JUNE 1, 2026 – Resolve to Save Lives (RTSL) announced today that Amanda McClelland is the organization’s first Chief Program Officer (CPO). The new role reflects Resolve to Save Lives’ evolution over the past decade and will strengthen coordination, sustainability, and impact. Prior to assuming this role, McClelland was Senior Vice President of Prevent Epidemics and Primary healthcare at RTSL.
As Resolve to Save Lives approaches its 10-year anniversary, the organization is entering a new phase, with programs in collaboration with Ministries of Health and other partners in more than 60 countries. The Chief Program Officer will increase health impact by sharing lessons and aligning approaches and partnerships across programs.
“Amanda reads complex situations quickly and analyzes and explains them with remarkable clarity,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives. “She learns from and with people on the front line and shares those lessons to accelerate progress. This new role will enable her to apply these skills more widely across RTSL and with partner organizations and countries around the world.”
McClelland is a global health leader with more than two decades of experience responding to public health emergencies, both on the frontlines and by strengthening the systems that support safety and health impact. Her experience spans food insecurity emergencies in the Sahel, natural disasters in the Pacific and Southeast Asia, and global outbreaks including yellow fever, cholera, Ebola and COVID-19. Her work at Resolve to Save Lives has focused on bridging evidence, policy and implementation so that the elements needed for success are in place, including staffing, management, communication and analysis.
“I’m honored to step into this role at such an important moment for Resolve to Save Lives,” said McClelland. “Over the past 10 years, RTSL has worked with partners to co-create and scale up solutions that are saving millions of lives. This new role is an opportunity to strengthen how we work across the organization so we can deliver impact at greater scale, partner more effectively, increase support to our teams, and meet the increasingly complex global health challenges ahead.”
McClelland has published peer-reviewed research papers, policy analyses, and commentaries. She is the author of Emergencies Only, a memoir reflecting on leadership, uncertainty and decision-making at the frontlines of global crises. Her work during the 2014 Ebola epidemic earned her the Florence Nightingale Medal for exceptional courage.
McClelland began her career as a nurse before moving into public and emergency health leadership. She holds a Master of Business Administration in International Health Management and a Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.