need it most. Futures is a services and consulting company that develops and delivers innovative, locally relevant solutions for the most vexing health problems in the developing world. Globally, Futures Group assists governmental and non-governmental agencies, foundations, and the private sector by designing, implementing and evaluating programs in HIV and AIDS, reproductive health, population and family planning, maternal and child health, infectious diseases, and gender.

The core goal of Futures Group is to improve the health of mothers, children, and families by employing deep expertise in policy and advocacy, research and strategic information, health markets and private sector engagement, modeling and economic analysis, health informatics, strategic consulting, and program management.

Over the past 38 years, Futures Group has worked closely with the United States Government to alleviate pain and suffering throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe by expanding health services throughout the developing world.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Futures Group has worked in more than 100 countries on more than 600 projects, and is currently running health programs in over 35 countries with over 500 staff worldwide.

For more information visit: www.futuresgroup.com.

Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria

The Coalition is an extraordinary alliance where business, government, and civil society join forces—a collaboration that’s closing gaps and maximizing performance in the drive to defeat disease. The Coalition’s nearly-200 member companies are at the forefront of a movement that is speeding the day when the devastation caused by HIV, TB and malaria will end.

The core idea is simple:  Apply business’ capabilities, influence, and other assets, and victory will come sooner than if the non-corporate sector is left to do the job on its own. For member companies committing assets to the fight, GBC delivers well-crafted, cost-effective ways to get focus, find partners, improve effectiveness, and boost ROI. Not every member is active on the front lines, but every member wants to help us win.

GBC represents the private sector to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The Coalition has offices in New York, Paris, Johannesburg, Beijing, Nairobi and Moscow. For more information visit www.gbcimpact.org.