Natasha Kofoworola Quist

Deputy Director and Regional Representative for West and Central Africa, Gates Foundation

Natasha is the Gates Foundation Deputy Director and Regional Representative for West and Central Africa. Formerly based in Abuja, Nigeria She is now based in the foundations Africa Headquarters in Johannesburg.

Natasha is a British born Nigerian-Jamaican with more than 20 years’ experience working for multinational and international organizations in Management, Strategic Planning, Marketing and Banking. She has worked in the United States, Europe, Central America, Asia and Africa.

Before joining the Gates Foundation, Natasha served as Regional Director for West & Central Africa with Save the Children International (SCI), leading the regional office in Dakar, Senegal. She was responsible for the launch and oversight of 12 country offices with a staff of over 2,500 and a portfolio of over USD 500 million. Prior to joining SCI, Natasha was the Central Africa Director for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) based in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Before joining WWF, she spent over five years in Dakar as the West Africa Regional Director with Oxfam Great Britain.

Natasha started her career in the private sector. Most recently she was as the Director of Strategic Planning for Nike Inc. Europe, Middle East and Africa (based in their Amsterdam HQ) and later became the head of the Women’s Business Group for Nike, France. She spent over 7 years with the Walt Disney Company in Paris as part of the Euro Disney Launch Team, Business Planning and Marketing Teams.  She also has experience in investment banking, working for Wall Street firms such as Salomon Brothers and Dean Witter, Reynolds.