Dennis Walto

Dennis Walto is a social development leader whose career spans more than three decades at the intersection of global health, humanitarian relief, and nonprofit leadership. With expertise in global health, organizational development, and strategic planning, Walto has accumulated more than 30 years of senior leadership experience with not-for-profit organizations in the United States and internationally. His entry into the sector began with political organizing before transitioning to public health. Walto shifted his focus from domestic to international health concerns and joined International Medical Corps as a front-line relief worker in Somalia.

For more than two decades, Walto worked in international relief and development, advancing from operations to executive management with organizations such as CARE, Save the Children, and Population Services International. His roles have included serving as country director for Jordan and Lebanon with Save the Children UK, associate vice president and Africa director with Save the Children UK, country representative for Lesotho with Population Services International, and vice president of program innovation and performance at International Medical Corps.

Walto has lived and worked in challenging environments, including Ethiopia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Through his work across more than 40 U.S. states and over 20 countries, he has built an international network of leaders, activists, donors, and decision makers. His domestic experience includes leadership positions with Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless and the National Health Care for Homeless Council, providing him with a comprehensive perspective on health equity challenges both domestically and globally.

Walto was appointed chief executive officer by the Board of Directors of Children's Health Fund, becoming the first new CEO in three decades. In that role, he led an organization dedicated to providing high-quality health care to disadvantaged children in the United States. As CEO, he oversaw significant growth in new programs and spearheaded programming and fundraising efforts that raised hundreds of millions of dollars, leading teams to pilot, scale, and sustain innovative programs impacting children, youth, and families worldwide. During his tenure, Walto also established strategic partnerships in times of crisis, including collaborations with International Medical Corps on disaster response efforts such as Hurricane Florence relief, integrating pediatric expertise with emergency-response capacity to serve affected communities.

Walto has been a featured speaker at forums including the Milken Institute Future Health Summit and has appeared before the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where he has advocated for rethinking approaches to humanitarian relief. He is a regular contributor to Huffington Post, The Hill, Modern Healthcare, LinkedIn, and other thought leadership platforms. Walto holds a Master of Arts degree from York St. John University in the United Kingdom, with a thesis focused on positive organizational development.

Following his tenure at Children's Health Fund, Walto joined the executive team at Chiricahua Community Health Centers Inc. as chief of external affairs. In this role, he leads Chiricahua's external affairs department, overseeing organizational fundraising, marketing, communications, and public policy. He is also involved in establishing a foundation to support and sustain the work of Chiricahua Community Health Centers Inc., a Federally Qualified Health Center. Throughout his career, Walto has translated frontline humanitarian experience into organizational strategy, contributing to advancements in children's health, health equity, and community-based care.