Karen Schmidt Email & Phone Number

New York, NY

• Recent Assignments:
• RTI International: Advise RTI on using social and behavior change communication to support and encourage home- and community-based activities to help children learn to read in Uganda, Senegal and Malawi. Design and.
• Catholic Relief Services: Lead communications, documentation and media workshops for civil society organizations from French-speaking countries in the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations' Civil Society.
• ICF International/MEASURE DHS: Develop and conduct dissemination activities for the upcoming Mali 2014 Demographic and Health Survey (May-Sep. 2014). Developed training curriculum for writing policy briefs. (Feb.-Mar..
• Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Communication Programs, Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3): Research on healthy timing and spacing of pregnancy (HTSP) in developing countries.

New York, NY

As Editorial Director, establish consistent editorial tone and style across all Vital Strategies’ written content, including creating and maintaining an in-house style guide and training all divisions on its use. Edit, copy edit and proofread at all stages of development of reports, white papers, op-eds, news releases marketing materials and more. As.

Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

• Based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, conducted dissemination, documentation, research, and training activities for various global health clients. Assignments included:
• ICF International/MEASURE DHS: Collaborated with Tanzanian health professionals on dissemination of results of the 2011-12 Tanzania HIV/AIDS and Malaria Indicator Survey, including policy briefs on HIV and youth, HIV.
• Catholic Relief Services: Led communications, documentation and media workshops for civil society organizations from French-speaking countries in the Global Alliance forVaccines and Immunizations' Civil Society.
• Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs: For the Tanzania country office, taught workshop on writing research-based policy briefs for faculty at the Muhimbili University of Health Sciences, School of.
• Benjamin William Mkapa HIV/AIDS Foundation: Led documentation team for the National Human Resources for Health Conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Developed and wrote program content, managed rapporteurs, produced.

Dakar, Senegal (formerly Bamako, Mali)

Managed communications and developed collaborations with funders, potential funders, governments and corporate partners for the MDG Centre West and Central Africa, which provides technical and operational oversight to integrated rural development projects focused on achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Initiatives include Millennium Villages.

• Directed New York operations, managing more than $3 million in annual funding. Health Builders, formerly known as the Access Project, provides management technical assistance to improve health systems in Africa, with a.
• Provided strategic and operational oversight for teams in New York, Rwanda and Ethiopia, including budgets, work plans, recruitment, and program monitoring
• Ensured smooth operations in Rwanda and New York in compliance with Columbia University procedures.
• Developed and maintained partnerships with funders including USAID, WHO, Glaser Progress Foundation, MAC AIDS Fund, Stephen Lewis Foundation, Sabin Vaccine Institute, GE Foundation, Pfizer, MAIA Foundation, Global.
• Recruited and screened candidates for fellowships and internships, including the Pfizer Global Health Fellows Program, the Global Health Corps, and internships in the U.S. and Rwanda. Managed pre-deployment and.
• Wrote proposals, reports and grant renewals for funders noted above, among others.

Managed WHO-funded MacroHealth project in Rwanda: Ensured the implementation of a process based on findings of the WHO Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, with a goal of scaling up health investments and making significant improvements in the health of the population. For the Access Project, responsibilities included: providing technical assistance to.

Kenya, Ethiopia, Philippines, United States

• Specializing in HIV/AIDS and reproductive health, created behavior change communications strategies and documentation for a variety of clients, including:
• Family Health International, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: For FHI’s IMPACT (Implementing AIDS Prevention and Care) project in Ethiopia, developed a series of documents describing the team’s approach to building an expanded.
• Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), Kenya: Led PATH Kenya’s BCC program for TB for FHI/IMPACT aimed at improving treatment seeking, diagnosis, adherence, and understanding of the relationship between.
• PATH, Philippines: Researched and wrote end-of-project documentation for USAID-funded AIDS Surveillance and Education Project.
• PATH, Washington, DC: Conducted final technical review and editing for Life Planning Skills training curricula for the African Youth Alliance project in Botswana, Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda.
• Family Care International, New York, N.Y.: For compendium focusing on national policies for safe motherhood and newborn health, developed and wrote case study on evolution of Kenya’s policy on training of mid-level.

• Worked on a variety of behavior change communications strategies and programs, focused on HIV and AIDS prevention and adolescent sexual and reproductive health:
• Led development of Nuru, a comic book series designed to prevent HIV by influencing youth attitudes toward relationships. Collaborated with scriptwriter, cartoonist and design house to develop characters, storylines.
• Managed a school-based essay contest on relationship and HIV and AIDS themes
• Collaborated with the Kenya Girl Guides Association to develop training materials for peer education and an HIV and AIDS badge
• Helped design and implement participatory mural painting program; assisted in development and production of weekly radio soap opera and magazine program; participated in development of peer education activities.
• Helped develop communication strategies using participatory research process with communities, including strategy for TB prevention and control in Kenya and for family planning and HIV and AIDS in Ethiopia.

Coordinated NIH-funded center’s Community Advisory Committee, acting as primary liaison between community-based HIV and AIDS organizations and CIRA staff and researchers. Developed community components of research projects, identified community partners, advised center staff on developments in the community. Helped write successful grant application for.

New Haven, Hartford And Waterbury, Conn.

Reported and wrote local news for the Hartford Courant (1992-1995), the Waterbury Republican-American (1988-1992), the Jamestown Post-Journal (1987-1988) and the Chautauquan Daily (1987). Wrote and produced radio spots for CRN International and Pulse of the Planet, a nationally syndicated radio series about science, medicine and technology. Free-lance.

Ms, Narrative Medicine

Mph, International Health, Epidemiology

Ms, Journalism

Ba, French

Education record