Esther S. Braud is a strategic and mission-driven leader in global health, and program management, with more than 25 years of experience designing and implementing large-scale public health initiatives. She has a strong track record in social and behavior change (SBC), public health in emergencies, capacity-building, and program evaluation, working across Africa, Asia, and humanitarian contexts.
As a Senior Advisor for Social and Behavior Change at USAID’s Office of HIV/AIDS, Esther provided technical and programmatic leadership to optimize HIV prevention effortsacross PEPFAR countries. She has successfully managed multi-million-dollar global health programs, ensuring strategic alignment, operational efficiency, and sustainable impact. She also oversaw budget planning and resource mobilization to support SBC-focused initiatives, including end-user research to develop innovative HIV prevention solutions. Previously, as Senior Liaison for Risk Communication and Preparedness at UNICEF, Esther managed a USAID-funded grant for community engagement in humanitarian settings, overseeing programmatic direction, financial operations, and donor reporting. At JSI Research & Training Institute, she led the West Africa portfolio for a USAID global nutrition project, directing program implementation, financial planning, and multi-stakeholder coordination.
Esther also spent eight years at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Communication Programs (CCP), where she played a key role in designing and implementing health communication strategies focused on maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, and vulnerable populations. She provided technical assistance in program design, needs assessments, strategy development, and capacity-building, helping to shape global health communication efforts.
She holds a Master’s degree in Communication Management from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California and a Master’s in Broadcast Journalism from Université Michel de Montaigne, Bordeaux III.
Gender-based violence/domestic violence, Healthcare access/health systems capacity, HIV/AIDS, LGBTQ
I have no direct experience working on refugee and asylum issues or producing expert reports. However, i have regularly worked with internally displaced population as well as key populations.