Carmen Villar

Vice President of Social Business Innovation Corporate Responsibility

Carmen Villar is the Vice President of Social Business Innovation at Merck & Co. In this role, Villar works across the company to elevate the intersection of social and business impact, while striving to create sustainable health systems to support improved health and well-being globally.

Prior to coming to Merck in 2017, Villar was the Chief of Staff at the CDC and led the agency through both the West African Ebola and the Zika emergency responses. Her leadership was critical in providing coordination across the agency and with other US government counterparts and earned her the honor of the Presidential Meritorious Rank Award. She has worked in both Nigeria and Zambia, providing leadership and oversight to CDC’s programs as part of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). As a key health advisor to the US Ambassadors in Nigeria and Zambia, she also provided expert advice in critical public health areas.

Villar started in government as a Presidential Management Fellow focusing on policy and program planning for HIV, STD, and TB prevention. Villar has also overseen multi-site domestic and international HIV research projects in the areas of drug use, prevention of mother-to-child transmission, and vaccines. Prior to joining the CDC, she was the Policy Affairs Coordinator at the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and had also served as a Legislative Aide in the California Assembly.