Toni Hoover

Toni Hoover, director of strategy planning and management of Global Health for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, leads a team that is responsible for supporting the programs and functions with business strategy and operations, portfolio and project management, and engagement with product development partners. Her team is working to create more opportunities to consistently deliver high-impact interventions in global health by integrating the network of diverse partners involved in product development by leveraging their respective strengths. She also oversees the foundation’s new Fellows program. Before joining the foundation in 2012, Toni was Senior Vice President and Site Director at Pfizer Worldwide Research and Development, overseeing the operations of the company’s largest R&D laboratories located in Groton, Connecticut. She is a 25-year veteran of pharmaceutical R & D product development and management where she held positions in clinical research and operations, project and portfolio management, and laboratory and facilities management. While at Pfizer she led the global development of Lyrica® from exploratory development through early commercialization. In 2013 Toni was named a “Woman of Influence” by the Puget Sound Business Journal. In 2007 Toni was named one of the “Top 50 Women to Watch” by The Wall Street Journal and in 2004 she received the YMCA’s Black Achiever in Industry Award.

Throughout her career, she’s been a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion and has mentored many associated with the pharmaceutical R & D enterprise. Toni is originally from New Orleans, Louisiana.

She received her Bachelor of Arts, Masters and Doctorate in Psychology and Social Relations from Harvard University. She serves on several not-for-profit boards, including the New York Academy of Sciences, Xavier University of Louisiana, the Joyce Theater, and the Pacific Northwest Ballet.