The Lynda Cole Award for Excellence
Lynda Painter Cole was employed at FHI from July 1976 until December 2000. As a researcher, program leader and staff mentor, Lynda epitomized FHI's values. Starting her career at FHI in the Clinical Trials Division, Lynda managed many of FHI's large multi-center clinical trials on contraceptive methods. From 1987 to 1993, Lynda served as Associate Director and then Deputy Director of the USAID-funded AIDSTECH project, managing programs in the Eastern Caribbean and overseeing AIDSTECH activities in information, education, communication, training and condom logistics. Lynda then became Director of Field Operations in 1993, providing leadership in the strategic programming of FHI's resources from a regional and country perspective and overseeing projects around the world. She published extensively in professional journals and traveled widely for her work. She was instrumental in attracting numerous government grants worth millions of dollars, and she touched the lives of many people during her 24 years at FHI.
In recognition of Lynda's commitment and numerous contributions to the organization, the Board of Directors established the Lynda Cole Award for Excellence in 2001 to be presented annually to an employee who has similarly exhibited outstanding contributions towards FHI's mission. The recipient of this award must be recognized as representing the attributes that were valued by Lynda, including full commitment to FHI 360's mission and the field, loyalty, honesty, creativity, and a willingness to take on new challenges. The individual should also have made major contributions to FHI 360 and its mission. This award is to be given to a current international office employee (regional or country office) who is employed by FHI 360 in a full-time capacity. Both international and locally hired field staff are eligible below the director or office head level, including technical, administrative, and support staff. Nominations can be made by any FHI 360 staff member, but should be made through the nominee's office, to assure the broadest consensus of merit by those who best know the contributions of the nominee. Recipients will be ineligible for this award in the future.
 | Amós MataruseDeputy Director, Country Programs, PASSOS, Mozambique |
Amós is a long standing FHI 360 staff member based in Maputo, Mozambique. He is currently the Deputy Chief of Party for the PASSOS program (Integrated HIV Prevention and Health Services for Key and Priority Populations). In addition, he serves in multiple other roles in the Country Office. He is also the go-to person to help solve and support programmatic and operational matters for two other bilateral projects: TB Local Response and the Integrated Malaria Program.
Amós has been a very valuable resource in supporting pursuit of a number of Business Development opportunities. He has served in Technical Budget Lead (TBL) and Management and Staffing Lead (MSL) role in multiple proposals and collaborates excellently with technical business units to extend FHI360’s work in Mozambique as well as globally.
Amós is an unsung hero, an empathetic and mission driven leader and employee. He's dedicated, very well organized, engaged and thoughtful. Because of his high level of technical and management capabilities as well as his organization, he helps keep projects running efficiently and effectively. This facilitates communications with donors – a highly valued quality.
Congratulations Amós!
 | Dr. Bridget NwagbaraAssociate Director, Special Projects, Abuja, Nigeria |
Dr. Nwagbara is extremely hardworking and a visionary leader who prioritizes the wellbeing of her team while producing incredible results. When the COVID-19 pandemic started and everyone was making the transition to working from home, Bridget made the mental health and wellness of the team a priority. She not only teaches the team to work hard, but she also shows what it means to work smart - striking the perfect balance between looking at the big picture and prioritizing the minor details.
Bridget brings enthusiasm and effort to her work, and to building respectful relationships with other staff and stakeholders. She is honest and gives constructive feedback to help the team improve without alienating or making anyone feel "called out". With every obstacle, her attitude is one of resilience and an unwavering belief in the ability of all to work both as individuals and a united team.
Since joining FHI360, Bridget has believed in employees and invested tremendously in their growth. She teaches the value of innovation and creativity especially when needing to meet short deadlines. And she is a model of calm under stress.
Bridget embraces FHI’s mission of improving people’s lives through holistic solutions. She is not afraid to go the extra mile if that is what it will take to improve lives. She is the definition of going above and beyond.
Congratulations Dr. Nwagbara!
 | Irinn VinaiphatGraphic Designer/Art Director, Bangkok, Thailand |
In 2012, Irinn joined FHI 360 as a graphic designer because she wanted to engage in and contribute to something she felt was meaningful and to be part of an organization that has real impact on people’s lives. Irinn has imbued that desire and achieved that result since the day she started. As a graphic designer, she demonstrates her commitment to our mission and vision uniquely. She does so by collaborating with staff across the company to turn their words and ideas into visually compelling and appealing images and graphic designs that capture the essence of our abilities, our achievements and our aspirations.
She helps us all tell the story of what we do (or what we propose to do—or believe we can do) in a manner that is meaningful and accessible to all who encounter her work -- funders, partners and the people we serve. It takes a special person to create visuals that speak on behalf of FHI 360. It takes someone like Irinn, who combines natural talent with the qualities of a great listener: sincerity, open-mindedness, curiosity and empathy.
Irinn is also truly authentic in her approach to her work. In addition to her own design work, she reaches out to support designers in our country offices, advising on color palettes and design structures, explaining our client-centered approach to design and development work, providing technical design direction, and being genuinely kind but honest in her feedback to young graphic designers who are just starting out in this work.
Irinn receives numerous compliments for her work. For example, during the launch of a report that Irinn had designed, the Rockefeller Foundation Vice President asked whether the graphic designer of the report was in the room. She asked Irinn to stand, commented that she had never seen a story so well told through the design, and led a round of applause. Irinn’s work has also received complements from multiple donors including USAID. Irinn exemplifies the qualities that Lynda Cole valued and is a treasure on the APRO team.
Congratulations Irinn!
 | Phyo Wai TunSenior Program Specialist, IDDS, Yangon, Myanmar |
Over the past year Phyo has shown outstanding commitment to achieving the goals of the Infectious Disease Detection and Surveillance (IDDS) project despite first the COVID-19 pandemic and then the recent military coup in Myanmar. He has made sure that activities balanced staff safety and quality service continuation to beneficiaries during both COVID-19 and the coup. He stepped in to take on additional duties when staff could not work and developed innovative solutions to continue to deliver services despite immense restrictions.
Phyo has truly reflected FHI 360's values and mission in the past year. Despite immense challenges, the project he leads has continued to deliver essential TB support services to clients. He has led work switching to a remote model and developed innovative solutions to switch support to the private sector which is not restricted by the recent military coup, thus enabling access to resume for essential TB diagnostic services. He has demonstrated considerable respect to staff by supporting them in the difficult times and remaining engaged and connected with them. His leadership has ensured that while some activities cannot take place as planned right now, preparations continue so that the team and materials are ready to go, and activities can resume promptly as soon as feasible.
Congratulations Phyo!