Sono Aibe

Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives

Sono Aibe is Pathfinder International's Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives.

Sono works on program development in the Asia-Pacific region, including China. She also advances global and field advocacy strategies and serves as the technical lead for integrated health and environment programs in East Africa. Sono worked for the Population and Reproductive Health Program of The David and Lucile Packard Foundation from 1996-2009. Before that, she implemented reproductive health projects in Asia with the Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning (JOICFP).

Areas of Expertise: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Advocacy, Contraception & Family Planning, Population, Health and the Environment (PHE), Population, Integration, Asia Pacific region, Resource Mobilization, Philanthropy

Education: BA at Harvard University, MHS at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Previously lived and/or worked in: Ethiopia, Hong Kong, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Viet Nam

Languages: Japanese, Chinese, English, some French

Joined Pathfinder in: April 2009

Follow Sono on Twitter: @aibesono

What's your favorite part about working at Pathfinder?
The continued focus on access to contraception as a reproductive right is my favorite part.

What reading would you recommend to those interested in international reproductive health?
The Annual State of the World Population Report published by UNFPA is the go-to document and summary of the state-of-the-art thinking in the field.

Was there a moment when the importance of Pathfinder's work really hit home for you?
When people in our field, especially our competitors, praise our training curricula and other tools.