Board of Directors
Words from the Board of Directors
Craig Nerenberg
Chair
Craig is a managing partner of Brenner West Capital Partners, an investment fund based in New York City with more than $140 million of assets under management. He co-founded Brenner West in 2005 after working at MSD Capital, Michael Dell’s family partnership, and before that at the investment firm Gotham Partners. Craig is a graduate of Dartmouth College where he earned his Bachelor’s in Economics in 1999.
Deogratias Niyizonkiza
Founder
Deo is a leading advocate for the most impoverished people in the world. His compassion, expertise and life experience have made him a key voice in global health and development. Read his full biography.
David Cohen
Executive Director
David has been an informal advisor to Village Health Works since 2008 and joined the team as executive director in 2011. With a background in political campaigns, he brings extensive experience in building organizations, communications and the mobilization of grassroots supporters. He is a graduate of Brown University where he studied public policy and education.
Edward M. Cardoza
Ed worked as a development researcher at Tufts University and Harvard Medical School before becoming director of development research at the Appalachian Mountain Club, where he created the research strategy for the club’s $32 million capital campaign.
Richard J. Deckelbaum
Richard leads the Institute of Human Nutrition at Columbia Medical School in New York city, where he is the Robert R. Williams Professor of Nutrition, and a Professor of Pediatrics and Professor of Epidemiology.
Paul English
Paul has co-founded five technology companies, the most recent of which is Kayak.com, one of the world’s top 10 online travel search firms, where he serves as Chief Technology Officer.
Paul Farmer
Medical anthropologist and physician Paul Farmer is a founding director of Partners in Health, an international charity organization that provides direct health care services and undertakes research and advocacy activities on behalf of those who are sick and living in poverty.
Tracy Kidder
Tracy is an author whose work has been both prolific and outstanding. The Soul of a New Machine — a book celebrated for its insight into the world of corporate, high-technology America — earned him a Pulitzer and a National Book Award in 1982. Other bestselling works include House (1985), Among Schoolchildren (1989), Old Friends (1993), and Home Town (1999). Among Schoolchildren, a narrative of one year in the life of a fifth-grade class and its teacher, won Kidder the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award in 1989.
Joia S. Mukherjee
Joia has served as the Medical Director of Partners in Health, an international medical charity with clinical programs in Haiti, Rwanda, Lesotho, Malawi, Peru, Mexico, Russia, and inner-city Boston since 2000. In this capacity she is involved in programmatic and clinical work to provide health care and reduce health disparities by developing public sector, community based programs with local colleagues in those countries.
Anne L. Peretz
An accomplished artist, Anne is the president and founder of the Family Center, Inc. in Somerville, Massachusetts, a family based clinic and training site dedicated to developing service and training programs for under-served populations.
