Amina Evangelista Swanepoel (Ami) is the Executive Director of Roots of Health and the local administrative arm of the organization, Ugat ng Kalusugan. Ami provides leadership in the day-to-day running of Roots of Health and trains staff in implementing all Roots of Health programming. She is the liaison with the Roots of Health Board of Directors in the United States, and with the Philippine-based Ugat ng Kalusugan Advisory Committee. She oversees fundraising for the organization. She is currently working with the Board of Directors in a Strategic Planning process to ensure the continued success of the organization.

Prior to this post, Ami spent two years at Human Rights Watch where she researched and documented human rights abuses in Asia. She also held a position with the Guttmacher Institute researching health and HIV issues among youth in Sub-Saharan Africa. She worked in the Program Division of UNHCR in India, where she created an HIV information curriculum currently being implemented among refugee populations in New Delhi. She also served as the Coordinating Manager at Anthony Knerr & Associates, a consulting firm specialized in strategic planning and counsel for nonprofits.

Amina received her bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College and her Master of International Affairs and Master of Public Health from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and the Mailman School of Public Health. She sits on the Board of the Forum for Family Planning and Development. She is an Atlantic Fellow, an Equity Initiative alumna, a Philippines Ashoka Fellow, and an Asia Society Young Leader.