Jack B. Blanks

Biographical Information
"His career began with a three - year assignment as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Benin, West Africa, followed by six years with Save the Children in Burkina Faso and Malawi focused on program management. Mr. Blanks then served as a Desk Officer at the Peace Corps headquarters in Washington D.C., covering four African nations. Since 1988, Mr. Blanks has been involved primarily in international health activities. As Director of Programs for the International Eye Foundation , he coordinated worldwide blindness prevention programs . As the Executive Director of the Onchocerciasis Elimination Program in the Americas (a Carter Center led initiative) he launched and maintained a successful program to eliminate river blindness in six Latin American nations . Mr. Blanks then joined international health assistance agency Project HOPE as Director for Strategic Alliances. For Project HOPE, he also coordinated disaster relief efforts in the wake of the tsunami in Indonesia in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2006. In 2009, after 13 years with Project HOPE , Mr. Blanks joined Berkeley based international health organization Seva Foundation as Executive Director."