With over 130 years of experience in industries spanning the globe, our board thinks big and has the capacity to take Banda Health all the way.
retired COO, Accenture
CEO, Akili Group
Head of Segments Excellence, Merck KGaA
Founder, VisionQuest Alliance (now Tenfold BPO)
VP SaaS Operations, BMC Software
Global Director of People Development, SIM
Attorney
Director of Development, BLESS.world
Retired CIO, US West (now Centurylink)
Co-Founder & President, Banda Health
Co-Founder & Chief Technical Officer
Co-Founder & President
Corporate Storyteller
Operations Support
Clinical Consultant
Banda Health started as the SIM OpenHMIS
(health management information system)
Project in 2012 with a group of volunteers.
Our team of programmers work out of Nairobi, Kenya.
We officially became a US
501(c)(3) non-profit in 2016.
Why "Banda Health"? Because "Kibanda" - the Swahili word for a makeshift shelter - is where life happens in communities that face barriers to access good healthcare.
Health IT has huge potential to enable access to good healthcare in the midst of poverty, and the need is urgent. Banda Health’s “big hairy audacious goal” (BHAG) is to develop and implement comprehensive IT solutions for medical clinics and health centers that are both affordable and extremely robust.
For now our main focus is on the business software needed by small clinics at the frontlines of healthcare in slums, informal settlements and remote rural areas, so they can provide good healthcare out of scarcity.
Margaret Gibson is the Director of Development at BLESS.world. She has spent the past 12 years helping build strategic, innovative, mission-minded organizations that impact the most complex problems of our day. Previously, she was Director of Operations at CrowdHealth, a healthcare technology startup. Her prior professional fundraising experience includes Living Water International, The Gospel Coalition, and The Source for Women.
Julie does whatever Steve asks her to do! In the early years before joining Banda Health, Julie put her passion for helping people through technology to use as an education-focused, data systems engineer. After spending a few years volunteering as an NGO Treasurer in Kenya, she returned to the USA and fine-tuned her passion to simply focus on adult learning.
Julie’s healthcare hero is the on-call ortho surgeon whose name she can’t remember, but whose skills saved her foot after a car accident.
Clinton is a software developer with in-depth experience in software design, development, implementation, and testing. In a nutshell, solving clients’ needs is his specialty. He graduated from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology with a bachelors in computer technology.
Clinton’s personal healthcare hero is all the doctors and nurses willing to work in low resource areas.
Lawrence markets BandaGo in new areas and onboards clinics who are ready to get started. He joined Banda Health first as an Ambassador, gaining experience in surveying, IT and sales.
His personal healthcare hero is Dr. Steve Letchford at Kijabe Hospital.
Michael helps clinics get started with BandaGo. He joined Banda Health after gaining initial work experience in IT support and data management. He graduated from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology with a bachelors in mathematics and computer science.
Michael’s personal healthcare hero is Dominic Ngalo, a data analyst at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi.
Jeremy is our on-the-ground man, making sure the pilot sites have what they need to use our software. He previously worked as a systems analyst and team lead after getting his bachelors degree in computer science at Africa Nazarene University.
Jeremy’s personal healthcare hero is Isabella Muturi, a nurse at AIC Marira Clinic in Kenya.
Hyon serves as the Global Director of People Development with SIM International. She leads the People Development and Care team which serves to catalyze and facilitate global initiatives that support the healthy growth, care, and development of cross-cultural workers so they flourish in their places of service. Prior to her current position, Hyon was a family physician and palliative care physician in Toronto, Canada and Niger, West Africa for 18 years.
Haron Wachira is an Ashoka Fellow and CEO of the Akili Group in Kenya, where he uses a number of programs and mobile money tools to empower rural farmers to significantly increase profit from their small-scale production activities. Prior to founding the Akili Group in 2010, Haron worked as an ICT consultant for more than 15 years, implementing integrated systems for blue chip clients, including at PricewaterhouseCoopers. In 2005 he received a Head of State Commendation from Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki for his innovative contributions to the water sector in Kenya.
David’s personal healthcare heroes are the doctors, nurses and physical therapists in his own family.
Steve is the visionary behind Banda Health. After two decades working as a doctor and hospital administrator in Africa, he has stories that will convince even the biggest skeptic of the impact that IT can have on African healthcare.
Steve’s personal healthcare hero is Irene Mundia, a licensed practical nurse at Mushima Rural Health Centre in Zambia.
Kevin is a passionate data enthusiast. He ensures that Banda Health can tell a story through their data. His vision is to serve as a gatekeeper for Banda’s data so that stakeholders can understand data and use it to make strategic business decisions. He has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Strathmore University.
Kevin’s personal healthcare hero is all the doctors and nurses giving it their all during the pandemic.
Kinya keeps all of the logistics working at Banda Health with 15 years of experience in the corporate and non-profit world and a lot of energy! A Texas A&M alum (Journalism and Economics), her laugh is infectious. She is passionate about expanding the global digital agenda to include social innovation in healthcare initiatives.
Kinya’s personal healthcare hero is Dr. Shelley Machuta, a Radiation Oncologist in Covington, GA.
Amy is a strategist in the life sciences industry. She currently works for the Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany as the Head of Segments Excellence. She previously held positions as the Head of the CEO office and Associate Director of Global Strategy. Amy also worked for McKinsey & Company and Booz & Company as a management consultant and had served a wide range of clients in the biopharmaceutical industry.
Nelly is our “concepts expert.” She ensures that all the necessary terms for our clinical modules are mapped and submitted to CIEL (concept dictionary). She’s a clinical epidemiologist with a master’s degree in epidemiology and disease control.
Nelly’s personal healthcare hero is Dr. Steve Letchford at Kijabe Hospital.
Kevin is undoubtedly our most outgoing developer! Before joining Banda Health, he spent 5 years in software consulting, working as a developer and manager at Pariveda Solutions. He completed his bachelor’s in aerospace enginnering at the University of Texas.
Kevin’s personal healthcare hero is Kate B., a physical therapist at Evangel VVF Center in Jos, Nigeria.
Jessica keeps the team organized. Whether it’s filing tax forms or preparing board reports, she makes sure it gets done on time! Before joining Banda Health, Jessica used her organization skills at a soccer start-up in Germany. She graduated from Yale University with a bachelor’s in Ethics, Politics and Economics and completed her master’s in International Relations at the Free University of Berlin.
Jessica’s personal healthcare hero is Jairos Fumpa, a cataract surgeon at Mukinge Mission Hospital in Zambia.
Andrew makes sure the Nairobi team stays on track. He may seem quiet, but don’t underestimate his passion and expertise when it comes to health technology. He’s worked with leading businesses both in Kenya and internationally.
Andrew’s personal healthcare hero is Benedetta, a cashier at AIC Marira Clinic in Kenya.
Steve is the founder and president of Banda Health. He is a physician with nearly two decades of full-time experience in clinical care and hospital leadership in Africa. His roles have included Medical Director at AIC Kijabe Hospital (Kenya), Executive Director at Mukinge Hospital, ECZ (Zambia) and member of the Zambian Ministry of Health’s Hospital Reform Steering Committee. The private (US) internal medicine and pediatrics practice that he founded in 1991 was an early adopter of electronic medical records.
Wes oversees all things technical. If you want a sneak peek at the roadmap, he’s your man! With 15 years of programming experience in the US private sector plus 5 years of technical consulting and team leadership, he definitely knows what he’s doing.
Wes’ personal healthcare heroes are the Christian medical missionaries working around the world.
Dave retired as Chief Information Officer of U S WEST, the Regional Bell Telephone Company, now CenturyLink. He led its 6000 person information technologies organization, the largest in Colorado. Prior to this role, Dave was the chief accounting officer of the telephone company as well as the chief financial officer of several operating entities of the business. He is a CPA. He has extensive board experience, having served on the board of directors of several public companies and non-profits, both as lead director and as chairman of audit committees.
Tope is an attorney who has worked in both the private and public sector. She has a background in negotiating and developing information technology contracts, and currently works to promote sound information security and privacy practices through the development of policies, governance procedures and contract requirements that ensure her organization’s compliance with privacy and security laws and industry best practice.
Joel is the founder and CEO of Roberston Health in Grand Rapids, MI, a network of for-profit and non-profit organizations dedicated to making a lasting global impact on healthcare through health information technology. A leader in the area of brain chemistry and behavior, Joel is an internationally recognized clinician, best-selling author, lecturer, and consultant. He is an expert in global medicine, medical software development, informatics and behavioral medicine.
Mike is Chairman for Tenfold BPO, a non-profit located in Monument, Colorado dedicated to providing Christian organizations with a full range of business services. Prior to founding VisionQuest, Mike served as Group Vice President for Machine Tool Operations Worldwide at Cincinnati Milacron. Mike currently serves on several boards and assists other boards with board governance and compliance.
Bob is the Vice President for SaaS Operations at BMC Software. He has led the successful adoption of the SaaS business model and is responsible for BMC’s SaaS Governance, Business Operations and DevOps teams. Prior to his current position, Bob served as an Area Vice President for BMC Software’s Research and Development department. Before that, he spent several years as a R&D management consultant and served as Chief Technology Officer for both Relate Media and Micrografx.
Bill retired as Chief Operating Officer for Accenture’s Resources global business and Senior Managing Director of the Houston office. Resources included the oil & gas, chemicals, utilities, metals and mining industries representing over $5 billion in revenue. In Houston, he led local market development, community service and employee engagement initiatives for more than 1,200 employees. His career of more than 33 years involved creating and delivering value for clients globally and included long-term assignments in Alaska and Malaysia.