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Seonmi Choi joined the Global Fund as Senior Advisor on Climate Change and Environment in July 2023. As the Global Fund’s focal point for climate change and environment-related matters, she leads and coordinates the overall strategic approach, policies, and tools on climate and environment across the organization.

Seonmi has over 20 years of global experience including over 15 years in the United Nations advancing climate resilience, environmental health, climate finance, and environmental sustainability. Before joining the Global Fund, she worked as UNICEF’s first Climate and Environment Advisor in East Asia-Pacific. During her services at the UNEP and UNDP, she led the joint UN Poverty-Environment Initiative in Asia- Pacific and managed climate resilience projects in Africa. Prior to the UN, she worked for the Presidential Commission on Sustainable Development of the Republic of Korea and sub-regional financial institutions in West Africa.

Thoko Elphick-Pooley is the Executive Director of Uniting to Combat NTDs and Co-Chair of the G7 Taskforce on Global Health. Born and educated in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe in business administration and international development. Thoko has a wealth of experience in strategic leadership, partnership development and institutional relations.

Prior to working at Uniting to Combat NTDs, Thoko was leading the institutional funding team at Sightsavers, overseeing the growth of institutional funding as a source of income for the organisation which grew from 8% in 2009 to over 40% by 2015. Prior to joining Sightsavers, Thoko worked for Education Action in London, Practical Action in the UK and Kenya, CIVICUS in South Africa and a number of organisations in Zimbabwe including for UNESCO.

Filomena Mendes Gonçalves is a renowned Cape Verdean lawyer, currently holding the position of Minister of Health of the Republic of Cape Verde. She holds a law degree and is a member of the prestigious Order of Lawyers of Cape Verde, with a postgraduate degree in Business and Financial Institutions Law, which makes her an expert in this field.

In addition to her legal career, Filomena Mendes Gonçalves also plays an active role in promoting peace, serving as the Ambassador for Peace of the Universal Federation for Peace – UFP. Her dedication to public health and well-being is evident in her current position as Minister of Health, a role she has held since October 2022.

Previously, she played a crucial role in the Government during the 10th legislative term, serving as Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and Parliamentary Affairs from May 2021 to October 2022. Her political influence also extended to a decade as a Member of the National Assembly, where she played a fundamental role in representing Cape Verde at the international level.

It is worth noting that Filomena Gonçalves began her parliamentary career in 2011, holding significant positions in various specialized committees, standing out as an active parliamentarian in the ECOWAS
Parliament from 2016 to 2021. Her commitment to promoting gender equality and youth is evident through her leadership as the President of the Democratic Women’s Association and her role in the
ECOWAS Parliamentarians’ Network.

Marcus Lacerda is an infectious disease specialist with a PhD in Tropical Medicine. He is a physician and researcher at the FMT-HVD and a specialist in Public Health at the Leônidas e Maria Deane Institute (FIOCRUZ-Amazônia), a professor in the Graduate Program in Tropical Medicine at the Amazonas State University and an adjunct professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). He has supervised 80+ undergraduate, master’s, doctoral and post-doctoral students and has published 400+ scientific papers. He advises and is part of committees and working groups in the WHO Global Malaria Program and is a consultant to the WHO Guidelines Development Group (GDG) for Malaria Chemotherapy. He is a 1B researcher for the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development in the field of Medicine and editor of the Journal of the Brazilian Society of Tropical Medicine and Frontiers Tropical Medicine. His main research focuses are malaria, HIV, histoplasmosis, arboviruses, snakebites, Covid-19 and other emerging diseases. Marcus has been a Commander of the Order of Scientific Merit by the Presidency of Brazil since July 2023.

Loyce Pace is responsible for advancing the U.S. international health agenda through multilateral and bilateral forums. Reporting directly to the Secretary of Health & Human Services (HHS), she is the Office of Global Affairs’ lead on setting priorities and policies that promote American public health agencies and interests worldwide.

Ms. Pace oversees HHS’ engagement with foreign governments and international institutions as well policymaking bodies such as the G7, G20, United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), and World Health Assembly. Previously, she served as President & Executive Director of Global Health Council (GHC) and was also a member of the Biden-Harris Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board. At GHC, she advocated for increased federal investments in global health, in the face of budget cuts to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, United States Agency for International Development, and World Health Organization (WHO).

Prior to her role at GHC, Ms. Pace spent over a decade working with community-based organizations and grassroots leaders in countries across Africa and Asia on campaigns calling for person-centered access to health. Additionally, she has held positions on various global and regional advisory committees and boards that focus on equity and inclusion. Ms. Pace holds a Bachelor’s degree with Honors in human biology from Stanford University and a Master’s degree in international health & human rights with the distinction of Delta Omega from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.