Malaria Policy Center Staff
Nicole Vernon | Director of Operations and Strategy
Nicole works as the Director of Operations and Strategy for the Malaria Policy Center where she manages the planning, prioritizing and executing of day-to-day and long-term activities. She also provides advocacy strategy based on her decade-plus experience working on Capitol Hill.
Before joining the Policy Center, Nicole served as Deputy Chief of Staff to former Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota, where she managed the staff and operations of the office as well as provided counsel on all policy, political and communications matters.
Nicole's government background also includes the executive branch, where she was Chief of Staff to the Office for Victims of Crime, a division of the U.S. Department of Justice. While at OVC, she oversaw the disbursement of over $625 million from the Crime Victims Fund, as well as worked on special projects ranging from the International Terrorism Victim Expense Reimbursement Program, National Crime Victims Rights Week activities, and programmatic efforts to assist trafficking victims.
Prior to that, she held several positions on Capitol Hill, including Chief of Staff to former Representative Mark Green and Executive Assistant to former Representative Scott Klug, both of Wisconsin.
Nicole brings a wealth of strategic knowledge, as well as organizational strength, to the Policy Center. She earned her bachelor's degree in Political Science and English at the University of Wisconsin - Madison.
Robin Roizman Graham | Director of Global Advocacy
Robin Roizman Graham is the Director of Global Advocacy for the Malaria No More Policy Center. Robin has a diverse and deep background in the foreign policy and foreign assistance community in Washington D.C. Most recently, she was the Director for Governmental Affairs at Millennium Promise where she led the organization’s efforts to promote the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and the importance of integrated development to the U.S. government and multilateral financial institutions.
She previously served as a political appointee in President Obama’s Administration as the Director of Global and Functional Affairs and Senior Advisor in the Department of State's Bureau of Legislative Affairs. Robin coordinated the relationship between the State Department’s functional bureaus and Congress. She also advised the Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs on legislative action related to global and functional issues such as foreign assistance and international treaties.
She was also Professional Staff Member and Counsel for the Democratic staff of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs with responsibility over foreign assistance issues and wrote legislation relating to the U.S. Agency for International Development, foreign assistance reform, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and global health and poverty issues. Robin also served as a legal intern for the Democratic staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a legislative assistant for the Anti-Defamation League. Originally from Israel, Robin received her B.A. with honors in International Affairs from The George Washington University and her J.D. at American University Washington College of Law.
Katie Todd | Communications Associate
Katie Todd is the Communications Associate at the Malaria No More Policy Center in Washington D.C. where she works to engage press and policymakers in the fight against malaria.
She previously served as Communications Coordinator on Illinois Governor Quinn's election campaign. She became interested in global health while studying abroad in Botswana during college, where she witnessed the impact of diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS on the population.
Katie grew up outside of Chicago and holds a Bachelor's degree in biology from Colby College in Maine.
Luke Waltman | R&D Advocacy Policy Associate
Luke Waltman is the R&D Advocacy Policy Associate for the Malaria Policy Center. He advocates for innovative malaria research and development tools in the fight against malaria and works to build partnerships with other global health advocacy organizations utilizing the bipartisan approach established during his Capitol Hill career.
He previously worked on Capitol Hill as Deputy Legislative Assistant to Senator Ben Nelson, where he worked to support the Senator’s legislative agenda for health, education, and welfare. He also performed outreach with constituent groups and advocacy organizations.
Prior to his work in DC, Luke was a technology professional working at a Nebraska-based high-technology startup, GC Image, LLC. Luke is a graduate of the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, where he studied business, computer science, and math.
Shazia Ali | Faiths Act Fellow
Shazia Ali is a Faiths Act Fellow working at the Malaria No More Policy Center. She graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Biomedical and Biological Sciences from Marquette University. While at Marquette, she worked to further dialogue between students from different walks of life as the Vice President of the Muslim Student Association and served as the Student Director on the Alumni National Board. Realizing the importance of storytelling to breakdown misconceptions, Shazia engaged in impactful work with the Arab Muslim Women Research and Resource Institute where she collected the untold narratives of immigrant women.
Passionate for service and medicine, her volunteer work has taken her from free clinics in and around Milwaukee where she was raised, to the rural mountains of Honduras where she worked alongside health care providers and volunteers to treat hundreds of patients with limited access to care. To this day, Shazia is inspired by the faces she saw both at home and abroad to undertake issues of global health such as malaria.
Andrea Choi | Faiths Act Fellow
Andrea Yoo-Sun Choi is a Faiths Act Fellow at the Malaria No More Policy Center. Before joining the Policy Center, Andrea worked in 21 countries with GBA Ships, a non-profit educational charity that operates the world’s largest floating book fairs. Serving first as a Communications Specialist, Andrea later joined the Advance Preparation Team as Project Manager where she coordinated MV Logos Hope's visit to different countries.
Prior to her global rendezvous, Andrea studied International Studies at Ewha Women’s University in Seoul and worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the ROK as an English Editor/Speechwriter specializing in FTAs and ODA. Her passion for youth empowerment paved the way for her to be part of Global Changemakers (GCM), and representing GCM’s young leaders, Andrea spoke in several high level events — she was one of the youngest panelists ever at the 2007 World Economic Forum in Davos where she shared a stage with Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan.