Helina Ketema

Helina Ketema, born and raised in Ethiopia, developed a passion for equity and resilience after witnessing the devastating effects of poverty, environmental crises, and conflict on vulnerable communities. As an international student, she earned a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences and a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Epidemiology from Georgia State University, where she honed her skills in public health surveillance, program evaluation, and data analysis.

Helina’s professional journey has been defined by hands-on experience in public health and humanitarian response. She began her career as a surveillance coordinator on the frontlines during the COVID-19 pandemic where she witnessed the power of adaptive, multidisciplinary approaches in crisis management. Helina then returned to Ethiopia amid the Tigray conflict, where she spent the past three years contributing to the humanitarian response with the International Rescue Committee (IRC). During this time, she made significant contributions to health, nutrition, education, WASH, and protection programs in challenging contexts. Helina played a pivotal role in developing the IRC’s country strategy action plan, ensuring alignment with stakeholder priorities for future programs. She also led proposal development efforts, securing funding from key donors such as ECHO, SIDA, EHF, and PRM. Additionally, Helina supported the implementation of localization strategies, strengthening the capacity of local partners for sustainable impact.

Looking forward, Helina is eager to deepen her expertise in international development, focusing on evidence-based programming and quantitative methods to design effective, community-driven interventions that address root causes of inequality, especially in resource-limited and post-conflict settings. Outside of her professional work, Helina enjoys exploring new cultures through travel, experimenting with baking recipes, and spending time with her large, close-knit family. She looks forward to connecting with like-minded professionals and continue expanding her knowledge and ability to drive meaningful change.

Summer internship

I completed my summer internship with the Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion (PGI) Unit at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), contributing to the endline evaluation of the MAZIKO trial. Implemented in partnership with Save the Children, GiveDirectly, and the Government of Malawi, this five-year cluster randomized controlled trial (cRCT) evaluates the impact of combining maternal and child cash transfers with nutrition-sensitive social behavior change (SBC) interventions. My work supported the trial's endline analysis, focused on antenatal care indicators tracked across three survey rounds. As part of the endline analysis, I helped clean and restructure panel data to prepare it for treatment-effect estimation and subgroup analysis. This work is ongoing and is extended into the fall semester. The internship at IFPRI provided invaluable insight into how a leading international research institution leverages empirical evidence to inform public health and social protection policy in low- and middle-income countries. The experience reaffirmed my decision to join the Global Human Development program to gain the technical depth needed to evaluate the kinds of programs I once helped implement in the field.