Jen Orkis is a social and behavior change (SBC) champion at the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP), with over 18 years of experience designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating strategic SBC initiatives in low- and middle-income countries.

She has worked extensively in the areas of malaria, HIV, family planning, maternal, newborn, and child health, TB, COVID-19, Zika, and Global Health Security, spanning countries including Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Guyana, Jamaica, Zambia, Eswatini, South Africa and Namibia. Jen has been involved in the conceptualization, scriptwriting, production, review and dissemination of several entertainment-education productions, including Jungle Feevah (an animated mini-series on malaria testing, treatment and prevention for gold miners in Guyana), Siri ya Mtungi (“Secrets of the Gourd”, an integrated health television serial drama in Tanzania), and Aiisseee! (“I Say”, a couple communication gameshow in Tanzania), as well as three “Swahiliwood” feature films on HIV prevention in Tanzania.

She has facilitated the development of multiple SBC strategies and the design of innovative national campaigns, bringing Ministries of Health, implementing partners, creative agencies, community-based organizations, donors, and private sector partners around the table to harmonize SBC efforts, maximize reach and impact, and strengthen local capacity. Jen is currently a Country Team Lead and design thinking point person at CCP, overseeing a dynamic portfolio of countries and health areas for USAID’s global flagship SBC project, Breakthrough ACTION. She obtained her BS from Cornell University and her MHS from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.