April 5, 2021
Friends welcomes today’s appointment of Gayle Smith as Coordinator for Global COVID Response & Health Security at the State Department. “Gayle Smith is an outstanding choice to lead U.S. efforts on health security,” said Chris Collins, President and CEO of Friends. “Ms. Smith brings a wealth of experience to the global response to COVID-19, having played a critical role in U.S. efforts against Ebola and leading ONE and USAID. She well understands that we will only end the COVID-19 pandemic when we end it everywhere. I’m confident that Ms. Smith’s leadership and experience will help the U.S. and our partners strengthen health security and support stronger health systems that can deliver critical services today and identify and respond to the emerging disease threats of tomorrow. We look forward to partnering with Ms. Smith and the Biden Administration on global health.”