Seema Arora
Name: Seema Arora
Position: Started as Drug Access Team as Senior Analyst Currently Access Nutrition Team Market Development Manager
Location: Based in New York
After getting my master's degree in International Development and working as a business management consultant, I knew I wanted to do something with an international development focus working for the greater good. I was looking for an organization that deliberately operated differently from a typical NGO. A colleague of mine had been with the Clinton Foundation from the start and knew I was interested in working in the area of HIV/AIDS. CHAI is a blending of two worlds: a consulting-type of approach with a non-profit mission.
After graduating from Wellesley College, I started working for L.E.K. Consulting, a London-based management consulting firm, where I worked on cases in a wide variety of industries: energy, publishing, bio-tech, and health care. After a few years, I entered the International Development program at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and did an internship with United Nations Development Programme, working with an HIV/AIDS program in South Africa. I joined CHAI as a Senior Analyst for the Drug Access Team and recently was promoted to Market Development Manager for the Access Nutrition Team.
My role as the Senior Analyst had many components. I helped country teams with drug quantifications (i.e. how much to order) and supply chain strengthening, and I also supported the lab teams with new product negotiations. Though I was based in New York, I spent about 60% of my time traveling. When in New York, my work focused on the macro issues, like drug forecasting or global analysis of pricing. When traveling to a specific country, my work focused on meeting the needs of that country, so I would meet with government partners, key players in the field, and other CHAI staff, or crunch numbers and put together information the country teams required to make strategic decisions. The role provided me a good perspective on both the supply and demand sides, which is the kind of exposure that now helps me in my new position.
CHAI was receptive to providing me with more management experience, and I am pleased to be in this new role as Market Development Manager. The Access Nutrition Program has three main goals: 1.) develop the market on the demand side (i.e. help countries scale up their nutrition programs), 2.) increase market competition (i.e. bring new suppliers into the market by researching suppliers and helping them understand and meet quality standards), and 3.) bring down product prices in the market (e.g. analyze raw materials and price structures as well as conduct business analyses of current suppliers.)
At CHAI, there are many opportunities to make a difference, but with those opportunities comes a great deal of responsibility. You can see your work product implemented relatively quickly, which is highly rewarding; you are, however, never off the clock, so maintaining a life-work balance can be really hard. I often set up calls for 7 AM on a Saturday morning or 1 AM on a Wednesday night if it is easier for a particular country team.
The things I appreciate most about working for CHAI can also make it challenging. The flexibility and independence are great, though sometimes it would be nice to have more structures in place and be able to just walk down the hall to bounce around ideas with colleagues, especially since CHAI is full of amazing people who are fun, intelligent, dedicated, passionate, and have the skills to pull off a very ambitious mission.
The stakes at CHAI are high and there is so much expected of each employee that in order for it to be professionally and personally rewarding, you need to be fully dedicated to the work. There are a few things in particular that have helped me to be successful at CHAI. Flexibility: in CHAI's rapid paced environment, you might get a call at any moment requiring you to travel anywhere in the world on a few days notice. Analytics: the nature of our work requires technical expertise, like Excel proficiency, number crunching, and a broader understanding of the implications and applications of data. Diplomacy: everyday we work to balance CHAI's priorities with those of our key partners and governments. Initiative. You have to be quite an independent worker who can take a task and run with it, knowing that success or failure is in your hands.
