Louise Winstanly Joins IntraHealth International Board of Directors; IntraHealth Hires Deborah Smulyan as Its First-Ever Director of Development

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Aug. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Global health nonprofit IntraHealth International has named bioethicist and attorney Louise Winstanly to its Board of Directors.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110803/DC46826 )

Winstanly is an adjunct assistant professor at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Gillings School of Global Public Health, an adjunct assistant professor in UNC's Department of Social Medicine, and an associate faculty member at UNC's Center for Genomic Society. She is also assistant professor at Union Graduate College's Center for Bioethics and Clinical Leadership. Her teaching and research interests focus on clinical, research and public health ethics.

Winstanly was drawn to IntraHealth because the organization's values mirror her own. "Solutions aren't one-size-fits-all and need to be adapted to each community's reality," she says. "IntraHealth works directly with local health workers, helping them to find solutions that work for their communities."

Originally from South Africa, Winstanly practiced law in London, Tokyo, and New York before moving to Chapel Hill in 2005. She holds a business law degree, with honors, from London Guildhall University in the UK and a master of science in bioethics from Union Graduate College. She is the policy director of UNC's Hospital Ethics Committee, and she is a member of the UNC Institutional Review Board; of UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health Advisory Committee; and of North Carolina's Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute's Clinical and Community Research Ethics Core. Winstanly is a member of the American Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association, and an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Prior to joining IntraHealth's Board, Winstanly served on IntraHealth's Global Health Advisory Committee, which comprises North Carolinian civic and business leaders committed to supporting the organization's mission.

Deborah Smulyan Joins IntraHealth as Director of Development

IntraHealth's new Director of Development Deborah Smulyan will spearhead the global nonprofit's development program. Smulyan brings more than 20 years of experience, much of it in Washington, DC, leading teams, mobilizing resources, and building development campaigns in the public, corporate, and not-for-profit sectors. Smulyan held various positions on Capitol Hill and served as the deputy then executive director of the Democratic Leadership Council, the organization largely credited with creating the New Democrat agenda, catapulting then-Governor Bill Clinton into the White House. She also led business development for Emmis Communications, building radio stations in emerging markets throughout Latin America and Central Europe.

Most recently, Smulyan served as director of development for the Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI), a North Carolina-based nonprofit dedicated to cultivating markets, policies, and communities that support "thriving, socially just and environmentally sound family farms" throughout the Southeast. Smulyan played a strategic role in growing RAFI's private resources.

Smulyan says her passion is "connecting other peoples' diverse interests with giving opportunities that personally matter to them, that engage donors of all types—from individuals to global corporations—in worthy causes and the process of social change." Throughout her career, she has worked to educate, engage, and inspire people to support causes that align with their values.

She says that IntraHealth's focus on the health worker, and the tremendous impact of supporting local health workers, first attracted her to the organization. "IntraHealth has a unique value proposition. Investing in one person—one trained and supported health worker to deliver babies, or vaccines, or HIV testing—reaches thousands more. Last year, IntraHealth supported the training of more than 20,000 health workers. Imagine how many lives were touched."

"Over the last several years, we have developed a growing network of individual and corporate donors who are committed to IntraHealth's mission and values, and we are thrilled that Deb is joining our team," says IntraHealth President Pape Gaye. "Our impressive 30-year track record of reinforcing vibrant health institutions and supporting high-performing health workers to better meet the health needs of vulnerable communities is a compelling message for those interested in contributing to making the world a better and healthier place."

IntraHealth International is a global health nonprofit that champions the critical role of health workers in health and development. For over 30 years, in more than 95 countries, IntraHealth has empowered health workers to better serve communities in need, fostering local solutions to health care challenges by improving health worker performance, strengthening health systems, harnessing technology, and leveraging partnerships. IntraHealth has offices in Chapel Hill, NC, Washington, DC, and 15 countries worldwide. The nonprofit's work is supported and funded by the US Agency for International Development, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, private foundations, corporations, and individuals.

SOURCE IntraHealth International