As a GHC alumna, Eliza joined GHC staff to expand opportunities for other alumni rising through the ranks in global health. Since then, she’s been on a mission to build a culture of resilience and wellbeing among the sector’s leaders. 

In 2017, Eliza launched Circles International (CI) to drive that mission forward. As CEO and principal consultant, she leads the CI team to help leaders across the U.S., Central and South America, and East Africa thrive and build resilience, which in turn fuels their sustained impact. Grounded in her experiences as a social worker and global health practitioner, she’s a champion for the GHC leadership value of sustainable resilience. 

Throughout the pandemic, Eliza strived to practice what she preaches as she continued this work from her home in the Bay Area. In May 2020, she shared her insights on mental health in the time of COVID-19 as a panelist for GHC’s Shift Happens Speaker Series. When asked how she’s coping, she shared: “I’ve been covering my workspace with a piece of kitenge to signal the end of my work day, and uncovering it as the start of a new day. This is a mental strategy to signal separation from work at the end of the day and an intentional commitment to do my best work each morning.” 

And when Eliza’s at her best, hundreds of global health and social justice leaders are better, too.