Mischka Garel

Director, Program and Partnership Development Unit

Mischka Garel is the Director of Program and Partnership Development Unit for the Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) Program Office. In this role, she leads CHAMPS' efforts to expand and strengthen co-funding opportunities, cultivate strategic donor and global partnerships, and advance excellence across the CHAMPS Network.

Previously, Mischka served as Director of Programs at the Emory Global Health Institute (EGHI), where she provided leadership for all student and faculty initiatives. She set the strategic vision for current and future programming and was responsible for the management, execution, and performance of EGHI’s academic programs and global health partnership development.

Earlier in her tenure at EGHI, she was the Senior Director for Site Strategy and Implementation with the CHAMPS Program Office. In that capacity, she oversaw strategy, planning, and performance improvement across CHAMPS sites. She played a key role in building systems for network learning and innovation, working across seven countries to implement CHAMPS’ surveillance efforts.

Mischka brings more than 20 years of experience in maternal and child health (MCH) across research, advocacy, program development, and academic administration. Her work has consistently centered on health systems strengthening, capacity building, and community engagement to improve outcomes for children and families.

Before joining EGHI, she co-directed the Moving Health Care Upstream initiative at UCLA’s Center for Healthier Children, Families, and Communities, where she led strategic planning efforts. Concurrently, she served as Assistant Director of the UCLA Center for Child and Family Health Leadership Training Program, supporting interdisciplinary training in MCH research and policy.

Earlier in her career, Mischka held leadership and program management roles at the Pan American Development Foundation, the Johns Hopkins University, Maryland National Children’s Study Center, and the Communities IMPACT Diabetes Center at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She has managed multi-site partnerships and programs throughout Latin America, including in Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil, and led systems-level, community-based health initiatives in East Harlem, New York.

Her diverse domestic and international experience has positioned her to work closely with country teams to strengthen performance, build local capacity, and foster locally owned research excellence.

Mischka is a 2022 WomenLift Health Leadership Fellow, pursuing a Doctor of Public Health at the University of Illinois, Chicago. She holds a Master of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health from the University of South Florida and a Bachelor of Arts in Medical Anthropology from the University of Florida, where she also served as Associate Director of Public Health Programs following her graduate studies.