Our team facilitates collaboration among partners to advance cereal grain fortification worldwide. Together we help country leaders plan, implement, and monitor fortification of wheat flour, maize flour, and rice.
Contact the individuals listed below for questions about their area of expertise.
Director
+1-612-834-2012
Scott brings a business approach to FFI as he worked in the private sector for 30 years before being named FFI Director in March 2011. His expertise is in leadership, senior level management, food processing and supply chain with global experience across cereal grain industries. Contact him with questions regarding our global strategies and activities and to become a key stakeholder (financial or in-kind).
Africa Network Coordinator
Ronald has worked as a food fortification advisor and monitoring specialist in the public, private and civic sectors, focusing on design, enactment of standards, implementation, enforcement, and monitoring and evaluation of fortification programs. With FFI, he supports flour fortification efforts with public, private and development partners in African countries to address health and nutrition challenges. Contact Ronald for information on fortification efforts in Africa.
Project Lead and Government of Haryana Liaison, FFI India
Parveen Bhalla has more than 10 years of experience across immunization, nutrition, and maternal and child health programs. He has a master's degree in public health from PGIMER, Chandigarh (India) and a master's degree in business administration in health care management. Prior to joining FFI, he was working as a state technical officer cum OSD to Additional Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister in Haryana, India, supporting various flagship programs across health and nutrition sector. He also worked as a health system specialist with CARE India and held various other middle management positions with Deloitte and UNICEF. His brings skills across program implementation, liaising, capacity building, and supportive supervision. Contact him with questions about wheat flour fortification in India.
Technical Advisor
sharon.bustrak@ffinetwork.org
Sharon conducts research and data analysis concerning global nutrition, milling, and fortification. Additionally, Sharon supports FFI’s United States corn masa flour project and the planning, implementation, and monitoring of fortification programs in the Asia-Pacific, Latin American, and Central Asian regions. Sharon holds a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from Emory University and has experience living and working in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia in health education, clinical, and research settings. Contact Sharon with questions about FFI’s country profiles or the corn masa flour project.
Training and Technical Support Advisor
Based in Uganda, Wilson holds a doctorate in local and regional development. Wilson has vast public- and private-sector experience in planning and managing food and nutrition security, promoting nutrition sensitive agri-food chains, and designing food fortification strategic planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation in Africa. At FFI, Wilson provides leadership for situation/landscape assessments and capacity building trainings for monitoring inspectors, local producers of fortified flours, and national laboratories. In selected countries, he further leads the implementation of two initiatives: the pull strategy to engage consumer and parent groups and FortifyMIS, a management information system for online fortification monitoring. Contact him with questions about technical support for fortification.
Communications Director
Jessie maintains FFI’s communications, engages key stakeholders, and builds partnerships. With expertise in communication and strategic partner engagement, she has worked as a freelance journalist and as a health communication and policy specialist at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Center for Global Health. Jessie holds a Master of Public Health from École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique, the French School of Public Health, and a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Davidson College. Contact Jessie with questions about communications and partnerships.
Program Coordinator
Molly provides operational support to local and international projects and oversees FFI's annual operating budget. She also handles the logistics of semi-annual meetings and the FFI Global Secretariat office in collaboration with core team members and strategic partners to ensure programmatic success. Molly has experience in administrative and leadership roles and has worked closely with non-profits globally. Contact her with questions about upcoming events or general FFI inquiries.
Research Director
Helena holds a doctorate in nutrition and a master of public health degree. She has 20 years of research and program experience primarily focused on reducing malnutrition in low- and middle-income countries. Contact her regarding the scientific evidence on the benefits of grain fortification and if you are interested in evaluating the public health impact of grain fortification.
USAID AFFORD Knowledge Management and Communications Manager
Becky’s experience in fortification includes landscape analyses to identify opportunities for fortification and providing technical support to governments and partners. Prior to FFI, Becky was a fellow at the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. Her work there focused on translating evidence into recommendations and policy to eliminate folic acid preventable birth defects. Becky holds a bachelor's degree in mass communications and a Master of Public Health with a focus in global public nutrition from Emory University. Contact her with questions about FFI’s partnership with the USAID Advancing Food Fortification Opportunities to Reinforce Diets (AFFORD) program.
Technical Advisor, India
Venkat has 20 years of experience in developing opportunity assessments, strategies, and supply chain analysis. He works primarily in agriculture, food, health, and nutrition. He has worked in 27 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. Venkat has a bachelor’s degree in technology from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur, India, and a master’s degree in business administration from Brighton University in the United Kingdom and Pforzheim University in Germany. Contact Venkat for questions about fortification of industrially milled wheat flour and rice in India.
