Partners
Joyce V. Lyons, RN, Ed.D., President
Dr. Joyce Lyons is the President and founder of Initiatives Inc. Her education and experience in health care delivery, public health management and education was the starting point for Initiatives' focus on developing human and system capacity for service delivery. Her interest and technical focus is the development of management and operational systems to improve and maintain high-quality health services, particularly organizational and human capacity development. She has served as director for projects based in the US and in the developing world. Her tenure in India as the Director of the UNDP Regional Project addressing the Social and Economic Implications of HIV/AIDS was one of the early efforts of the development community to address the non-health issues surrounding the epidemic. As President, Dr. Lyons' organizational responsibilities include financial planning, business development, and contract oversight.
Dr. Lyons has written, edited and coauthored books, guidelines, training materials and standards to enhance the knowledge, understanding and practices of health care providers and health system managers. She has experience working in countries across the globe, including Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Laos, Lesotho, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, Turkey, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Jennifer A. Huddart, M.B.A., Vice President
Jennifer Huddart, a Brazilian/British citizen, has over 25 years of international health experience, and has been the Vice President of Initiatives since 1988. Ms. Huddart's specializations include assisting governments and NGOs in the developing world to strengthen the management of their public health programs, with a particular focus on human resource management, health systems management, supervision, and performance improvement. Her work has covered project design, technical assistance on the design, implementation and institutionalization of improved practices in planning, supervision and human resource management, development of strategies and systems for training at national and local levels, and design and implementation of management development activities and training. Ms. Huddart has co-authored books on HIV/AIDS and family planning issues and published books and articles on human resource issues in the health care setting. She is fluent in English and Portuguese and has basic language skills in French, Italian, Spanish and Bahasa Indonesian.
Ms. Huddart has added AfDB, DfID, SIDA, USAID and World Bank contracts to Initiatives' client list. She has worked in Brazil, England, Ethiopia, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, the Marshall Islands, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, the US, Vietnam, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Donna Bjerregaard, M.S.W.
Donna Bjerregaard, Initiatives’ Senior Technical Advisor, has 15 years experience in working with HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, quality assurance and health communication in developing countries. She has worked and lived in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, spending three years in Jordan as Initiatives’ Regional Director for the Asia and Near East. She is currently the Task Order Manager for the Guyana Safer Injection Project. Ms. Bjerregaard has provided technical assistance to NGOs, Ministries, community organizations and international organizations to improve planning and performance, identify best practices and create system approaches. She is also the editor of Initiatives’ newsletter Issues.
Ms. Bjerregaard is certified as a Healthcare Quality Professional and continues to use her quality skills in the design of new programs. She has authored and co-authored a number of manuals on safer motherhood, quality assurance, and HIV/AIDS and has created educational materials including simulation games. Ms. Bjerregaard has lived on several continents and is fluent in English and Danish.