Heather Ignatius

Heather Ignatius, PATH’s Chief of External Affairs, oversees communications and marketing, advocacy and public policy, and philanthropic development for the global organization.

Prior to her role leading the External Affairs division, Heather led PATH’s Advocacy and Public Policy Department and its work to influence global priority setting, enact policies and secure public resource allocation to bring evidence-based innovations and interventions to scale. A veteran advocate and public policy specialist, Ms. Ignatius led a global team of advocates working to engage decision-makers and influencers, strengthen advocacy coalitions and increase the use of evidence in policy making.

Ms. Ignatius joined PATH in 2012, to lead PATH’s US public policy portfolio. In this role she educated and engaged elected officials and executive branch agency leadership, created strategic partnerships with for-profit and non-governmental partners, and developed policy recommendations to strengthen US leadership and support for global health programs. PATH’s work has resulted in the adoption of dozens of national and subnational policies and significant increases of donor and domestic resources to expand access to critically needed health services and products and advance innovation for vulnerable populations around the globe.

Ms. Ignatius joined PATH from the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development where she led initiatives to create an enabling policy environment, mobilize resources, and engage key stakeholders to advance the organization’s mission of developing and ensuring access to new shorter-course TB regimens for people in low- and middle-income countries.

Prior to her experience in the health sector, Ms. Ignatius worked on a variety of international and social sector issues at the United Nations Foundation, the National Endowment of Democracy and the Women’s Research and Education Institute. A Silicon Valley native, she started her career in the tech sector, working for Cisco Systems.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, San Diego and a master’s degree from the Elliot School of International Affairs at The George Washington University.