James Bair

James joined Baraka in 2020 with extensive experience in business planning and strategic leadership roles. He oversees company strategy and operations, manages global advisory network, supervises team recruitment, and leads with market positioning. Formerly Director of the Department of International Medical Services, James represented Stanford University Hospital in Asia for 13 years. As Vice President of Strategy for AsiaMD.com, he oversaw development of a consumer-focused health information portal, using US medical content adapted and customized for Asian populations. As Director of an NIH-designated National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health at the University of California San Francisco, James oversaw operations and planning for ambulatory services for women across 4 campuses. His areas of expertise include health system innovations, investment strategies, cross-sector partnerships for sustainable global health solutions, and sectoral knowledge in sexual and reproductive health, women’s health, maternal and child health, and programmatic approaches to health workforce and patient empowerment. Prior to joining Baraka, James was and continues to be an active consultant with large private and public-sector health systems, most recently to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, where he oversees a project piloting human rights trainings for health workers in SRH. He also chairs the Strategic Policy & Acceptability Steering Committee for the Quality Maternal & Newborn Care Task Force, a global initiative to develop a GIS-enabled hub to support safe, quality and rights-based pregnancy care during COVID-19 and beyond. Since his move to Switzerland, James personal and research interests have focused on the evolving global ecosystems for impact investing and sustainable finance. He has developed a venture capital, blended finance fund model focused on health innovations in emerging markets, which he is currently sharing with potential partners globally. James holds a Masters in International Policy Studies and recently obtained an Advanced Certificate in SDG Investing from the Graduate Institute Geneva. He speaks Mandarin Chinese, having lived, studied, and worked in Asia and is married to a medical anthropologist who conducts research on the topic of pharmaceutical financialization and medicines access at the Graduate Institute Geneva.