Lizah Masis ’12 is a Global Health and Finance Leader. She graduated with a BA in Economics from Swarthmore College and went on to study Health Economics and Policy at the London School of Economics. She is currently the Country Investment and Knowledge Director at the Financing Alliance for Health, a multi-organizational partnership focused on supporting African governments strengthen their health systems. Lizah is passionate about ensuring access to healthcare for all.
Path to Healthcare
Though not definitive of her, Lizah’s personal challenges with the Kenyan health systems greatly fueled her Health Policy career track. While attending to family member with a chronic illness, Lizah came face to face with the ugly nature of health systems, not just in Kenya, but also India where she went to seek specialized treatment for the family member. The astronomical cost of care from private hospitals, in addition to the poor infrastructure in place for such patients was particularly disheartening for Lizah. In 2017, she made the bold decision to quit her job at Wells Fargo as a Relationship Manager covering Europe, Middle East and Africa to begin her journey towards revolutionizing health care for the average citizen.
“Increasing access to care in low- and middle-income countries through finding sustainable financing solutions for health systems”
Leadership in Motion
Lizah has always been a leader in action. While at Swarthmore, she was a beneficiary of the Lang Opportunity Scholarship, a platform she used to develop a financial literacy program and a microfinance model targeted towards the women in Kenya’s Mount Elgon region. At the LSE, she led the Business Development and Finance team for the LSE Africa Summit. In addition, she has proved to be an essential resource to her community through her work in mentoring young girls at the Akili Dada Foundation and her work as a researcher at Dadaab Refugee Camp.
When she is not working towards creating a sustainable healthcare system for African governments, Lizah can be found hiking, traveling the world, and discovering African authors.
