Jen Orkis

About Jen Orkis

With global experience leading innovative social and behavior change initiatives across 12 countries, I specialize in designing and scaling sustainable, user-centered solutions in complex public health and development settings. My work integrates strategic communication, human-centered design, behavioral science, and systems thinking to drive measurable impact, particularly across sub-Saharan Africa and the Carribbean. I’ve collaborated with governments, NGOs, donors, and private sector partners to embed innovation into institutions and ensure locally relevant, scalable outcomes.• Increased TB case-finding by 168% in Nigeria through user-centered interventions and strategic partnerships with national and local health stakeholders.• Led design and scale-up of malaria social and behavior change efforts in Guyana, contributing to a 2.5x increase in care-seeking and securing $5M in additional funding.• Designed and implemented 15+ high-impact solutions across seven countries using agile HCD cycles, achieving widespread adoption across digital, media, community, and health system platforms.Core skills include social and behavior change, human-centered design, co-creation, strategic communication, integrated campaigns, project management, monitoring, evaluation and learning, multistakeholder engagement, public-private partnerships, team leadership, capacity strengthening, business development, global health (TB, HIV, MNCH, SRH, FP, malaria, One Health), agile implementation, and evidence-based, theory-informed program design.

Experience

1. Senior Advisor, Strategic Initiatives, Cardiovascular Health

   Resolve To Save Lives

   Nov 2025 — Present

   Support the development and implementation of strategic projects, including campaigns for hypertension prevention and treatment, cardiovascular health training, and PM 2.5 pollution. Advance scientific communications, proposal development, and the coordination of special projects. Provide surge support across cardiovascular health teams.

Education

• Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

  Master of Health Science (MHS)

• Cornell University

  Bachelor of Science (BS)