meet the team

Bill Burns is Chairman of the Board for LifeStraw and Vestergaard. Bill has more than 40 years of pharmaceutical industry experience, including 23 years at Roche Pharmaceuticals and as their CEO from 2001 to 2009. Over the past decade, Bill has held numerous board positions including F. Hoffmann La Roche, Chugai Pharmaceuticals, Genentech, Shire PLC and Biotie. Bill was a Governor on the board of Welcome Trust from 2016-2020 and continues as a trustee of the Institute of Cancer Research. He also currently serves as the chairman of the board of directors for both Molecular Partners, and the vice chairman of Mesoblast. Bill is a member of the Novo Holdings Advisory Group and of HealthCare Royalty Partners, and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Center for Integrated Oncology of the Universities of Cologne/Bonn/Aachen/Dusseldorf.

Ambassador Josette Sheeran is a global economic and humanitarian diplomat and leader. Currently, she serves as President and CEO of Asia Society and is the United Nations Special Envoy for Haiti. Previously, Josette was Vice Chair of the World Economic Forum and Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Program. She also served as United States Under Secretary for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs, and as a deputy U.S. Trade Representative and Ambassador. She has represented the United States at high-level bilateral and multilateral meetings and has contributed as a member of numerous boards of directors. In 2011, Forbes named her the world’s 30th most powerful woman.

Peter Piot is a physician and microbiologist known for his research on Ebola and AIDS. He helped discover the Ebola virus in 1976 and was part of the team that investigated the first ever recorded epidemic in Zaire that same year. Peter has contributed greatly to science’s understanding of HIV infection in Africa. He played a key role in ensuring access to life saving antiretroviral drugs in low- and middle-income countries while Executive Director of UNAIDS and Under Secretary General of the United Nations. Currently Peter is Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Many of you met him during the COVID updates as he as lead much of the global response work for COVID. He received numerous awards, was a 2014 TIME Person of the Year, and has authored 17 books, including his memoir No Time to Lose, and over 600 scientific articles. There are loads and loads of video interviews and articles with Peter out there so dive in for more.

Ido Leffler is an entrepreneur, investor, and advisor. He is the co-founder of successful companies developed with a social mission, including Yoobi, Yes To Inc., Cheeky, Brandless, and Beach House Group. Ido is co-author of Get Big Fast and Do More Good: Start Your Business, Make It Huge, and Change the World, a guide to entrepreneurship and brand-building. He is an investor in and advisor for a wide variety of startups and established companies, and serves on the board of directors for Spark New Zealand. Ido was named by Fast Company as one of the most creative people in business and by Australian Unlimited as one of the top 50 Achieving Australians outside of Australia.

Michael Francis is a seasoned corporate executive, entrepreneur, business adviser, investor and marketing and communications expert. Michael was the CMO for Target for 25 years and Chief Global Brand Officer for Dreamworks Animation for 3 years. He is the founder and CEO of Fairview Associates; a strategic investment and consulting firm focused on brand creation and retail activation. Farview Associates has worked with a number of high-profile celebrities, designers and Fortune 50 companies. Advertising Age named Francis as one of the world’s top marketers and both Business Week and Fast Company have listed him as a top global innovator.