Using Social Media to Build Confidence in Vaccines

Sheryl Sandberg Chief Operating Officer, Facebook Sheryl Sandberg is Chief Operating Officer at Facebook, overseeing the firm's business operations. She also serves on Facebook’s board of directors. Prior to Facebook, Sheryl was vice president of Global Online Sales and Operations at Google, chief of staff for the United States Treasury Department under President Clinton, a management consultant with McKinsey & Company, and an economist with the World Bank. Sheryl received a BA summa cum laude from Harvard University and an MBA with the highest distinction from Harvard Business School. Sheryl is the co-author of Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy with Wharton professor and bestselling author Adam Grant. She is also the author of the bestsellers Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead and Lean In for Graduates. She is the founder of the Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works to build a more equal and resilient world through two key initiatives, LeanIn.Org and OptionB.Org. Sheryl serves on the boards of Facebook, Women for Women International, ONE, and SurveyMonkey. Sheryl lives in Menlo Park with her fiancé and their five children.

Charlotte Gornitzka Deputy Executive Director, UNICEF Charlotte Gornitzka is the Assistant Secretary-General and UNICEF Deputy Executive Director, Partnerships. Ms. Gornitzka, who served as the Chair of the Development Assistance Committee at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) prior to her appointment, brings to the position 20 years of experience in international development. She has successfully built innovative partnerships with leaders from civil society, national governments, and the private sector to deliver programme results and influence critical policy changes. Before joining OECD, Ms. Gornitzka served as Director-General of the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (SIDA) from 2010 to 2016, where she established a network of Swedish and Sweden-based companies to promote sustainable global development. She was previously Secretary-General of the International Save the Children Alliance (2008–2010) and Save the Children Sweden (2003–2008), following six years as Under-Secretary-General and Director of Communications at the Swedish Red Cross (1998–2003). Ms. Gornitzka has a background in management consulting with a focus on change management and communications. She studied at the Stockholm University College of Music Education.

Paloma Escudero Director of Global Communication and Advocacy, UNICEF Paloma Escudero is global Director of Global Communication and Advocacy at UNICEF. Bringing her extensive experience and expertise in the areas of communications, fundraising, advocacy, and brand management, she oversees UNICEF's global public outreach and communications as its senior communication official. Prior to her appointment to this role in 2013, Ms. Escudero had already been well known among the UNICEF family as Executive Director of the Spanish National Committee. Escudero holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics and Business Sciences from ICADE -- Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid - and obtained an Erasmus grant to specialize in marketing at ESSEC business school in Paris.

Saad Omer Professor Omer, Inaugural Director of the Yale Institute for Global Health Professor Saad Omer, MBBS, MPH, Ph.D., FIDSA. Saad B. Omer is the Director of the Yale Institute for Global Health, and a Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at Yale University, Schools of Medicine and Public Health. He has conducted studies in the United States, Guatemala, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and South Africa. Dr. Omer’s research portfolio includes epidemiology of respiratory viruses such as influenza, RSV, and - more recently - SARS-Cov-2 (COVID-19); clinical trials to estimate the efficacy of maternal and/or infant influenza, pertussis, polio, measles, and pneumococcal vaccines; and trials to evaluate drug regimens to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV. He has published over 300 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has mentored over 100 junior faculty, clinical, research post-doctoral fellows, Ph.D., and other graduate students.

Diane Summers Senior Advisor, Immunization Demand at UNICEF Diane Summers is a lawyer with a master’s degree in peacebuilding and conflict resolution, and post-graduate qualifications in public health, social-behavioral communication, and leadership from Johns Hopkins University/Center for Communication Programs. Diane has held regional and global roles with multilateral agencies. She was Senior Specialist for Advocacy and Public Policy with GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, and UNICEF Regional Advisor (Communication for Development ) in South Asia. Currently, as Senior Adviser in the Immunization Team at UNICEF NYHQ, Diane leads the important work of increasing coverage and equity of childhood immunization and the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines. She co-chairs the Vaccine Demand Hub, the COVID-19 ACT A Demand Working Group and the COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance and Uptake Task Team.

Kang-Xing “KX” Jin Head of Health, Facebook Kang-Xing "KX" Jin is Head of Health at Facebook. His team works on products to amplify positive social impact related to health. He’s worked at Facebook for over 13 years, holding various roles including Groups, ads, and Workplace. He joined Facebook in 2006 as an engineer on the News Feed team, two weeks before that product launched. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard with a degree in Computer Science.

Dr. Joe Smyser CEO, Public Good Projects Dr. Joe Smyser is the CEO of The Public Good Projects (PGP), a public health nonprofit that specializes in large-scale media monitoring programs, social and behavior change interventions, and cross-sector initiatives. Dr. Smyser has designed some of the United States' most influential and impactful health campaigns to date in partnership with the CDC, FDA, Kaiser Permanente, Rockefeller, and Humana. Dr. Smyser holds a Ph.D. and master’s in public health and did his postdoctoral training at the CDC.