My heartfelt condolences to Clea's family. 

I first met Clea in 2014 when she visited my team at DKT Nigeria. As a young woman in the earliest days of my career, meeting a BMGF representative for the first time, I was nervous, but Clea’s warmth put me at ease. In a dynamic often marked by formality between donors and grantees, she became more than a professional acquaintance—she became a long-distance friend.

One of my treasured memories with Clea was after the family planning conference in 2016. We spent an evening chatting and singing karaoke barefoot on the beach, belting out 'Hello from the Other Side'. When I learned she was sick, I often referenced that moment in emails encouraging her to fight and win—and for a while, she did.

The last time I saw Clea was at the 2022 family planning conference. I hugged her tightly, not knowing it would be the last time. Her passing has deeply saddened me, and I regret not spending more time with her at that conference or reconnecting afterward.

To her family: Clea was a wonderfully kind and modest person who made a long-lasting impression on this young woman from Nigeria. I will always remember her!

I am deeply saddened to learn of Clea's passing. My sincerest condolences to Clea's loved ones on this  journey of processing the loss of someone who imbued life with such meaning and heart.  I first met Clea back in the 80s, when we were both undergrads in Ann Arbor. Even then, it couldn't be clearer that she was brilliant. I was young enough at the time to think that, while I would probably never meet another Clea, inevitably I would cross paths with someone who had something akin to her combination of wit, thoughtfulness, and passion. These many years later, now I know better. Clea was sui generis. Clea had that certain generosity of spirit so rarely encountered. She reveled in other people. She could tease out little moments of your story, celebrate them, and by doing so, make you feel special and worthy. Being around Clea, you felt like you were on top of the world. We kept in touch for many years after we both left Michigan, with visits here and there. As these things happen though, at some point we lost touch. Even though we did not reconnect until after the loss of her much loved father, she has always loomed large in my heart and my mind. Knowing her has been a gift of a lifetime.

I first met Clea in 2003 at an event through a friend. Even though we didn't see each other often, whenever we crossed paths, it felt like we hadn't been apart, and we would always chat. She held a special place in my heart. About a month before her passing, they invited me to dinner, and we had a wonderful time. I noticed she wasn't feeling well, but I never imagined it would be the last time I'd see her. I will always keep her in my heart. They say people truly die not when they pass away, but when they are forgotten. My condolences to Clea's family and friends.

Rest in peace my beautiful friend 

After that beautiful tribute to Clea yesterday (Jan 28), I want to add a few words and send love and condolences to Clea's family. The Finkle family has had an impact on my life since my time in graduate school in Ann Arbor in the 90s. Not only was Jason one of my professors, but the Michigan Fellows program that he created truly changed my life. When young people today ask me for advice on starting out in the global health field, I feel sad that they don't have this mechanism which launched the careers of so many. It certainly helped me later become a consultant, which is how I met Clea.

I was lucky to work with Clea many times over the years. One image really sticks with me and continues to inspire me- we were at a meeting in Seattle (I think it was around diffusion) and she was dealing with her cancer treatment. She never complained but instead had this upbeat and funny outlook, particularly in discussing and showing me her wigs. I think about that a lot in supporting many friends and family dealing with cancer- that positivity and humor are so important.  At the tribute, it was clear that she had diffused this lesson to so many of us and we are all the better for it.

Recently, I was again lucky to cross paths with Clea through our work with Expandnet. We had a "work" call in early November that was such a great chance to catch up, to talk not only about the details of the M&E plan but also talk about psychedelics, the healing power of a salt cave, and share stories about common friends. She was tired, but again not at all negative and so I was truly shocked to learn that she died just a few weeks later. I am so grateful to have had that conversation with her, it is one I will always remember and treasure and continue to learn from.

Below there is a box to check one option of your relationship to Clea, and while I have selected coworker, since that is how we met, i think for many or all of us who worked with her, the word friend has to be added to that.

Memories of Clea

My earliest connection to Clea was in 1994. I was stationed at USAID/India in New Delhi, as part of the Michigan Population Fellows Program. At that time, the Program was co-managed by Alison McIntosh and Jason Finkle – Clea’s father. Near the end of my 3-year term, Jason asked if I would travel to the University of Michigan and give a job talk. They were recruiting for an Assistant Professor at the School of Public Health, in the Department of Population Planning and International Health. I was offered the job, and in January, 1995 I taught my first course in International Family Planning, and I had my first of countless office hours debates with Jason Finkle.

Like Clea, Jason was an intellectual provocateur. He was an independent thinker who challenged the status quo. Just like Clea, Jason had a ruthless sense of humor, and he would take you down at the slightest show of snobbery or elitism. Jason’s politics were informed by a relatively hardscrabble upbringing, including being a young soldier in Germany at the end of WWII. (Jason was there when the camps were liberated.) His feel for the working class and for systemic inequalities was genuine. Books, international travel and travelers, academics and academic debate, liberal politics and great storytelling – this was the Ann Arbor household environment that I know Clea grew up in.

Nearly 20 years later, that initial connection to Jason Finkle resurfaced as a connection to Clea Finkle. She and I were in the same Starting Gates cohort back in January, 2012. I introduced myself to Clea on that first day, and asked, “Are you related to Jason Finkle?!” From that day on, Clea and I were colleagues much like Jason and I were colleagues.

Clea’s earliest project (2009-2015) was perhaps our best project: the Urban Reproductive Health Initiative. The project was theory-driven and innovative. The original URHI project proposal was one of the best I saw in all my years at Gates. Today the project lives on as the Challenge Initiative. Behind the scenes, quietly, it was Clea working with University of North Carolina and later Johns Hopkins colleagues to build those projects into success stories.

Clea was the intellectual force on the Family Planning Program Strategy Team. She was not afraid. She was not a bureaucratic thinker. She challenged ideas and she challenged people. Clea didn’t hide her ideas in closed offices; she aired them. Transparency? Clea personified transparency! I sometimes thought about how stultifying and performative our culture would be without her presence.

Sure enough, when Clea left the Gates Foundation, our Program Strategy Team arguably never recovered. She was part of an out-migration of talented and influential people, but in hindsight I think it was Clea’s departure that resulted in the most change to how we collectively “showed up” for work. With Clea, the usual stress of working at Gates had a productive, dynamic edge to it, with comic relief, satire, esprit de corps. Without Clea, we sank a little. It wasn’t always palpable at the time, but I can see it now.

Clea and I had great moments of “alignment” (she would howl at that usage), and we had great moments of disagreement. It was fun to travel with Clea. She was a go-for-it person, and she didn’t take herself or her opinions so seriously. (Clea did not have a hyper-inflated sense of self-importance.) Her observations about people and places and ideas were sharp as a razor; she could leave me crying with laughter. Everyone has commented on Clea’s laugh. It had a quality all its own; something about Clea’s laugh – with that twinkle in her eye - it shined on our humanity.

Steve, I just wanted you to know, from a colleague who you don’t know, how special Clea was. I miss her. With Clea, there was so much that got snatched from her way too soon. Rest In Peace.

Win

My heartfelt condolences to my Finkle family and all of Clea's friends and associates who are feeling this unimaginable  loss.  I cannot begin to  imagine your heartbreak, and words are  insufficient.  Childhood memories of Lisa, Nina and Clea are forever burnt in, as is also  the remarkable love that Charlotte and  Jason had for one and other.  

Love to all,

Cousin David

Dear Steve - I never met Clea in person, but I clearly remember how your face would light up when you talked about her.  Your love, respect, and admiration for your lovely wife came through in so many ways.

I am thinking of you and of your friends and family who were fortunate enough to love her and be loved by her.  ❤️

Dear Steve, I had always heard of Clea’s work and admiration from you, but I never had the opportunity to meet her in person. From your words and feelings, I can imagine what a wonderful life she led and how she impacted the lives of many people, not only in this continent but around the world. You mentioned how she enjoyed Indian food during her travels to the Sub-Continent, and how her experiences had a global impact. Her term “I am surrounded by love” is a testament to the lives she touched. I do believe that Clea is looking from above, cherishing all the memories that you both created in this world.

We pray for your well-being and that of your family. Take care. 

I first met Clea in Ann Arbor around 1990 when she had recently begun work on her PhD. I was struck by her sense of adventure and exploration (one week she was checking archives in some library in London or Delhi and the next visiting police stations in smaller towns in India). She was passionate about her work and interested in big ideas and also loved sharing her ideas. She introduced me to the works of Edward Said and Foucault. She had such a lasting impression on her students that they followed her and remained close well after the classes were over.

She had friends from all walks of life and regions around the world. Her laughter and charm filled the room wherever she was. I am glad she found a worthy soul-mate in Steve to share her life and was surrounded by family and loved ones towards the end.

One deep regret I have is of not being able to say goodbye. When I wished her on her 60’th birthday, she mentioned that her mother and sisters were visiting and she was looking forward to going to her favorite Indian restaurant with them on her birthday. I thought family visits were to celebrate her 60th birthday and had no idea about her health.

There are very few people we meet in our lives who are very dear and big part of our lives even though we may not have shared enough time with them. She will always remain a big part of my life. 

My heartfelt condolences to the family and all the loved ones who were fortunate enough to have her shared her love and laughter.

Krishan Nagpal