Dr. Catharine McKaig provides overall leadership and supervision for MCHIP's integrated family planning programming in more than 14 countries worldwide. Dr. McKaig is recognized as a global leader in family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH), bringing 20 years of experience to the field and vast technical expertise and depth of knowledge in FP/RH best practices and evidence base. With a doctoral degree in maternal and child health from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Dr. McKaig has demonstrated her capacity to lead a global FP/RH project since being named Project Director for Jhpiego’s $20M ACCESS-FP associate award in 2006.

Through solid technical and programmatic leadership, and cultivation of productive relationships with international agencies, ministries of health and other stakeholders, Dr. McKaig spearheaded the development and implementation of key FP initiatives in more than 10 countries throughout Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. These included: integration of FP into maternal and child health service delivery to address the service provision gap; behavior change and demand generation of postpartum FP at the community and facility level; and global advocacy for the revitalization of postpartum FP.

With a focus on maximizing program learning, Dr. McKaig led the ACCESS-FP program to successfully generate and disseminate results at international conferences. Through efficient program operations and direction on program and organizational change, Dr. McKaig effectively guided the transition of ACCESS-FP activities into the current MCHIP program.