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Vanessa Kerry

CEO, Seed Global Health; Special Envoy for Climate Change and Health, World Health Organization

Dr. Kerry is the co-founder and CEO of Seed Global Health (Seed), a non-profit organization focused on health systems strengthening and transformation through long-term investments and training of the health workforce. Under her leadership, Seed has helped educate more than 42,000 doctors, nurses, and midwives in seven countries, helping to improve health care for more than 76 million people. In June 2023, Dr. Kerry was appointed WHO Special Envoy for Climate Change and Health. She has spoken and written about the effects of climate change on human health and health systems and the need to integrate a health-centered response into climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. Dr. Kerry supported the UAE COP28 Presidency to shape the first-ever COP Day of Health on December 3, 2023 and continues to lead efforts globally to build advocacy around the impact of climate change on health and ensure equitable and just climate action. Dr. Kerry is a pulmonary and clinical care trained physician and the Director of Global and Climate Health Policy at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She is the mother of two children.