The board
John Sweeney
John is Executive Director of Children’s Place International. John has over 30 years of experience working with communities to design interventions to reduce health and educational outcome disparities in limited resource settings in the Caribbean, Africa, and Southeast Asia. As Executive Director of Children’s Place International, John is working to build a global coalition to address preventable deaths in children and youth in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean and to support their journeys out of poverty through a focus on educational access.
Previously, John has served as Executive Director of AID Village Clinics in rural Kenya and has held other international leadership positions both in the private sector and nonprofit field.
Jade Khalife
Jade is a public health physician and epidemiologist focused on health systems, healthcare evaluation, non-communicable diseases, and COVID-19. He has played a key role in health system reforms in Lebanon, working with the Ministry of Public Health and various organizations.
Since 2020, he has supported COVID-19 advocacy and science, advising the Ministry until May 2020, leading the Independent Lebanese Committee for the Elimination of COVID-19, and aiding citizen-scientist groups in Lebanon, Denmark, and beyond.
Tiffany James
Tiffany James is the founder and CEO of Justice James Consulting, a global firm focused on social impact and public relations campaigns that advance sustainability and equity. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she launched the Community Care Campaign to support marginalized communities.
With over 20 years of experience in advocacy, she has contributed to numerous successful campaigns and has been featured by major media outlets like BBC, NPR, and The Washington Post. She holds a BA in political science from Clemson University and was a Regional Finalist for the White House Fellows Program in 2022.
Kevin Schallert
Kevin Schallert is the Chief Operating Officer at X-HG. In 2020, he worked with Research Aid Networks to launch cost-effective, high-throughput, open-source molecular COVID-19 tests.
Kevin’s expertise lies in scaling startups and mathematical programming. Outside of work, he enjoys Rhône wines and sailing.
Laura Maria Caldarone
Laura Maria Caldarone is a multilingual Italian-Bolivian communication specialist with a background in International Affairs, History, and creative writing, based in London. Her diverse career spans research, consulting, and marketing, including work on the Libya HIV Trial and contributions to a book on science and human rights.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she shifted her focus to science communication, combining research, storytelling, and strategic insight to support public health efforts. From 2021 to 2023, she worked with Research-Aid Networks, creating educational content such as The Long Haul, an online series on Long Covid.
John Sweeney
John is Executive Director of Children’s Place International. John has over 30 years of experience working with communities to design interventions to reduce health and educational outcome disparities in limited resource settings in the Caribbean, Africa, and Southeast Asia. As Executive Director of Children’s Place International, John is working to build a global coalition to address preventable deaths in children and youth in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean and to support their journeys out of poverty through a focus on educational access.
Previously, John has served as Executive Director of AID Village Clinics in rural Kenya and has held other international leadership positions both in the private sector and nonprofit field.
Jade Khalife
Jade is a public health physician and epidemiologist focused on health systems, healthcare evaluation, non-communicable diseases, and COVID-19. He has played a key role in health system reforms in Lebanon, working with the Ministry of Public Health and various organizations.
Since 2020, he has supported COVID-19 advocacy and science, advising the Ministry until May 2020, leading the Independent Lebanese Committee for the Elimination of COVID-19, and aiding citizen-scientist groups in Lebanon, Denmark, and beyond.
Tiffany James
Tiffany James is the founder and CEO of Justice James Consulting, a global firm focused on social impact and public relations campaigns that advance sustainability and equity. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she launched the Community Care Campaign to support marginalized communities.
With over 20 years of experience in advocacy, she has contributed to numerous successful campaigns and has been featured by major media outlets like BBC, NPR, and The Washington Post. She holds a BA in political science from Clemson University and was a Regional Finalist for the White House Fellows Program in 2022.
Kevin Schallert
Kevin Schallert is the Chief Operating Officer at X-HG. In 2020, he worked with Research Aid Networks to launch cost-effective, high-throughput, open-source molecular COVID-19 tests.
Kevin’s expertise lies in scaling startups and mathematical programming. Outside of work, he enjoys Rhône wines and sailing.
Laura Maria Caldarone
Laura is a multilingual Italian-Bolivian communication specialist with a background in International Affairs, History, and creative writing. Her diverse career spans research, consulting, and marketing, including work on the Libya HIV Trial and contributions to a book on science and human rights.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she shifted her focus to science communication, combining research, storytelling, and strategic insight to support public health efforts. From ’21 to ’23, she worked with Research-Aid Networks, creating educational content such as The Long Haul, an online series on Long Covid.
