Sara M. Allinder

Senior Associate (Non-resident), Global Health Policy Center
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Sara M. Allinder

 Sara M. Allinder is senior associate of the CSIS Global Health Policy Center (GHPC). She previously served as GHPC executive director and senior fellow from April 2016 to April 2020. In addition to leading the HIV/AIDS portfolio, Ms. Allinder also supported activities on nutrition, other infectious diseases, global health security, and women’s and family health; was a frequent host of its Take as Directed and AIDS 2020 podcasts; and oversaw the team’s operations. Ms. Allinder has extensive experience in global health, foreign policy, international development, human rights, and program management. She currently is program director of the Blantyre Prevention Strategy (BPS) in the Center for Innovation in Global Health at Georgetown University. The BPS project, launched in May 2020, aims to develop a replicable model for effective HIV prevention focused on embedding critical systems and capabilities into local government, civil society, and other partners in order to achieve the goals outlined in the National HIV Prevention Strategy (2018-2022). Ms. Allinder previously worked on the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for 10 years in Washington and in Uganda. As country coordinator of the $353 million Uganda PEPFAR program (2013–2015), she led a staff of more than 200 in preparing the 2013–2015 Country Operational Plan (COPs), served as senior adviser to the ambassador, contributed to the response to the Anti-Homosexuality Act, led development of Uganda’s DREAMS strategy targeting adolescent girls and young women, and revitalized engagement with civil society organizations. In four stints at the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator (2003–2016), Ms. Allinder was a senior adviser on PEPFAR management and operations issues, including field-based staffing. In earlier roles at the Department of State, Ms. Allinder was policy adviser in the Office of International Health Affairs, where she led the policy response to the SARS and avian flu outbreaks and served on the steering committee for the PMTCT Initiative, which preceded PEPFAR. She also served as senior editor for Africa of the Human Rights and International Religious Freedom Reports in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.

Ms. Allinder was a Class of 2000 Presidential Management Fellow. She holds a M.P.P, with a concentration in international development and health, and a B.A., magna cum laude, in political science and sociology, both from the American University in Washington, D.C.