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About Us

About Us

Three people work to test paint samples for lead content as part of the Lead Exposure Elimination Project's work in Zimbabwe.

The goal of LEAF is to accelerate progress toward a world free of lead exposure by making grants to support measurement, mitigation, and mainstreaming awareness of the problem.

A collaborative fund

We believe there is more essential work to be done on lead exposure than any single philanthropist or other actor can tackle individually.

LEAF is managed by Open Philanthropy. We are humbled by the others who have joined us in LEAF, and grateful for their support and trust.

Our partners

We’re grateful for the trust of our partners and excited for the progress we will be able to make together against lead poisoning.

Lucy Southworth

10x Better Foundation

Our team

James Snowden

James Snowden

Alongside Santosh, James manages Open Philanthropy’s grantmaking on lead exposure. He has deployed more funding toward reducing lead exposure than any other grantmaker to date. He also oversees Open Philanthropy’s grantmaking in other areas of global public health policy, global aid policy, and effective altruism.

Before joining Open Philanthropy, James led GiveWell’s work on public health policy. He holds a BA from the University of Oxford and an MSc from the London School of Economics.

Santosh Harish

Santosh Harish

Alongside James, Santosh manages Open Philanthropy’s work on lead exposure. Santosh additionally leads Open Philanthropy’s work to improve air quality in South Asia. 

He previously worked at the Centre for Policy Research, a leading Indian think tank in New Delhi, as well as the India center of the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago. He has completed post-doctoral fellowships with J-PAL South Asia and Evidence for Policy Design. He holds a B.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and a PhD in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University.

Emily Oehlsen

Emily Oehlsen

Emily leads the Global Health and Wellbeing portfolio at Open Philanthropy, which allocates hundreds of millions of dollars per year across nine focus areas. Emily wrote about lead exposure in the context of Open Philanthropy’s approach to cause prioritization in the Journal of Economic Perspectives.

She previously worked at DeepMind, Uber, and TGG Group. She completed her PhD in Economics at Oxford University and has a BSFS in International Political economy from Georgetown.

Chris Smith

Chris Smith

Chris leads Open Philanthropy’s grantmaking in alcohol policy, conducts research across our Global Health and Wellbeing portfolio, and works to engage new donors with Open Philanthropy’s work.

He previously worked as a strategy consultant at OC&C Strategy Consultants in London and on a freelance basis. He completed his Masters in Global Public Health at Imperial College London and holds bachelor’s degrees in Philosophy and Theology from the University of Oxford and in Economics and Mathematical Sciences from the Open University.

Tom Hird

Tom Hird

Tom Hird

Tom works on Open Philanthropy’s Global Public Health Policy Program, where he focuses on grantmaking for LEAF. Previously, he co-led the Global Health and Development team at Rethink Priorities, was a senior partner lead for the Stopping Tobacco Organizations and Products (STOP) Partnership, and was a Research Fellow at the University of Bath and Monash University. He holds an MPhil and PhD in Global Public Health from the University of Cambridge and a BSc from Imperial College London.

Managed by Open Philanthropy

Open Philanthropy is a philanthropic funder. It operates according to the principle that choosing causes is the most important decision a philanthropist can make, by seeking out important, neglected, and tractable causes where its funds will go especially far toward helping others.

LEAF’s work is made possible by logistical support from Open Philanthropy’s Grants Management team, which has delivered over $3 billion in funding to recipients around the world.

Lead Exposure Action Fund