Built to work at both ends of the system.

Dr. Jamila Yakubu has spent over a decade working across Nigeria's health system, from community programs to state ministries to the donors who fund the work. Her depth is unusual in its span. In reproductive, maternal and child health, she has designed and delivered programs reaching more than 200,000 women across Kano, Kaduna and Katsina, building services that function at community, facility and system level at once. In immunization, she has shaped strategy for HPV, hepatitis B birth dose and measles delivery across six countries under a $33M Gates-funded platform, with a focus on the subnational realities that decide whether children actually get vaccinated.

What ties this together is method. Grounded in behavioral science and trained as a qualitative researcher, she designs systems that can be measured and explains why they work, not just whether coverage moved but why it moved in one community and stalled in the next. Her experience also spans pharmaceutical access and last-mile delivery, including drone-enabled medical logistics in Nigeria's public-sector supply chains. She holds a Doctor of Public Health in Leadership, Management and Policy and has published peer-reviewed papers. Before founding Jaya Strategies, she worked with the Clinton Health Access Initiative and Johnson & Johnson.