Carolyn Wetzel Chen

I loved making a difference in individual lives, but yearned to play a role in structural change. I was impressed by large scale projects undertaken by the Peruvian Ministry of Health, always co-branded “USAID” (United States Agency for International Development) and it became my dream to one day influence national health policy in a country of need and lend my hand to establishing conditions to prevent disease and maintain health.

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Today, I’m fortunate to have that opportunity. I work for the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a United States international development agency. The United States Congress approves MCC investments in selected countries that are committed to ruling justly, investing in people, and economic freedom.  As a Health Director at MCC, I partner with foreign government employees to design and implement policy or programs that improve the health of their population. For example, in Indonesia, I provided oversight to a nutrition investment that improved exclusive breastfeeding in infants 0-5 months of age and increased the consumption of iron-folic acid by pregnant women. In Kosovo, I supported the country to provide continuous, national air quality information to its citizens for the first time. And in Lesotho, I’ve co-designed a health systems strengthening project that aims to improve the government’s provision of primary health care, averting maternal, child and infant deaths as well as deaths due to diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

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It is a highlight of my career to work shoulder to shoulder with public servants in other countries to co-design multi-million-dollar health projects to create system level change, embedded in national policy and programs, that will improve and sustain healthy lives.

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