Having studied, lived and worked in Thailand, India, Canada, Kenya and in several European Union countries, Alisha not only thrives in diverse professional and cultural settings, but has also cultivated a distinct interest in exploring linkages within and between initiatives in global health development.
Alisha volunteered as a CARTHA Fellow from 2006-2008. Now, as a Program Design and Communications Advisor she is assisting CARTHA founder Usha Balakrishnan to:
Prepare and produce the very first e-newsletters and other communications to describe and share the work of a young organization like CARTHA with a wide variety of constituencies
Contribute to the operationalization of an active, dynamic and online space for CARTHA's Collaborative Doers to network, dialog and further team up as "bridging professionals"
Support the early development and planning of the birth of a new professional society of Collaborative Doers
She is increasingly focused on vulnerable populations within highly inequitable countries - populations living in urban slum settlements and the (preventable) health outcomes occurring in the absence of urban planning and healthy environments - the socio-political determinants of health and illness. She is strongly interested in mixing creative innovations with time- tested approaches, which she believes is critical to the ability to address the complex and inter-sectoral challenges of public health and health systems improvements in low-income settings.
Alisha holds a B.A. in Social Studies of Medicine from McGill University and a Joint MSc in International Health from University College London, Copenhagen University and the University of Bergen, Norway. She has also completed a Distance Learning degree in Health Care Management. Her early professional experience is in research for health development. In addition to a number of projects she has worked on as a Consultant, she has also worked as a Research Associate and Project Coordinator with Dr. Vissandjée at the Université de Montréal and as a Research Intern with the Aga Khan Health Services, India via the Canadian International Development Agency's Youth International Internship Program. She is also Co-Author/Editor of Generation NGO a book project narrating the early professional experiences of young Canadians in international development work.
Alisha Nicole Apale