Anne Coolen, Global Vice President of Programs, is based out of Ghana. In this role she leads VisionSpring’s Global Program Office — managing program strategies and design, monitoring and evaluation, customer experience, knowledge management, and innovation.

Anne most recently served as the country director for Marie Stopes International in Ghana. There she led a comprehensive strategy to transform the provision of sexual and reproductive health services from being fully donor dependent to more self-sustaining.

Anne’s experience includes conducting research with the KIT Royal Tropical Institute on health systems strengthening and financing. And, for three years, she lived and worked in conflict settings, managing the delivery of critical health services in the Democratic Republic of Congo; South Darfur, Sudan; and Northern Sudan.

Anne authored numerous articles on the subjects of her work and earned her master’s degree in development studies from Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands, where she recently joined the International Advisory Board for Nijmegen School of Management. She speaks English, Dutch and French and lives with her family in Accra, Ghana.