Alisha Smith-Arthur is a public health professional with more than fourteen years’ experience providing leadership in project design and planning, strategic direction, partner engagement, and technical excellence to programs across Southern and West Africa, Eastern Europe, and South Asia.
Throughout her career, Ms. Smith-Arthur has worked extensively to build client-centered, locally designed and driven solutions to meet key public health needs, especially for tuberculosis (TB) and HIV. Her work focuses on creating dynamic connections between actors, and building and mainstreaming intersections between community and clinic, public and private, client and caregiver.
Looking ahead to lessons from current pandemics and identifying potential future threats, Ms. Smith-Arthur works to enhance local public health systems to better coordinate and respond to their communities’ needs. As Director of Public Health Preparedness and Global Health Security, her role at RTI focuses on amplifying preparedness platforms for both existing and emerging global pandemic threats.
Ms. Smith-Arthur values locally driven solutions and the development of stronger equity, and justice-based models for strengthening health systems to serve the public good. She has extensive experience living and working in West and Southern Africa. She served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo and speaks French.
