Sightsavers’ US board

Adrian Poffley (Director/chair)

Adrian Poffley is a chief administrative officer for budget, performance review and strategic planning at the World Bank in Washington DC, where he specialises in strategy, programme and financial planning, resource management allocation and organisational performance review. He joined the World Bank in 2003 after serving as finance director for Sightsavers and chief accountant for Voluntary Service Overseas in the UK and has held various roles in the Bank.

Adrian has served on the boards of non-profit organisations for more than 30 years, including as honorary treasurer of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), the UK Refugee Council and Africa’s Voices Foundation. A chartered global management accountant, Adrian is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK, and the author of ‘Income to Impact: The Financial Stewardship of Not-for-Profit and Public Sector Organisations’.

Simon Bush (Director/vice chair)

Simon has more than 35 years of development experience in Africa and the Middle East, with 20 years of experience in leadership roles relating to neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). This has involved coalition and partnership building, as well as working extensively with national governments on NTD policy, strategy and implementation leading to disease elimination.

Simon is currently president of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, where he has been a trustee for the last nine years. He’s the director of NTDs at Sightsavers and has been involved with Sightsavers’ work for the last 24 years. Simon is also a member of the Royal Geographic Society.

Ann-Marie Walsh (Director/vice chair)

Ann-Marie has more than 25 years of experience working with companies on their expansion and internationalisation plans. She’s held senior positions with the Irish government export agency in New York, Washington DC and most recently, Milan. Her experience spans many sectors from software and digital to engineering and manufacturing, with expertise in advising companies on strategy development and export market entry for state and local government in the US.

Ann-Marie holds a master’s degree from University College Dublin, an MSc in International Business from Trinity College Dublin, and qualifications from Babson College in Boston and IMD Business School in Switzerland. She lives in County Kerry and has been involved with Sightsavers for more than 10 years.

Bill Kendall (Director)

Bill was appointed honorary treasurer of Sightsavers’ board in 2016. He is an international investment banker with nearly 30 years of corporate finance experience at Morgan Grenfell, Lehman Brothers and Vollman Brothers, which he founded in 2002 and where he is currently the managing director.

A chartered accountant, Bill qualified with Price Waterhouse. He chairs the Sightsavers investment committee and is a member of the audit, governance and remuneration committees. He is also honorary treasurer of Sightsavers in the UK.

Lauren Kuritz (Director)

Lauren has more than a decade of experience advancing US foreign policy and managing human, labour and land rights programmes at the US Department of State and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

As co-director of USAID’s Global Labor Program, Lauren partnered with Sightsavers in Kenya and other partners across Asia and Africa to strengthen workers’ rights and promote access to justice, accountability and dignity.

She also advanced bilateral and multilateral engagement on science, space, environmental and economic cooperation at the US embassies in China and Bangladesh. Lauren holds a Master of Public Administration from New York University and a Bachelor of Science from Towson University.

Geordie Woods (Director)

Geordie is experienced in working in Africa in the field of public health and communication. He most recently worked as the media officer for Johns Hopkins Center for Communications Programs in Ghana. He first came to West Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer, where he served in both Guinea and Ghana.

He has worked as behaviour change and communication consultant for Sightsavers and the World Health Organization, carrying out research and developing communication strategies in various West African countries. He is currently completing his master’s degree in public health at Tulane University.