Presidents' Council
Dr. Purnima Mane is an internationally recognized expert on gender, population and development, and public health who has devoted her career to advocating for population and development issues and working on sexual and reproductive health. Most recently, Dr. Mane was President and CEO of Pathfinder International, prior to which she was Deputy Executive Director (Program) of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and UN Assistant-Secretary-General (ASG). She has served in senior level positions in several international organizations such as UNAIDS, World Health Organization, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the Population Council.
Before entering an international career, Ms. Mane worked for over a decade and a half in India while serving as Associate Professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. Dr. Mane holds a doctoral degree in women’s studies from TISS. She has co-authored several papers and co- edited a number of books, and is a founding editor of the journal, Culture, Health and Sexuality.
Dr. Mane is Board member of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, the MTV Staying Alive Foundation, Hesperian Health Guides, and the International Development Research Centre. She is also member of the Leadership Council of Rise Up, the Advisory Council of Center of Expertise on Women’s Health, Gender and Empowerment, University of California, Global Health Institute (UCGHI), and ex Officio Board Member of the Bay Area Global Health Alliance.