PRESS RELEASE (VillageReach)
October 17, 2018 – In October, Patrick Sikana joined VillageReach as vice president.
Patrick Sikana, VP VillageReach
In this Africa-based role, Sikana is responsible for the strategy, oversight and growth of VillageReach’s portfolio of health care delivery solutions aimed at increasing access to quality health care at the last mile.
“I deeply believe in VillageReach’s mission, as I have personally experienced how a sharp focus on the last mile of the health care value chain can maximize the impact on an individual’s well-being and livelihood,” said Sikana. “I share the vision that people, policy, technology, innovation and partnerships are essential multipliers of scale and impact. I am pleased to be joining VillageReach to ensure that the work we do continues to make a difference in people’s lives.”
Sikana brings 20 years of experience in health and development to VillageReach. He has led successful, high-impact implementations of programs in public health, education and livelihood interventions working with the UN and six international NGOs in Southern, East and West Africa, as well as South America.
Most recently, Sikana was the Regional Programme Director at Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) East Africa where he was responsible for the overall development and management of all AKF programmes in East Africa. Through his leadership, the strategy development and quality of programmes led to high-impact outcomes across the organization’s various initiatives in the region. Sikana was based out of AKF’s Regional Office in Nairobi.
“I am thrilled to have Patrick as vice president, as he will be instrumental to VillageReach as we deepen our impact and focus on helping to solve complex health care delivery challenges in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Emily Bancroft, president. “Patrick has the right experience in developing innovative partnerships, growing programs, building exceptional teams and being accountable to impact. Patrick’s charisma and deep knowledge will be invaluable to VillageReach as we expand our senior leadership in Africa.”
Sikana holds a Master of Public Health from Lund University, Sweden, a Master of Development Studies from the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, Netherlands and a Bachelor of Arts with Education from the University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia. He will be based in South Africa.
About VillageReach
VillageReach works with governments to solve health care delivery challenges in low-resource communities. Our programs focus on increasing access to quality health care at the last mile, or the point at which services are delivered. We develop and implement new ideas and approaches to ensure vaccines and medicines are available, increase the capacity of health workers and ensure that people have access to data to improve health. Our work improves the lives of more than 20 million people in sub-Saharan Africa.