Nicole Cheetham is the Director of the International Youth Health and Rights Division at Advocates for Youth. She has more than 20 years of experience working in international public health and provides technical assistance and training to partner organizations in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean in support of adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health and rights program design and implementation. Core areas of expertise include school-based and out-of-school sexuality education, community mobilization, peer education, youth-friendly services, parent-child communication, and youth-led advocacy. Nicole leads the organization’s international efforts on comprehensive sexuality education and directs the AMAZE Initiative, which develops short, animated sexuality education videos for adolescents and resources for parents and educators in collaboration with organizations around the world. She has authored numerous assessments, teacher training modules, scripted lesson plans, and technical guidance. Nicole holds a Masters of Health Sciences in International Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of American Sexuality Education, and speaks English, Spanish and French.

Wendy Benzerga has over thirty years of experience in health program design, management, and evaluation with expertise in HIV prevention and treatment, sexual reproductive health and family planning, maternal child health, and malaria as well as community engagement and local capacity building. Wendy joined USAID in 1999 and served in Madagascar, South Africa, and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) as the Health, Population, and Nutrition Office Team Lead, HIV Prevention Advisor, and the USAID Country Office Director for the PEPFAR program respectively. She is currently the Health Team Lead for USAID/Jamaica. In the 1990’s Wendy worked for Family Health International managing HIV prevention programs in Nigeria, Ghana, Mali, and Niger, and she provided technical assistance to programs in Tanzania, Haiti, Zambia, and Rwanda. She also served the US Government as a VISTA Volunteer in rural Colorado and for the Peace Corps in Cameroon in the 1980’s. She has a Master of Science Degree from American University in Organization and Behavioral Science. She is proficient in French.

Crystal Thompson brings nearly 20 years of international experience to the Board, with a deep commitment to global development, health education, and project management. She spent a decade in Madagascar, beginning as a Peace Corps volunteer and continuing with roles in a WASH project, as Grants Manager at the U.S. Embassy, and as a project and operations manager for a private chocolate company. After returning to Washington, DC, Crystal dedicated nine years to managing USAID-funded projects focused on advancing health worldwide. Madagascar remains a special place in her heart, inspiring a lifelong passion for building partnerships and continuing to impact communities there.

Crystal holds a Master of Arts in social work from the University of Maryland at Baltimore and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). She is fluent in Malagasy and has some French language skills.

Janet Fleischman is independent consultant and has worked for numerous nongovernmental organizations addressing policy and programmatic issues around sexual and reproductive health and rights, HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence, maternal health, and Covid-19, as well as education for girls and economic empowerment for women. Janet is a senior associate with the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where she focuses on women’s global health and U.S. policy. She has authored dozens of reports and articles, hosted podcasts, and produced and directed several videos. From 1983 to 2003, Janet worked for Human Rights Watch, as a researcher on Eastern Europe and Africa and then as Washington director for Africa.

Wendy is a seasoned strategist and committed advocate for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in the U.S. and globally. Over nearly three decades, she has worked to advance contraceptive choice, adolescent access to SRHR information and services, public financing for family planning, and universal health care.

During her time at PAI, Wendy managed grantmaking programs designed to provide rapid, flexible financial and strategy support to CSOs across Africa and Asia engaged in SRHR advocacy and accountability efforts at national and subnational levels. This work also involved encouraging funded organizations to nurture their in-house advocacy and communications expertise, invest in coalitions and the power of collective action, and practice the principles of good governance. Before joining PAI, Wendy was a registered federal lobbyist for the Guttmacher Institute and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, advocating for women’s health and rights with the U.S. Congress and Administration.

Dr. Andrea Clemons is an education specialist with 25 years of experience in learning-focused program design, management and technical support to education sectors in the U.S. and Africa. For the past 18 years, she has developed and led education programs in Madagascar and Comoros, contributing concrete results to policy dialogue, foundational learning innovation, pre- and in-service teacher training, curriculum design, gender sensitive and inclusive education for USAID, UNICEF, JICA and multiple international NGOs. She is recognized for her demonstrated ability to influence education reform, guide education sector, inter-agency coordination and evidence-based education program implementation.

Natasha Sakolsky is a program, operations, and strategy leader with 30+ years of experience in large, complex INGOs. She has worked across federated and subsidiary structures, leading global health, climate, energy, mining, economic development, and gender programs, with technical expertise in global health—including reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, MCH, nutrition, and NCDs. She has driven major organizational transformations, including leading strategy development, operating model design, and change management during FHI 360’s acquisition of AED.

At Pact Institute, she served as Executive Director, advancing revenue diversification, managing subsidiary strategy, and partnering with corporate, foundation, multilateral, and bilateral funders, while collaborating with Pact Ventures on innovative financing. At EGPAF, Natasha was Vice President for Program Implementation and Country Management, supporting country strategic frameworks and co-leading a global DEI initiative. Most recently, as Chief, Global Services and Deputy Chief, Innovation and Engagement at Pathfinder International, she led key operational, technical, and business development shifts aligned with a new country-led strategy. Natasha holds an MPH from Tulane University and a BA from Hampshire College.