Graduates Global Reach, Local Leadership

Margaret Crotty, MPH ’14

Margaret Crotty launched her career at Save the Children in Indonesia after getting her undergraduate degree at Princeton. It was the start of a successful career that included a decade as CEO of Partnership With Children, which provides community health and schoolbased behavioral health across New York City. It was during that time that she enrolled in the Health Policy and Management executive program.

In 2022, Crotty became president and CEO of JSI, an international nongovernmental organization that oversees $750 million of programs that strengthen the capacity of local systems in 42 countries to deliver high-quality services and ensure equity in access to healthcare, education, and socioeconomic opportunity. “We work with governments, the private sector, and civil society to identify and implement solutions to the biggest public health and education challenges,” she says.

Crotty sees a change underway in global public health in response to the pandemic, the effects of climate change, and the increasing commitment to programs being locally designed and implemented. She notes that many countries that managed their own pandemic response, making decisions on the ground, have had strong outcomes. “Zambia reached an 85 percent vaccination rate among its vaccineeligible population,” she says.

Her leadership spans multicountry programs and community projects. The common thread is listening to the community, building trust, leveraging local resources, and adapting to change, all approaches taught at the School. “We think hard about our role,” Crotty says. “What’s the best way to measure impact and sustainability? How do we build a global system where resources shift to local stewards? We want local experts to set the agenda.”