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Raj Panjabi

Influential Healthcare Leader, Entrepreneur, & White House Official (2021-2023)

A global changemaker whose healthcare programs, policies, and leadership have positively impacted billions of people
Played a key role in the response to all the major public health events of our time, and was the top pandemic official at the White House National Security Council
Shares fascinating stories from his career working on the frontlines of healthcare, as well as lessons on leadership and innovation
Named one of TIME’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” and one of Fortune’s “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders”

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In an illustrious career that reads like a chronicle of global impact, The Honorable Raj Panjabi has spearheaded groundbreaking policies and programs that have transcended borders on a quest to protect the health of people around the world. Recognized by TIME as one of its “100 Most Influential People in the World,” Dr. Panjabi is a renowned physician and entrepreneur who led President Joe Biden’s pandemic office at the White House National Security Council. Operating at the center of the Covid-19 pandemic response, he played a pivotal role in steering the ship of American health security back on course and helped orchestrate the largest global vaccination campaign in history. Dr. Panjabi’s transformative impact and ability to drive results serve as an effective blueprint for how leaders in any industry can work within their teams to develop solutions to the most pressing challenges they face in their organizations and industries.

Exclusively represented by Leading Authorities speakers bureau, Dr. Panjabi draws from his experiences navigating highly complex issues that impact the entire planet to share fundamental insights on leadership and innovation from the perspective of someone who bore the weight of the welfare of billions of people on his shoulders with each and every decision. Having spoken at hundreds of high-profile meetings, Dr. Panjabi masterfully hooks audiences in his exceptional storytelling ability, while tying anecdotes from his time leading at the frontlines of healthcare back to practical lessons for leading in times of crisis, the power of technology and innovation, and the future of healthcare.

In addition to his role as one of the leaders of the U.S.’s strategy against Covid-19, Dr. Panjabi oversaw the White House response to the outbreaks of influenza, Mpox, Ebola, polio, and Marburg. As Special Assistant to President Biden and Senior Director for Global Health Security and Biodefense at the White House, he worked to execute federal policy to protect America and the world from infectious disease threats, and oversaw White House efforts to prevent the next pandemic. Dr. Panjabi also led the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative and was at the heart of U.S. policy on the World Bank’s Pandemic Fund, the World Health Organization’s Pandemic Accord, and the United Nations’ Biological Weapons Convention.

Dr. Panjabi is co-founder and President Emeritus of Last Mile Health and served as the organization’s CEO from 2007 to 2021. He advises companies and organizations working to improve healthcare and is Entrepreneur in Residence at Emerson Collective. Dr. Panjabi has also served on the faculty of Harvard Medical School, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Social Innovation and Change Initiative. He has served on numerous boards, commissions, and councils, including the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, Doctors for America, the Advisory Council for the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the Skoll Foundation, and the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, which he helped establish with former President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and former Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark.

Among his honors, awards, and recognitions, Dr. Panjabi has been named one of TIME’s “Most Influential People in Healthcare” and listed as one of the “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” by Fortune. He is also the recipient of the 2017 TED Prize, the World Economic Forum’s Social Entrepreneur of the Year, the Clinton Global Citizen Award for his leadership in response to history’s worst Ebola outbreak, and, in 2023, received the Dean’s Medal — the highest recognition the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health confers on public health leaders.

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Raj Panjabi on Equitable Healthcare

A Fireside Chat with Dr. Raj Panjabi

Dr. Raj Panjabi On A Democratization Of Health Care & Frontline Caregivers

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The Future of Healthcare. In this keynote, renowned physician, healthcare nonprofit founder, and former White House senior director Dr. Raj Panjabi, offers unique insights into the opportunities and risks healthcare organizations face now, and in the future — from rising costs to growing inequities in access to healthcare. Drawing from his experiences as a frontline Harvard physician, revolutionizing community healthcare systems with governments, businesses, and philanthropies, and playing a pivotal role at the White House in the largest vaccination campaign in history during the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Panjabi provides expert analysis of the current healthcare landscape and offers tailored, actionable advice on how your organization can unlock the power of the resources and communities around you to transform healthcare.

How Leadership Can Transform Lives. From pandemics to economic crises to growing political tensions and geopolitical unrest, there will always be various disruptions that leaders will have to navigate their organizations through if they are to be successful. As a public health servant, business leader, and former White House official, Dr. Raj Panjabi has been at the forefront of the public response to some of the most disruptive events in recent history and draws from his experiences as a nonprofit CEO and working in the White House Situation Room on the frontlines of the Covid-19 pandemic to share coveted wisdom on how to lead with impact in today’s ever-evolving world. Dr. Panjabi speaks about leading with purpose, how to navigate teams through crises, what it takes to successfully oversee a culture transformation, and how teams can communicate, collaborate, and innovate to optimal effect.

The Power of Entrepreneurship, Technology, and Innovation. We are at an inflection point in history. While new pandemics, growing inequities, and climate change are among the risks we’re tasked with navigating, we’ve also been presented with new opportunities to leverage the power of entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation to solve the most daunting challenges we face in business and society. On a mission to improve healthcare for people living in the world’s most remote locations, Dr. Panjabi founded Last Mile Health at age 25 with a $6,000 wedding gift, and grew the company into a multi-million dollar social enterprise that has been recognized by Forbes as “a healthcare model for one billion people.” He reflects on his experiences as a physician-entrepreneur and Last Mile Health’s CEO for its first 14 years to offer a proven framework for how leaders can spark a culture of innovation that is positioned to develop and deliver “last-mile” products and services, and leverage technology to scale impact.

Chasing the American Dream: A Conversation with Dr. Raj Panjabi. Thirty years ago, Dr. Raj Panjabi’s family fled from the civil war in Liberia and embraced the new possibilities that life in America offered. As the members of the family rebuilt their lives, his father’s mantra of “no condition is permanent” is what pushed them through the difficult times and provided the foundation for Dr. Panjabi’s incredible and inspiring journey to serving in the White House. In this fireside chat, Dr. Panjabi, who has been named one of TIME’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” and one of Fortune’s “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders,” shares personal reflections on his journey to realizing his American dream, the future of healthcare, what it means to lead with purpose, the importance of innovation, and more of the topics that are of interest to your audience.

Pandemic Moonshot: Ending the Pandemic Threat as We Know It. The Covid-19 pandemic taught us that we need to be more efficient, effective, and equitable in how we prepare for and respond to public health crises. Pointing to his role in establishing a historic commission with two former heads of state with the intent of making Covid-19 the last pandemic and overseeing the response to the major public health events of our time, Dr. Raj Panjabi offers sought-after expertise of the current pandemic challenge, while putting forth practical ideas and actionable strategies that help organizations across sectors better understand how to position their businesses for resilience in the age of pandemics.