Mirza Ahmed is a distinguished global health and public health executive with 28 years of experience advancing healthcare delivery, strengthening health systems, and leading transformative initiatives across South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the United States. His career spans leadership positions with the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), nongovernmental organizations, and local county government. Combining medical expertise with strategic management capabilities, Mirza has dedicated his professional life to improving health outcomes, expanding access to public health, essential medical services, and building community health systems. His leadership philosophy is rooted in a personal mission to contribute meaningfully to the health and well-being of communities while ensuring that quality healthcare and disease prevention reach the populations that need them most.
Most recently, Mirza served as Public Health Director for Montrose County, Colorado, where he provided strategic and operational leadership for countywide public health programs. In this capacity, he oversaw public health budgets, regulatory compliance, grant development, disease prevention initiatives, environmental health, and emergency preparedness. His responsibilities included administering public health laws, supervising multidisciplinary teams, strengthening partnerships with government agencies, and supporting programs addressing chronic and communicable diseases. He also served as the county’s HIPAA Privacy Officer, bringing an additional dimension of regulatory oversight, information governance, and accountability to his leadership portfolio. This experience strengthened his understanding of the American healthcare landscape and complemented his extensive
international background with direct knowledge of U.S. public health administration.
Before his leadership in Colorado, Mirza served as Medical Officer and Team Lead for Health Emergencies with WHO in Somalia from 2020 through 2024. During this period, he directed complex emergency health initiatives addressing COVID-19, drought, cholera, measles, and other infectious disease threats in one of the world’s most challenging humanitarian environments. Working alongside Somalia’s Federal Ministry of Health, United Nations agencies, international donors, and nongovernmental organizations, he helped establish coordinated emergency preparedness and response strategies. His leadership encompassed national planning, disease surveillance, outbreak investigation, emergency operations, infection prevention, and health system readiness. He also managed a multidisciplinary team of 21 professionals and supported initiatives that trained more than 500 healthcare workers in disease outbreak, emergency care, mass casualty management, and advanced infection prevention protocols. Mirza championed a major community health worker initiative, guiding the recruitment, capacity building, and deployment of frontline workers to deliver critical health services.
Mirza’s contributions to emergency response extend beyond immediate crisis management to the development of sustainable healthcare infrastructure. Throughout his work in Somalia, he supported the establishment of 48 cholera treatment centers, coordinated mass immunization efforts, and strengthened national emergency response capabilities. His approach emphasized integrating primary healthcare, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH),
nutrition, and disease prevention into coordinated public health strategies. Recognizing that lasting health improvements require community participation, he contributed to initiatives involving thousands of community health workers, strengthening local capacity to deliver essential services to vulnerable and displaced populations. His ability to balance urgent humanitarian priorities with long-term institutional development remains a defining feature of his executive leadership.
Prior to joining WHO, Mirza built an extensive career with UNICEF, serving in progressively responsible positions across Bangladesh, Nigeria, Pakistan, India, and Somalia. As a Health Specialist in Somalia, he contributed to strengthening 34 essential maternal and child healthcare facilities, expanding routine immunization and child nutrition services, and improving vaccine delivery infrastructure. Through strategic planning, coordination, and partner capacity building, his work contributed to a reported 10% increase in vaccine coverage over three years. He also supported nationwide measles vaccination planning targeting approximately 2.8 million children and helped strengthen cold-chain systems across regional and district facilities. These achievements reflect his ability to translate complex public health priorities into operational programs capable of reaching underserved communities.
Earlier in his UNICEF career, Mirza specialized in monitoring, evaluation, and evidence-based program management, holding assignments in Pakistan and Nigeria. He developed multiyear strategic plans, performance monitoring frameworks, and integrated approaches connecting polio eradication with routine immunization, nutrition, and community healthcare. His work involved
analyzing program bottlenecks, evaluating implementation performance, strengthening information systems, and using research findings to guide resource allocation and policy decisions. He also advanced innovative data collection and monitoring approaches involving geographic information systems, mobile technology, and real-time reporting. These experiences established his reputation as a leader who understands that effective healthcare strategies must be supported by reliable data, measurable outcomes, and continuous organizational learning.
Mirza began his professional journey in Bangladesh, where he developed a strong foundation in clinical service delivery, primary healthcare management, and community-based public health programming. Through early leadership roles with CAMS(local NGO) and Management Sciences for Health(international NGO), he managed healthcare teams, strengthened immunization services, supported disease surveillance, and expanded maternal and child health programs in underserved urban and rural communities. His work included improving access to healthcare in urban settlements, remote districts, coastal communities, and geographically isolated areas. These formative experiences shaped his understanding of the practical challenges confronting frontline healthcare systems and reinforced his belief that effective health policy must be informed by the realities of patients, healthcare workers, and local communities.
Throughout his career, Mirza has demonstrated significant expertise in strategic planning, healthcare policy, organizational governance, financial oversight, regulatory compliance, and large-scale program execution. With
more than 15 years of experience managing multicultural teams and multimillion-dollar initiatives, he has contributed to the design, budgeting, implementation, and oversight of more than 30 public health projects. His leadership includes developing operational guidelines, strengthening accountability systems, preparing donor proposals, managing stakeholder relationships, and aligning institutional resources with measurable public health objectives. His professional network spans government ministries, international health agencies, nonprofit organizations, and global development partners, including organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Gavi, the Gates Foundation and many others.
Beyond operational leadership, Mirza has made meaningful contributions to public health research, knowledge development, and professional education. He has participated in numerous research studies, program evaluations, and technical assessments designed to improve healthcare delivery and inform evidence-based decision-making. His scholarly contributions include co-authorship of research published in The Lancet through collaboration involving Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and UNICEF, as well as a publication in Frontiers in Public Health examining the importance of community health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Somalia. A frequent presenter and experienced trainer, he has shared technical knowledge with healthcare professionals, government officials, implementing partners, and international stakeholders. His communication style combines scientific rigor with practical insight, enabling him to engage diverse audiences and translate complex health challenges into actionable strategies.
Mirza’s academic credentials reinforce the breadth of his professional experience. He holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) from the University of Chittagong, a Master of Public Health (MPH) from North South University, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Asian University of Bangladesh. His educational background bridges medical science, public health administration, project management, information management, and organizational leadership. He has further strengthened his expertise through specialized professional training in health emergency leadership, outbreak communication, immunization, and disease surveillance, including training associated with Johns Hopkins University, New York University and CDC. Fluent in Bengali, proficient in English, and conversational in Hindi, he brings valuable cross-cultural communication capabilities to international partnerships and leadership environments.
As he expands his focus toward board and advisory service, Mirza offers organizations a distinctive combination of medical knowledge, executive leadership, international experience, and practical governance expertise. His background is particularly relevant to healthcare organizations, hospitals, pharmaceutical and vaccine-related enterprises, public health institutions, preventive medicine organizations, and mission-driven nonprofits. He brings a valuable perspective to discussions involving healthcare access, organizational risk, public health regulation, emergency preparedness, strategic partnerships, health equity, and sustainable growth. His experience operating across public, nonprofit, and healthcare delivery environments enables him to evaluate challenges from multiple perspectives while keeping
organizational mission, stakeholder accountability, and long-term impact at the center of decision-making.
At the heart of Mirza’s professional journey is an enduring commitment to service. Having witnessed firsthand the challenges faced by communities affected by poverty, disease outbreaks, displacement, and limited healthcare infrastructure, he understands that meaningful progress requires more than technical expertise. It demands compassion, ethical leadership, collaboration, and a willingness to invest in sustainable solutions. He approaches each leadership opportunity with the conviction that knowledge and experience carry a responsibility to improve lives. Through future board and advisory contributions, Mirza seeks to help organizations strengthen their strategic direction, improve healthcare accessibility, prevent disease, and create lasting value for the communities they serve. His career represents a commitment to transforming healthcare challenges into opportunities for innovation, resilience, and human well-being.
Character:
Mirza exemplifies integrity, compassion, and a deep commitment to public service, consistently prioritizing community well-being and equitable healthcare access throughout his international career. His leadership reflects resilience, cultural sensitivity, and an unwavering dedication to improving lives, particularly among vulnerable and underserved populations.
Knowledge:
With 28 years of experience spanning medical practice, public health management, international development, and government administration,
Mirza possesses comprehensive expertise in healthcare systems, disease prevention, community health, immunization, and emergency response. His advanced education, research contributions, and experience with WHO and UNICEF equip him to provide informed guidance on complex healthcare, regulatory, and organizational challenges.
Strategic:
Mirza combines long-term strategic vision with practical execution, having led multimillion-dollar healthcare initiatives, developed national response strategies, and strengthened health systems across diverse environments. His ability to integrate data analysis, resource management, risk assessment, and cross-sector partnerships enables organizations to make informed decisions and pursue sustainable outcomes.
Communication:
An accomplished communicator who has engaged government leaders, international agencies, healthcare professionals, donors, and community stakeholders to advance shared public health objectives. Through research publications, professional presentations, training programs, and collaborative leadership, he demonstrates an exceptional ability to translate technical information into clear, persuasive, and actionable guidance.
