Cynthia Kahumbura named Jacaranda Health Co-Executive Director

Jacaranda Health has announced the appointment of Cynthia Kahumbura as Co-Executive Director.

She will serve alongside her colleagues Nick Pearson and Sathy Rajasekharan.

Announcing the appointment, Pearson said Cynthia's leadership and vision have taken Jacaranda Health from strength to strength, building a team and systems capable of operating at a national scale.

"She has increased the reach of our programs five-fold, and positioned Jacaranda as a trusted partner for dozens of county governments," Pearson said.

"Sathy and I are excited to formalize her executive leadership, as an equal partner and steward of Jacaranda'sambitious mission to improve pregnancy journeys for all Kenyan mothers."

Sathy on her part said Cynthia has shown dedication, innovative ideas, and a remarkable skill set that has driven the scale and impact of Jacaranda Health.

"We are excited for her to step into her new role, which will give her the flexibility to help shape the future, ambitious direction of Jacaranda - as we seek to expand our support for mothers and babies across the continent," she said.

In her acceptance remarks, Cynthia said her goal is to ensure every mum and baby receives quality care in Kenya and beyond.

"This means aligning with and driving forward the national Universal Health Coverage(UHC) agenda, and ensuring our programs are adopted within the wider health system - not just for today, but in years to come," she said.

"We have the privilege at Jacaranda of giving people who wouldn’t otherwise have a voice in the health system a channel to influence decisions right at the top."

Cynthia steps up from her previous role of Country Director (2022-2024) at Jacaranda to lead the scale, sustainability and execution of Kenya programs and operations.

She joined Jacaranda as Director of Operations in March 2020, amid the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The country went into lockdown in my first week," Cynthia explained.

"I had the hard task of figuring out how to build meaningful relationships remotely."

Jacaranda Health said it was during that period that innovations, like tele-triaging and digital learning for nurses, were emerging to cater for the growing crisis then, a development that would long outlive the COVID-19 period.

Over her four years at Jacaranda, Cynthia is credited for playing a pivotal role in advancing the organization’s scale trajectory - from 100+ facilities in five counties in 2020 to 1,300+ facilities across 22 counties, and three countries in 2024.

"Cynthia’s promotion to Co-Executive Director reflects our new strategic positioning as a global organization while affirming a continued emphasis on scaling nationally in Kenya," Pearson said.

"Cynthia strongly advocates for the inclusion of women’s voices in health system improvements and the UHC agenda, not only in health leadership, but also by ensuring mothers have a say on the services they receive, and that their feedback translates to action at the county level."

Alongside deepening impact in Kenya, Cynthia will focus on putting the right people and processes in place to ensure the continued scale, sustainability and execution of Jacaranda’s Kenya operations.

Her focus will be on maintaining an internal culture of innovation, integrity, and ‘working smarter, not harder’ while setting a standard for excellence in the processes and systems that underpin our projects and programs.