Samara Andrade
HCP Cureblindness, VP of Strategy and Partnerships
In her role at HCP Cureblindness, Samara oversees programmatic strategy to support health system strengthening in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa with a focus on primary care, prevention and policy and advocacy. She leads partnerships across these programs, working with social impact ESG funders, national governments, and other non-profits, to support the delivery of integrated people centered services for rural communities.
Prior to joining HCP Cureblindness, Samara worked for more than a decade with the United Nations, serving in various roles from partnerships to policy across humanitarian, peace and development contexts in Sudan, Libya, Nepal, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Switzerland and New York. In her tenure with the United Nations, she led to key policy changes in gender equity, gender-based violence prevention and response, women’s economic development, and mental health and psychosocial support. She also led partnerships for $150 million trust fund in Afghanistan, supported national governments develop national health and peacebuilding policies and strategies, and the co-led organization of more than 65 side events of the World Humanitarian Summit process with NGOs, private sector, UN entities, national governments, and communities.
Samara is also co-founder of Feet on the Ground, a non-profit focused on empowering trauma-exposed populations with mental health and psychosocial support education and somatic tools. She holds a Bachelor of International Business, Minor in Spanish and Marketing, and a Master in International Policy Studies with a focus on Gender and Development, Minor in Portuguese, from the Middlebury Institute for International Studies at Monterey.
Samara was selected as part of the 2022 U.S. WomenLift Health Leadership Journey Cohort led by the Center for Creative Leadership, co-funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and GLF VII for Senior-level leaders. She lives in Seattle, WA, is an avid hiker, paddleboarder, yoga teacher and is a stanche advocate for equity.
Prior to joining HCP Cureblindness, Samara worked for more than a decade with the United Nations, serving in various roles from partnerships to policy across humanitarian, peace and development contexts in Sudan, Libya, Nepal, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Switzerland and New York. In her tenure with the United Nations, she led to key policy changes in gender equity, gender-based violence prevention and response, women’s economic development, and mental health and psychosocial support. She also led partnerships for $150 million trust fund in Afghanistan, supported national governments develop national health and peacebuilding policies and strategies, and the co-led organization of more than 65 side events of the World Humanitarian Summit process with NGOs, private sector, UN entities, national governments, and communities.
Samara is also co-founder of Feet on the Ground, a non-profit focused on empowering trauma-exposed populations with mental health and psychosocial support education and somatic tools. She holds a Bachelor of International Business, Minor in Spanish and Marketing, and a Master in International Policy Studies with a focus on Gender and Development, Minor in Portuguese, from the Middlebury Institute for International Studies at Monterey.
Samara was selected as part of the 2022 U.S. WomenLift Health Leadership Journey Cohort led by the Center for Creative Leadership, co-funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and GLF VII for Senior-level leaders. She lives in Seattle, WA, is an avid hiker, paddleboarder, yoga teacher and is a stanche advocate for equity.