Our Leadership Team

Joel Lamstein founded John Snow, Inc. with his partner Norbert Hirschhorn, M.D. in 1978. Joel is the president of John Snow, Inc. and the nonprofit JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. He also serves as president of World Education, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of the poor through education, economic, and social development programs. In 1973, Joel co-founded Management Sciences for Health.Joel is an adjunct senior lecturer at the Harvard School of Public Health and an adjunct professor at the Boston University School of Public Health.Joel serves as chair of the board of Seed Global Health and the advisory council of the Children’s Health Fund in New York. He is also chair of the dean’s advisory boards at Boston University School of Public Health, the University of Michigan School of Public Health, and the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies. Joel served on the board of the Global Health Council from 2004 until 2012.

In 2011, Joel was featured in the New York Times’  The Boss profile. In 2009, he received the CEO Social Leadership Award, a program funded by the Lewis Family Foundation and given by the Boston Business Journal.

Joel has advised numerous public health programs throughout the world. He studied math and physics at the University of Michigan and management at MIT’s Sloan School.

Alex Baker is the chief operating officer for John Snow, Inc., and JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. Prior to rejoining JSI, he served as chief operating officer at Partners Community Healthcare, Inc. (PCHI), the provider network for the Partners Healthcare System. He joined PCHI in July 1999 as its director of finance, and was subsequently made chief financial officer and then COO in 2005. Alex’s background includes positions in financial management, operations, and information systems in a variety of health care-related settings. Prior to joining PCHI, Alex was director of finance for JSI and provided financial management consulting services to U.S. community-based health care providers. Alex has a BA in history from Harvard College, and an MBA from the J.L. Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

As vice president of JSI’s Health Services Division, Susan Grantham oversees JSI’s extensive portfolio of projects in the United States. She leads diverse staff in eight U.S. offices who share a commitment to improving the health of individuals and communities throughout the country. Susan formerly served as JSI’s director of U.S. business development and brings this strategic focus to her position. Her technical areas of expertise include implementation research, mixed-methods research and program evaluation, policy analysis, and training and technical assistance. Throughout her career, Susan has applied these skills to improving health services delivery for underserved populations, most notably related to states’ health reform efforts, behavioral health, family planning, and women and children’s health. Susan started her career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon. She joined JSI after receiving her master’s of public policy from the University of Michigan and went on to earn her doctorate in social policy from the Heller School at Brandeis University.

As vice president of JSI’s international division, Carolyn brings her experience in several technical and management positions on JSI health and family planning programs, and as the leader of JSI’s Washington, DC office. JSI’s international portfolio includes more than 100 country-based and global projects, on a wide range of global health issues, including infectious disease, nutrition, and reproductive, maternal, and child health. Carolyn’s specialties include public health supply chain management, policy development, communications, and strategic planning. She also led the SPRING Project—Strengthening Partnerships, Results, and Innovations in Nutrition Globally, USAID’s flagship program that linked agriculture and nutrition, addressed anemia and micronutrient deficiencies, and created social and behavior change for nutrition. Carolyn has BAs in history and French from Bryn Mawr College and a master’s in public health policy and management from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

As vice president for Global Business Development in the International Division, Andrew oversees project development and strategic positioning for new business development. He brings thirty years of global and U.S, new business development and program implementation experience. He was previously the founding Director of the JSI/World Education Center for HIV and Infectious Diseases, leading an expansion of JSI’s international HIV and infectious disease portfolio, including USAID-funded bilateral and centrally funded activities, CDC projects, and other initiatives. He has served on ad-hoc committees of the President’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS addressing stigma and discrimination. Prior to joining JSI, Mr. Fullem was Director of HIV Surveillance for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and was responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Commonwealth’s HIV reporting system. Andrew has a BS in International Relations from The American University and a Master’s in Public Health Policy and Management from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Rene Esler has more than 25 years of U.S. and international experience working for and with the private sector, nonprofits, and state and federal government agencies. Her current work focuses on program and partnership development and project management, particularly federal programs related to health communication, education, and literacy.

Prior to joining JSI, Rene provided technical assistance to faith-based organizations, managed scientific peer review projects, and developed strategic and communication plans for global aid organizations. Rene spent more than a decade overseas, where she worked for both the private and public sector, including two years with the U.S. Agency for International Development as a social protection advisor, and two years as a Peace Corp volunteer. Rene is a returning member of the JSI family—earlier in her career she created and produced educational television programs in Morocco for JSI. She holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina/Greensboro and a MEd with honors from University College, Cork, Ireland. She became a certified project management professional in 2009.

Stewart Landers has been a senior consultant at JSI since 1994, focusing on HIV, substance abuse treatment, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender health, health care reform, chronic disease, and wellness. He has worked with several federal organizations including the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, HIV/AIDS Bureau.

From 2007 to 2009, Stewart served as senior program director at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. In that role, he oversaw a variety of programs on wellness, obesity and overweight, chronic disease, primary care, reproductive health, school health, and violence and injury prevention. While there he developed Mass in Motion, the statewide effort to reduce overweight and obesity through exercise.

In addition to his consulting duties, Stewart serves as an associate editor of the American Journal of Public Health and has authored or co-authored many articles in peer-reviewed journals. He teaches evaluation of health services at the Tufts University Graduate Program in Public Health. Stewart received his BS and master’s in city planning from MIT and a law degree from Harvard.

Debra Olesen is the director of JSI’s Colorado office. Under her leadership, the Denver office has expanded its portfolio and partnerships in health information technology, health communications, and community needs assessment. Debra has long-standing interests in innovative methods for sharing information and using data to inform healthier practices.

Debra has individual experience and knowledge of JSI’s core technical areas, as well as local understanding of the people and organizations in the Western Region of the United States. She has decades of experience with consultancies ranging from assisting rural health clinics with strategic planning, financial analysis and modeling, and health care services integration to directing federally funded technical assistance and training projects in areas such as primary care, HIV, early childhood development, and family planning. Debra holds an MS in health administration from the University of Colorado.

Chuanpit Chua-oon has more than 30 years of management experience for international development projects in many countries in Africa and Asia. Chuanpit has managed country programs, USAID-funded projects, overseen all planning and implementation for programmatic activities, and liaised with national government, donor, and nongovernment partners. She builds strong teams and coalitions to meet project objectives in dynamic political and social environments.

In 2010, Chuanpit began working as a senior advisor and associate director with JSI Boston and as a chief of party for two JSI community health projects in Madagascar. Before joining JSI, Chuanpit spent 17 years with World Education in several countries.

With almost 30 years of experience in public health communications, Penelope Riseborough has led JSI communications since 2001. In this role she is responsible for external communications, brand development, and marketing as well as internal knowledge-sharing among JSI’s more than 3,000 staff around the world. She oversees digital media and strategic information, developing stories of project impact, and increasing visibility and influence. She also serves as director of communications for JSI’s partner organization, World Education, Inc.

Prior to her time at JSI, Penelope managed communications at Management Sciences for Health, Pathfinder International, and JHPIEGO Corporation. She also served on the board of the women’s health advocacy group, Our Bodies, Ourselves between 2003 and 2009.

Katie Robert directs JSI’s offices in New Hampshire and Vermont, and has been with JSI since 2007. As a consultant, Katie’s portfolio largely focuses on enhancing the capacity of programs who support families with young children, locally, state-wide, and nationally. In this work, she partners with agencies to identify capacity-building needs to facilitate the provision of expert consultation, and the develops tailored trainings and other supportive mechanisms. Outside of JSI, Katie has been on the Board for the NH Public Health Association, serving as President from 2015 to 2017. She has also served as adjunct faculty for Rivier University’s public health undergraduate degree program, and sits on the Public Health Advisory Board for Southern NH University to support its Council of Education for Public Health accreditation application process. Passionate about addressing equity issues impacting health, Katie trains across the region, offering the NH Health & Equity Partnership’s “Diversity and Cultural Competence” training for professionals. Katie is proud Wildcat out of the University of New Hampshire with a Masters in Public Administration.

Rachel Tobey serves as the director of JSI California and as a project director on a wide variety of projects related to health policy research, development, and implementation, with a focus on systems serving Medicaid populations. Rachel’s currently serves as co-director of The Delta Center for a Thriving Safety Net, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded initiative dedicated to improving care for Medicaid beneficiaries through advancing value-based payment and care for primary care and behavioral health safety-net providers. Rachel’s recent work also includes working with health centers on value-based payment and leading research on opportunities for Whole Person Care—defined as the coordination of health, behavioral health, and social services. California now has a large Whole Person Care demonstration program underway as part of its 2020 Medicaid 1115 waiver. Ms. Tobey is passionate about working with foundation, provider, and payer clients to improve policies and care that ultimately result in better health for individuals and communities. Ms. Tobey holds a Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University and a Master’s in Public and International Affairs from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School.