Contributor

Kirsten Gagnaire

Executive Director of MAMA (Maternal Alliance for Mobile Action)

Kirsten Gagnaire is the Executive Director of MAMA (Maternal Alliance for Mobile Action), founded in May 2011 by Secretary Clinton. MAMA is an innovative partnership between USAID, Johnson & Johnson, United Nations Foundation, mHealth Alliance and BabyCenter. Before joining MAMA, Gagnaire was the Ghana Country Director for the Grameen Foundation and led the initial implementation of MOTECH. She was the Founder of the Social Enterprise Group (SEG) and Sustayne, and has a depth of experience and passion for addressing social and environmental issues through profitable business ventures. At SEG, Kirsten worked to assist organizations and individuals in all sectors to develop efficient and effective social enterprises, was instrumental in building the social enterprise field and served as Vice Chair of the Board of Social Enterprise Alliance for nearly eight years. Gagnaire has authored several articles and contributed to books regarding social enterprise and was named one of the Puget Sound’s Top 40 Under Forty Business Leaders.

Previously, Gagnaire was Administrator of Strategic Planning at Casey Family Programs. Before working at Casey, Gagnaire was a consultant with KPMG Peat Marwick, specializing in management, technology, and organizational development consulting for health and human service agencies. Her fusing of social issues and business expertise began internationally—first as a marketing intern at the Russian-owned world trade center in Moscow and later as a small enterprise development Peace Corps volunteer in Mali. She holds a degree in International Business from Seattle University and lives in Washington, D.C. with her two amazing children.