Susanne Wessel-Ellermann

Head of Health Facilities and Services

Project Manager

Ms. Wessel-Ellermann holds a Masters in Applied Linguistics for English and Spanish with 10 years experience in the acquisition, management and monitoring of international development co-operation projects in various sectors.  In particular, she has been responsible for proposal and project management of GTZ, KfW, EU and DFID funded projects in  Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe.

 

As Head of the Area of Competence Health Facilities and Services, Ms. Wessel-Ellermann is responsible for the implementation of the company's strategic objectives, the overall co-ordination and supervision of the team members in this Area of Competence and an efficient resource planning, especially for proposal development and project management.

 

In addition, Ms. Wessel-Ellermann is in charge of the establishment and co-ordination of a procurement unit within this Area of Competence, a technical unit for all questions related to the procurement of goods, services and works in the health sector relevant for international consultancy services provided to donor orgnisations as well as public institutions and private clients.

 

 

Oxana Abovskaya

Senior Strategic Regional Advisor

Central and Eastern European Countries

 

Ms. Oxana Abovskaya holds a Master Degree in Sociology, Political Science and History, as well as an MBA and a postgraduate diploma in Public Finance Management from University of London, Center of Financial and Management Studies.

 

Ms. Abovskaya has extensive experience in implementing donor funded projects in health management, health financing, SWAps (sector wide approaches), and health promotion through her various assignments with such donors as the UNDP, European Commission, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and the Global Fund. She maintains a comprehensive understanding and special interest in social and economic transition issues, particularly health sector reforms.

 

Her experience in Central Europe combined with her native Russian language ability makes her highly qualified to develop and implement effective approaches to technical assistance projects in transitioning countries.

 

Sabine Bankwitz

Head of Quality Management and Human Resources

 

Ms. Bankwitz holds a degree in International Business Administration and has obtained additional qualification in Human Resources Management.  She has comprehensive experience in defining and mapping internal processes as well as in the organization and preparation of internal and external audits according to ISO 9001:2008. Ms. Bankwitz is also leading the company’s HR activities, being responsible for streamlining and further developing EPOS’ work and processes in the HR field, and has a supervisory function for expert management staff.

 

Another important area of her work includes the acquisition, management and monitoring of international development cooperation projects in the health sector, with a particular focus on projects in Central and Eastern European as well as Asian countries.  Ms. Bankwitz has a longstanding experience in proposal and project management, in the identification, recruitment and management of project staff, and in cooperating with international and national development aid agencies, such as the European Union, the World Bank, or the KfW Entwicklungsbank (German Development Cooperation).

Milena Beyene-Kuehnl

Consultant, Project Manager

 

Ms. Beyene-Kuehnl has a Master’s degree in Development Administration and Management, as well as in Humanitarian Assistance. Since joining EPOS on 2000, she has managed procurement and construction related projects in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Bangladesh, partly from the EPOS office in India. Her special expertise covers team management, procurement procedures for medical and non-medical equipment, and management of infrastructure projects.

 

Mairam Bianchi

Project Coordinator

 

Ms. Bianchi joined EPOS as a Project Coordinator responsible for project coordination and for proposal development assistance of EU Framework Contracts Lot 8 Health. She holds MA degrees in German and Russian Philology and Cultural Anthropology from Goethe University in Frankfurt. She as well holds a German Teaching Diploma from the University of Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan.

 

Prior joining EPOS, Ms. Bianchi was a consultant with a Public Relations Agency in the areas of Healthcare and Education / Professional Development. In parallel with her studies, she worked as a Russian-German translator and Research Assistant for an ethnic-national identification project conducted by the Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut Essen/Germany .

 

Ursula Buerger

Consultant, Project Manager

 

Ms. Buerger holds a Masters in Social Anthropology and a Masters in Public Health, specialised in Health Services Management, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She is involved in health project development, management and technical backstopping of health projects worldwide and has been involved in several HIV/AIDS, capacity strengthening and monitoring and evaluation projects in Eastern and Southern Africa. Prior to joining EPOS in Bad Homburg in 2007, Ms Buerger worked for four years at EPOS' regional office in Nairobi, Kenya.

 

 

Karl Heidt

Senior Project Manager, Strategic Advisor

 

Mr. Heidt, a banker and former Head of the South and Central Asia Department of the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), coordinated EPOS business activities in India and China and is presently responsible for EPOS projects in Indonesia financed by KfW. His extensive expertise covers appraisal, monitoring and evaluation of projects, procurement, quality management, infrastructure and finance. Since 1999, as partner of INCON International Consultancy Frankfurt, he has acted as consultant on behalf of BMZ, GTZ, DEG and EPOS.

 

Jacqueline Kuehn

Project Manager

 

Ms. Kuehn has a Masters in German Language & Literature Studies and a Certificate in Foreign Trade and Translations. She joined EPOS in 1996 and is responsible for the coordination of infrastructure projects primarily in West Africa. Her areas of expertise cover logistical and administrative support, translations, coordination of equipment procurement projects, construction/rehabilitation of health care facilities and capacity building of the health staff. She ensures accordance with donor regulations, in particular with AFD, KfW and GTZ.

 

Patrick Touzeau

Project Manager

 

Mr. Touzeau is a biomedical engineer with a solid track record of working in international technical assistance projects funded by the  European Union, European Investment Bank, AFD, KfW and GIZ.

 

Specialised in accompanying towards the accreditation and self-evaluation of public and private health facilities, his areas of specialty include: Medical equipment programming and cost evaluation, preparation of technical specifications for public offers, support to the clients as regards tender processes coordination of pre-installation works and participation in provisional and final reception of equipment and drafting equipment maintenance and technician training plans. His responsibilities with EPOS include project management and backstopping.