Helene D. Gayle

Helene D. Gayle is president and CEO of CARE USA, a leading international humanitarian organization with approximately 10,000 staff whose poverty fighting programs reached 82 million people last year in 87 countries. An expert on health, global development, and humanitarian issues, she spent 20 years with the Centers for Disease Control, where she focused primarily on combating HIV/AIDS. Dr. Gayle then worked at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, directing programs on HIV/AIDS and other global health issues. Dr. Gayle serves on several boards, including CSIS, the Rockefeller Foundation, Colgate-Palmolive Company, Cox Enterprises Incorporated, and ONE. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Public Health Association. Dr. Gayle also chairs the Obama Administration's Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS and serves on the President's Commission on White House Fellowships. Dr. Gayle was named one of Foreign Policy magazine's "Top 100 Global Thinkers,” one of Newsweek's top 10 "Women in Leadership." Dr. Gayle has been featured by national and international media outlets and has also published numerous scientific articles. Dr. Gayle was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. She earned a B.A. in psychology at Barnard College, an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.P.H. from Johns Hopkins University.