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WHO WE ARE

Partners is a trusted and nimble organization committed to ensuring that proven solutions that address people’s health and development needs expand to more communities in more countries, more sustainably. Grounded in the belief that scaling what works is essential for lasting impact, Partners was founded in 2005 by Dr. Ruth Simmons and Laura Ghiron, after nearly a decade working together at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Since then, Partners has supported an increasingly wide range of global public health and development initiatives – using grants, government contracts, and mission-related funding – to strengthen local capacity and fuel scale-up. 

As the convener of the ExpandNet network, Partners is helping champion a paradigm shift in how local and global stakeholders lead development by centering a scaling mindset across program design, change management and investment. Working closely with ExpandNet’s Secretariat, Advisory Council, and Affiliate organizations, Partners supports governments and local actors to drive sustainable, scalable health and development outcomes.

Partners is governed by a Board of Directors, chaired by President Laura Ghiron, that includes Erica Fox, Adam Marcus, Loren Rodgers, and Marina Valle. Together, this leadership team ensures that Partners remains grounded in human rights, equity, country ownership, bi-directional learning, and impact as it advances the mission envisioned by its founders.

Partners Staff

Laura Ghiron
President
Pratima Musburger
Director of Programs and Operations
Lily Frohlich
Programs and Communications Assistant

Key Collaborators

Field work with the Urban Health Initiative, Uttar Pradesh, India

Partners measures success through the impact achieved with our collaborators—institutions and individuals working to uplift communities around the world. We partner across the global health and development ecosystem to ensure stronger outcomes, more strategic use of resources, and robust pathways for sustainable scale-up.

At the country level, Partners works closely with ExpandNet Affiliate Organizations, including the DOS Center in Nigeria, Horizon Santé in Senegal/Francophone West Africa, Regenerate Africa in Uganda, The Scaling-Up Accelerators in Pakistan, and Spark Health Africa in Southern Africa. Partners gives programmatic and technical support to these organizations as they share ExpandNet’s guidance, framework and approach locally via skill-building workshops and technical assistance on scaling for local stakeholders. 

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LAURA GHIRON, MPH

See Laura’s CV

Laura is President and Co-founder of Partners. She co-founded Partners in 2005 with Dr. Ruth Simmons to support and advance the global body of work of ExpandNet, a network that grew out of their earlier collaborations with the World Health Organization (WHO) on strengthening reproductive health policies and programs.

Since becoming President in 2020, Laura has helped guide a new chapter for both Partners and ExpandNet focused on building global capacity to scale what works. Under her leadership, Partners has strengthened the governance, administrative, and legal foundations needed to support a diverse global network–enabling fiscal sponsorship, subcontracting, and technical collaboration with scaling leaders and institutions across regions, while deepening country-led and equity-focused approaches to scale-up.

Laura brings more than two decades of experience advancing the science and practice of scaling up health and development interventions. After earning her MPH from the University of Michigan School of Public Health, she worked closely for more than a decade with Dr. Simmons and  Dr. Peter Fajans of WHO’s  Department of Reproductive Health and Research, co-founding ExpandNet together in 2003. She has collaborated extensively with governments, WHO, and partners across Asia, Africa,and Latin America; co-authored a book, foundational guidance and peer-reviewed literature on scale-up; and supported major global initiatives funded by the Gates Foundation, USAID, the MacArthur Foundation, among others.

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PRATIMA MUSBURGER, JD, MPH

Pratima Musburger is a lawyer and public health practitioner dedicated to advancing programs and policies that reduce systemic barriers and increase access to critical resources and opportunities in the United States and globally. A passionate advocate for children and families, she has led initiatives focused on ensuring that children and families have the support they need to thrive.

As Director of Programs and Operations at Partners, Pratima oversees a range of organizational and programmatic activities, including the development of ExpandNet’s online learning platform, the Scale-up Learning Center. Prior to joining Partners, she served as Vice President of Programs at ChangeLab Solutions, where she led multidisciplinary teams advancing innovative, equity-centered legal and policy solutions across diverse issue areas. 

Earlier in her career, Pratima spent nearly eight years at the State of Hawaii Department of Health, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division, leading statewide systems-change initiatives to increase access to mental health services for children and youth.

Pratima holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; a Juris Doctorate from Brooklyn Law School; and a Master’s in Public Health from Brown University.

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LILY FROHLICH

Lily Frohlich is Partners’ Programs and Communications Assistant. She brings experience in public affairs and communications in the United States and Canada, with a focus on access to sexual and reproductive health and food sovereignty.

Lily holds a Bachelor of Arts in Global and Community Health from the University of California, Santa Cruz and spent a year studying Global Health at McGill University, where she served as the Director of Communications for the Canadian Advisory of Women Immigrants. She has also worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service, where she deepened her interest and understanding of sustainable food systems and the connection between land and health.

At Partners, Lily supports organizational and communication activities and helps connect with current and future collaborators across ExpandNet’s global network.