Why would you like to be the NCDA President-Elect?

Having served on the Board for the past two years, I have had the opportunity to gain much experience and knowledge of the functioning of NCDA. As the President-Elect serves as an ex-officio Board member for two years, I would be able to further gain experience and continue to strengthen the presence of the alliance at the global level. I have worked alongside the NCDA team and Board for several years and am very familiar with various aspects of the alliance such as the governance, membership, strategy and operations. As Executive Director of the GATC, we work closely with the NCDA members at the global, regional and national levels, and collaborate on many programs such as financing for NCDs and prevention which will both be high on the agenda in the lead up to the High‑Level Meeting for NCDs in 2025.

I am passionate about sustainable development, health and inequality issues and am very keen on advancing the NCD agenda to increase funding and attention for NCDs within the global health and development communities. I am very familiar with the UN system and the financing agenda and would be able to use my knowledge to help guide NCDA through these important dialogues and agendas in the coming years. As I have seen with my own alliance, civil society has such an important role to play to ensure NCDs are high priority for years to come, and I am excited to continue working with the alliance to create a lasting impact.

What makes you a good candidate for the NCDA President-Elect?

I have previously served one term 2021‑2023 on the NCDA Board and am well placed to ensure continuity over the next term. As Executive Director of GATC/FCA, I lead our work on key policy issues such as financing, the SDGs and NCDs and also manage all of the day‑to‑day operations of the organisation.

I bring over a decade of leadership and management experience in cross‑cultural, global teams managing budgets, human resources, governance and communications. I have extensive experience mobilizing resources, monitoring programs and fostering stakeholder relations and have proven capable of managing and strengthening multi‑stakeholder networks worldwide. I have ample experience managing governing bodies and participating in Board activities and am very familiar with the work involved as a Board member given my past and current experience.

The role of President-elect requires a great deal of skills that I believe I have acquired over the past years as the Executive Director of GATC/FCA and through my work on numerous boards and committees. I have a strong network in various communities, extensive experience with multi‑stakeholder alliances and I am a strong advocate for effective policies that contribute to decreasing the burden of NCDs on people, communities and health systems. My passions and experience are very much aligned with the mission of NCDA and I would like to use my skills gained over the years to support the work of the alliance by continuing to engage and connect the NCDs and tobacco control communities and contribute to pursuing sustainable development globally.

Biography

Leslie Rae Ferat is the Executive Director of GATC, a global civil society alliance working towards a world-free from the consequences of tobacco and tobacco use. She is currently on NCDA’s Board, is a member of the WHO Civil Society Working Group on NCDs and the Advisory Board and Scientific Committee for the WCToH.

Leslie has extensive international experience, mainly working with low and middle income countries to collect and use data to drive sustainable development and meet the SDGs. Before joining GATC/FCA, Leslie worked for several international organisations including the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data at the United Nations Foundation.

Leslie serves on numerous Boards, holds an MSc in International Development and is fluent in English and French.