Dr. Rehana Ahmed

Dr. Rehana Ahmed is presently Chair of Greenstar Board of Directors.

A medical doctor trained in Pakistan and the UK. She oversaw a model clinic for the International Planned Parenthood Fund, FPAP in Pakistan, elevating it to a center of excellence recognized for its quality services and training. Her professional journey is rooted in a profound commitment to maternal and child health, at the primary care level.  In the year 2000, she added to her formal education, an Executive MBA from Columbia University, New York. In 2015 she got a Strategy Planning certificate from Cornell University, USA. Then in 2018, she completed the Director Training certification, a requirement for serving on Pakistani Boards.

Dr. Ahmed has revolutionized access to quality sexual and reproductive health services by engaging private providers using a business approach called Social Franchising for Health. This method fosters a symbiotic and efficient partnership with healthcare providers (public and private) in our mixed healthcare system. She has written up this approach to facilitate easy replication in other countries, which have similar health systems.  

During her 14-year tenure in East Africa, Dr. Ahmed had the opportunity to extend her influence well beyond Pakistan, expanding the social franchising model across 37 countries in Asia and Africa. Her efforts, commissioned by leading global health organizations such as PSI, MSI, and FHI360, have culminated in the establishment of successful franchise brands like Blue Star, Gold Star, and Tunza. These initiatives are recognized in the Clinical Social Franchising Compendium, an annual survey by the University College San Francisco (UCSF), highlighting their impact on healthcare delivery.

In Kenya, her expertise was pivotal as the Reproductive Health Specialist for the Millennium Villages Project, targeting East and Southern Africa, a position supported by the Packard Foundation. Additionally, her strategic input was instrumental in the KfW’s (a German government bank) initiative to design Output-based Aid Vouchers for reproductive and maternal health, showcasing her ability to merge healthcare innovation with policy and funding mechanisms.

Dr. Ahmed’s commitment to advancing global health standards is further evidenced by her six-year tenure with the Technical Advisory team of the World Health Organization. Her academic contributions as a lecturer in the MSc Health and Policy Management program at the Aga Khan University, Karachi, reflect her dedication to nurturing the next generation of healthcare leaders.

Notably, Dr. Ahmed serves on the inaugural Governing Board of FP 2030, underlining her leadership in family planning and reproductive health on a global scale.