Jamila Abass
Country Director, Morocco
Jamila is one of the champions of AgTech revolution in Africa. She founded M-Farm - a company that helped smallholder farmers trapped in subsistence agriculture move into commercial farming by leveraging available mobile technology to provide needed real-time information and take informed decisions, resulting in improved farm productivity and access to market. She joined GiveDirectly from Wefarm where she was the Head of Growth and Country Manager.
Jamila is a 2017 Young Global Leader, an Ashoka Fellow, Aspen New Voices Fellow and a Quartz Africa Innovator.
Lucy Abulo
Human Resources Manager, Uganda
Lucy has worked within government and non-governmental organisations in Uganda. She joined GiveDirectly from Uganda National Health Consumers' Organisation. She previously worked with Posta Uganda and EMS Couriers as a manager. Lucy holds an MBA from Makerere University.
Concy Ayet
Office Administrator, Uganda
Concy has over five years of experience working with different international non-governmental organizations in operations and program support. Before joining GiveDirectly, she worked with Mercy Corps and Invisible Children Uganda. She holds a postgraduate diploma in project planning and management from Uganda Management Institute and a bachelor's degree in procurement and supply chain management from Makerere University.
Olu Babalola
Chief Operating Officer
Olu Babalola currently serves as GiveDirectly’s Chief Operating Officer. In this role, she oversees GD’s operational functions responsible for delivering cash grants directly to the world’s poorest and neediest efficiently. She joined GiveDirectly from Bridge International Academies where she was responsible for setting up Bridge’s first schools in Nigeria and launching flagship government partnerships managing over 1200 government primary schools across 2 states. Prior to this, she was a Strategy and Operations management consultant with Deloitte Consulting. She holds a B.A in Economics and Art from Smith College, and an MBA from UCLA.
Chisomo Banda
Associate Field Manager
Chisomo Banda holds a Degree in Information and Communication Technology from Mzuzu University. She has experience in field operations management, software development, software and hardware troubleshooting, database administration as well as networking. She enjoys using her skills to contribute to exciting technological advances and educating others on using progressive systems and applications. She is obsessed with all things tech-related. Prior to joining GiveDirectly she worked with the National Statistic Office as an IT Assistant.
Yazmin Baptiste
Data Coordinator
Yazmin Baptiste joins GiveDirectly from Lafayette College where she graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. Among other activities, she served as a Posse scholar, Resident advisor and Alternative School Break Leader.
Leonard Baraka
Finance Associate, DRC
Baraka holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Financial management and he is also part-qualified ACCA. He joined GiveDirectly from ADRA DRC an International NGO where he worked for over 5 years among which 2 years as Finance Manager.
Kim Belk
Senior Manager of Compliance and People
Kim joins GiveDirectly from the Fund for Public Health in NY, a not-for profit focused on public health initiatives in NYC. She has experience in domestic and international project and grant management, compliance oversight and policy work. Kim holds an MPA from the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs.
Surbhi Bharadwaj
Data Associate
Surbhi joins GiveDirectly after a stint as a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group in New York. She has an academic background in development economics and is interested in effective altruism and fostering global equity. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Yale University with a degree in Statistics & Data Science and Economics.
Colette Bishogo
Senior Manager, DRC
Colette joined GiveDirectly after working on a political campaign for the 2020 U.S. presidential elections. Prior to that, she spent four years at Citigroup, where she worked in the Markets and Securities Services division. She holds a degree from Harvard University, where she obtained a B.A. degree (high honors) with a concentration in African Studies and a secondary field in Economics and Arabic. Colette was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and grew up in South Africa.
Mouna Boujmal
Program Manager, Morocco
Mouna joined GiveDirectly from MIT D-Lab, where she worked as the Co-Design Summit Manager in Morocco. Prior to that, she has worked for nine years to develop and execute programs that enable strong entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship ecosystems in Morocco, India, and Egypt. Mouna is an Atlas Corps Fellow, and an IDEX accelerator Fellow.
Mitchell Browne
Associate Field Manager
Mitchell Browne, Sr. holds Bachelor’s Degrees in Business Administration from the United Methodist University, Liberia and a Bachelor of Education from University of Education, Winneba, Ghana. He Joined GiveDirectly from both the public and private sectors with over nine (9) years of professional work experience in the areas of administration, advocacy, information management and analysis, data collection with strong emphasis in project management and evaluation.
Marie Cadelina
Recruitment Manager
Marie joins GiveDirectly from The New Teacher Project (TNTP), where she worked to build robust, diverse educator pipelines using a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens. Marie has spent her career in the social impact space and has extensive experience in program management, strategic planning, and operations management. Marie holds a degree in Education and Psychology from New York University.
Jacob Carmichael
Growth Associate
Jacob joins GiveDirectly from Borrow, a startup offering subscriptions to electric vehicles, where he was Chief of Staff. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Business Administration.
Holly Carter
Partnerships Manager
Holly joins GiveDirectly from The Power of Nutrition, where she managed partnerships for large scale nutrition programmes and oversaw programme development processes. Prior to this she worked in public affairs in the technology industry. Holly holds an MSc in Social Policy from the University of Oxford and a BA in Geography from the University of Cambridge. She lives in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Anna Cerf
Sr. Manager, Growth
Anna joins GiveDirectly from EF Education First, where she worked as a Product Manager focused on developing and growing international education opportunities. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Middlebury College with a B.A. in Geography and Environmental Studies.
Anil Chakka
Donor Relations Intern
Anil is a current senior at Vanderbilt University majoring in Human and Organizational Development with a minor in Business. He is currently working as a Donor Relations Intern, and loves playing tennis in his free time.
Driss Chaouki
Associate Field Manager, Morocco
Chaouki Driss holds a master’s degree in banking and financial markets from the Francois Rabelais university of Tours. He joined GiveDirectly in March 2020. He has six-year experience within international organization, Chemonics International, FHI 360, School To School International and Social Impact, a private international development company working for bilateral, multilateral donors and the private sector to manage projects in developing countries. To illustrate some of his duties, he oversaw the operation structure of the project, moreover he was in charge of the technical management of the project by providing support to the various specialists within his team, such as the monitoring and evaluation specialist, and facilitating the work of the technical and operations teams.
Naomi Chebet
Finance Intern
Naomi holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Management Accounting option from Moi University. Currently, she is in progress with her Certified Public Accountant (CPA). She joins GiveDirectly as a finance intern after working with Kenya Medical Training College as an attachee.
Sara Chedad
Office and Procurement Manager, Morocco
Sara holds a masters degree in Management control, planning and risk management. Sara joined GiveDirectly from a non profit organization FHI 360, where she was working as contract and procurement manager for USAID projects. She has over seven years of experience in administration and procurement serving in international organizations.
Han Sheng Chia
Vice President of Innovation
Han Sheng Chia is Vice President of Innovation at GiveDirectly. He leads the organization's investments to drive step function change in cash delivery to the world's poorest. He previously led GiveDirectly’s Humanitarian practice, growing programs from $1M in seed funding to more than $100M. He has run programs ranging from COVID-19 responses in Uganda and Togo, to emergency hurricane responses in the Carribean. Han Sheng previously held roles in management consulting and tech. He is a graduate of Brown University.
Augusto de Almeida
Program Manager, Mozambique
Augusto joined GiveDirectly as a Program Manager after more than 7 years working in projects related to HIV, Malaria and malnutrition, to a more civil society work, where he took part in an advocacy and monitory, in projects with aim of engaging communities to be more participative in decisions and responsibilities in regards to supply of public services by local governments.
Recently, he went from being the Project Manager for a Large Scale Food Fortification project, to being the Program Manager of an emergency program, KFMW- Keeping Food Markets Working, with funds from more than 8 donors including USAID, MFA, GAC and others, aimed to mitigate the immediate impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Food Systems. He left GAIN, to join GiveDirectly, as a Cluster Lead of the Supply Chains for Nutritious Foods Cluster.
Augusto holds a master´s degree in Economics of Development from Universidade de Évora, Portugal.
Namita Desai
Director of Partnerships and Advisory
Namita holds a B.S. in Business Economics & Public Policy and a B.A. in Hispanic Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. Namita joined GiveDirectly from the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency, where she worked as a project lead to design and operationalize public programs serving smallholder farmers. Prior to that, Namita was a consultant at Oliver Wyman.
Roshni Desai
Data Associate
Prior to joining GiveDirectly, Roshni was a Technical Program Manager at Medallia, a Customer Experience Software company based in San Francisco. Outside of her day job, Roshni serves as an advisor for Project RISHI, a sustainable development non-profit based in India. She holds a B.S. in Cognitive Science with a specialization in Computing from UCLA.
Katie Donley
Chief Growth Officer
Katie joins GiveDirectly from Tictail where she was the Director of Growth. She has experience in data-driven strategies in organic, paid, and product-driven growth, specializing in shopper acquisition and retention. Katie holds a Bachelors of Economics and Bachelors of Psychology from Yale University.
Hamza Ezzaim
Associate Field Manager, Morocco
Ezzaim Hamza holds a bachelor's degree in management and finance. He joined GiveDirectly from Webhelp, a French company specializing in call center operations, customer experience management and business processes, where he was attached to the WorkForce Management Division as flow manager of a project with more than 300 employees having as skills the design of reports, the analysis of the figures and the critical eye, the management of flows on the voice e-mail channels and mail by optimizing the operational management of resources.
Michael Faye
President, Co-founder
Michael Faye is the co-founder of GiveDirectly (President), Segovia and Taptap Send (CEO) — all focused on making it as easy as possible to move capital to the emerging markets. GiveDirectly has been recognized by Fast Company as one of the top 10 most innovative companies in finance four times, and has been said to be “sending shockwaves through the charity sector” by the Guardian.
Michael’s work on international development has been published in the American Economic Review, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Foreign Affairs and he’s spoken extensively on development and philanthropy. He was named one of Foreign Policy’s 100 leading Global Thinkers, a member of the World Economic Forum’s community of Young Global Leaders, and a term member of the Council of Foreign Relations. He holds a PhD in Economics from Harvard, where he also studied Math and Classics.
Becca Frank
Director of Field Technology
Prior to joining GiveDirectly, Becca was the Vice President of Engineering at Ketra, a startup making LED lights. Following that, she served as a Foster America fellow, where she spent two years working with Denver Human Services to build their client-facing technology roadmap for their anti-poverty programs. She holds a B.S.E. in Computer Engineering from University of Michigan.
Elisa Gabellieri
Humanitarian Senior Manager
Elisa joins GiveDirectly after 5 years with the UN World Food Programme, where she worked as a Programme Officer across West and East Africa and Latin America, specializing in cash-based programming. Previously she worked as Innovation Project Manager in a R&D; institute for education technologies. Elisa is of Italian nationality. She holds a BSc in Economics and a MSc in Innovation Management from Bocconi University.
Shaunak Ganguly
Country Director, Malawi
Bringing in close to a decade of experience in engaging with public-sector agencies to position and implement programs aimed at maximising revenues through focussed high-impact technology interventions in Africa, Shaunak Ganguly joins GD to expand his portfolio to craft innovative strategies in the development sector.
Schooling and growing up in Africa has enabled him with a deep appreciation of the unique challenges and potential the continent offers, which gives Shaunak the edge when it comes to designing solutions to address core problems facing the region.
With a vibrant mix of leadership skills, business acumen, eye for detail and people management, Shaunak looks forward to channel his strengths in an exciting stint at GD as the Country Director for Malawi.
Pranathi Ganni
Data Associate
Pranathi’s interest in driving social change through systems-level thinking about inequity brought her to GiveDirectly. Previously, she worked as an education consultant at a nonprofit, supporting various U.S. public school districts with strategic resource use to create more equitable student experiences. Pranathi holds a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from Johns Hopkins University.
Esnatt Gondwe-Matekesa
Program Manager
Esnatt Gondwe-Matekesa is a development practitioner that has over 11 years' experience in implementing development projects sponsored by USAID, UNICEF and Global Affairs of Canada. Esnatt has had extensive training in leadership and management through professional fellowships with Global Health Corps and George Washington University.
Simon Grinsted
Research Manager
Simon joins GiveDirectly from New York University, where he was a Research Director in the Department of Applied Statistics. He previously worked as a Research Associate at Innovations for Poverty Action in Manila, and as an Analyst at BlackRock in London. He holds a BSc in Economics & Politics from the University of East Anglia, an MSc in Political Economy from the London School of Economics, and an MSc in Applied Statistics from New York University.
Jon Hall
Engineer
Jon has a BSc in Mathematics, and previously worked as a software engineer at Candide, a horticulture startup, and flowmoco, a web & mobile consultancy.
Tyler G Hall
Director of Communications
Tyler joins GiveDirectly after a six year stint working in late night television as a director, producer, and writer. In 2017, he was nominated for an Emmy for his work on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee's Hurricane Maria Relief Special. He graduated from Harvard College with a BA in Sociology.
Melissa Harpool
Outreach Coordinator
Melissa holds a bachelor's degree in organizational communication from the University of Central Florida. She has experience in managing account relations for companies ranging from small private businesses to global industry leaders. She previously worked at McKinsey & Company as an Executive Assistant to top level management.
Stephanie Hill
Vice President of People
Stephanie joins GiveDirectly with over 12 years of recruitment and talent development experience. Most recently, she was at the NYC Department of Education, where she was responsible for the recruitment of the city's 5,000 annual teacher hires. There, she founded the New York City Teaching Collaborative, an innovative teacher recruitment and training program, and launched NYC Men Teach, a comprehensive initiative to improve the diversity of NYC's teaching force through partnerships and programming, leadership development and mentoring.
Heidi Hirvonen
People Engagement Manager
Heidi joins GiveDirectly from Good Eggs, where she helped to scale a variety of acquisition funnels, from email to partnerships to referral. She is passionate about growing socially-impactful organizations taking unusual approaches to affecting real change. She holds degrees from Wesleyan University in government and English and is a graduate of the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs.
William Howe
Cluster Finance Manager, West & North Africa
William holds a BBA in Accounting from the University of Liberia and he is also part-qualified ACCA. He has extensive experience with both the private and public sectors in accounting, auditing, finance management as well as private consultancy. He joined GiveDirectly from his private consultancy work with small/medium sized businesses and local NGOs. Prior to private consultancy and his over two years with Checchi Consulting (a US based firm implementing USAID project in the judiciary sector), he was a Financial Analyst for five years and Chief Accountant for two years with USAID / Liberia.
Joe Huston
Managing Director
Prior to being Managing Director Joe was GiveDirectly's CFO, before that Joe spent 3 years managing operations for GiveDirectly in Kenya and Uganda. Joe joined GiveDirectly after working in the research and trading departments of the asset management firm, Bridgewater Associates. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Dartmouth College.
Salome Hussein
Field Manager, Kenya
Salome holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a Diploma in Project Management and is currently enrolled for a master's degree in Sociology at Maseno University. Salome has over 10 years of experience working in Research and Development projects where she has served as a Research Coordinator, a Project Officer and a Deputy Project Manager. She has been privileged to work at CARE Kenya, SWAP and the Aquaya Institute.
Sarina Jain
US Manager
Prior to joining GiveDirectly, Sarina worked in Ghana as a Senior Research Associate with Innovations for Poverty Action and, before that, as a Research Analyst with the Global Poverty Research Lab at Northwestern University. She holds a B.S. in International Economics from Georgetown University.
Jendayi Jones
Donor Relations Coordinator
Jendayi graduated from the University of Chicago with a double major in Biology and Public Policy. She joins GiveDirectly after a year as an English Teaching Assistant in Brussels, Belgium through the Fulbright Program.
Said Juma
HR Manager, Kenya
Said Holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce and a Higher Diploma in Human Resource Management. He has over six years of experience of working in the market research, education, logistics, and forestry industries. He is currently pursuing a certified human resource practitioner certificate. He joined GiveDirectly from Komaza Forestry Limited where he was a Human Resource Specialist.
Timothy Deo Kabagambe
Call Center Manager, Rwanda
Timothy Deo Kabagambe holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management & Economics with an honor in Marketing from the University of Kigali. He brings 10 years of experience in Customer Experience Management from Engie Energy Access where he was Customer Service Manager. Before joining EEA (Mobisol Rwanda LTD) he was a customer consultant in MTN Rwanda call center. He also has a certificate in Customer Care & Selling Skills, Leadership Motivation, and communication skills.
Faustah Kago
Office and Procurement Manager, Kenya
Faustah joined Give Directly from Evidence Action, where she served as an associate office administrator. She has over ten years of experience in administration, serving in the private sector and in non-governmental organizations. She is currently pursuing a degree in procurement and contract management from Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology.
Raissa Kalinganire
Human Resources Manager, Rwanda
Raissa Kalinganire holds a masters in business administration with a specialization in human resources from Oklahoma Christian University. She has experience in human resources working with various Columbia University projects in Kigali, Rwanda. Prior to joining GiveDirectly, she worked in the HR Department at Ecobank Rwanda.
Stephen Kalungu
Senior Manager, Kenya
Stephen holds a B.Sc. in foods, nutrition and dietetics from Egerton University and is currently a MPH student at Nairobi University, majoring in biostatistics. Prior to joining GiveDirectly he was a research analyst with IPA Namibia on the community-based rangeland and livestock programme. Previously he worked with IPA Kenya as a research coordinator in the Wash Benefits study. Prior to joining IPA Kenya, he worked as community research coordinator in an exclusive breastfeeding RCT with the universities of Egerton, Emory, and Toronto.
Bienvenu Kamana
Field Manager, DRC
Bienvenu Kamana holds a Bachelor's degree in Information and Communication Science with a specialisation in Communication of Organisations from the Christian and Bilingual University of Congo .He has experience in the management of commercial companies. He also worked as a humanitarian, in advocacy of women's rights and managed the research and investigations with many NGOs in DRC. Prior to joining GiveDirectly he worked in the Tushiriki wote projects (Peace building through the strengthening of the economic movement and the empowerment of women) with International Alert.
Swaliho F. Kamara
Senior Manager, Liberia
Mr. Swaliho Kamara is a social change and development professional up to 10 years of experience in both program management and Monitoring, Evaluation and Research for development/emergency programs. He has working experience in programs/projects funded by USAID, PMI, DFID, UKAID, EU, DANIDA, KFW, KOICA, SIDA, IRISH AID, Kings Philanthropy (KP), LUNMINOS FUND, UNFPA and others.
He holds a Bachelors of Science Degree from the University of Liberia and a current student for the Master's Degree in Public Health. He is a also pursuing a Post Graduate Certificate in Advanced Research Course at BRAC Institute of Governance and Democracy at BRAC University. He has earned several professional certificates in human subject research, monitoring, evaluation & learning, program management, gender, safeguarding and harassments prevention.
Prior to joining GiveDirectly, Mr. Kamara worked with BRAC International Liberia Country Program as Technical Lead/Manager for Program Monitoring & Evaluation for six social development programs including Health, WASH & Nutrition (HWN), Ultra-Poor Graduation (UPG), Agriculture Food Security and Livelihood (AFSL), Education, and Youth Empowerment (YEP).
Mr. Kamara is currently an ATLAS CORPS VIRTUAL FELLOW (Cohort #2). He has authored several abstracts and presented at many international conferences including "The Data Utilization rate among Development Partners: Liberia Context Analysis", “Assessing organizational capacity to deliver quality Malaria Services in rural
Liberia”, “Post-Ebola Restoration of Maternal and Child Health Services in Liberia: Improved use of quality of care, "Operationalizing Integrated Immunization and Family Planning Services in Rural Liberia: Lessons Learned From Evaluating Service Quality and Utilization".
Omalha Kanjo
Senior Manager, Malawi
Omalha holds a Bachelors degree in Education Science from the University of Malawi. She has 10 years of experience in Field Operations from Major FMCG companies such as Airtel and Carlsberg Malawi. She joins Give Directly from One Acre Fund where she was a Program Associate in field operations in charge of Marketing and enrollment.
Alia Karim
Partnerships Manager
Alia is an international development professional with extensive experience working in education across Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. She's worked on early grade literacy, play based learning, partnerships, and mobile data collection platforms with UNICEF, Right To Play International, the Earth Institute and Vera Solutions. Alia has a Master's degree in International Education from Columbia University and a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology and Mass Communications (double major) from UC Berkeley.
Annie Kartheiser
Partnerships Manager
Annie comes to GiveDirectly after 2-years as a consultant in IBM’s Digital Strategy and Financial Services practice. Prior to that, she worked at Endeavor Argentina on the operations team and at the Danish Institute for Human Rights as an analyst in the business and human rights group. Annie graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton University, with a B.A. from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy and International Affairs.
Michael Kayemba
Country Director, Uganda
Michael joins GiveDirectly after consulting and entrepreneurial roles. He was a process innovation advisor at CVS Health on operational efficiency and cost reduction projects. Prior, he worked at Public Consulting Group advising state governments on improving social services programs. He graduated a Morehead-Cain scholar from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with Biology and Public Policy degrees. Michael runs UZURI, a healthcare startup.
Sibongani Kayola
Country Director, Liberia
Sibongani is a mental health and international development professional interested in understanding the interaction between psychosocial factors and financial behavior. Sibongani holds a B.A in Psychology from the University of Zambia. Prior to joining GiveDirectly, Sibongani worked with innovations for Poverty Action (IPA).
Laura Keen
Senior Manager, US
Laura previously worked on an anti-corruption program focused on good governance and citizen engagement for Results for Development, conducted migrant and refugee advocacy for Refugee Rights Europe, and built partnerships with smallholder farmer organizations for Fair Trade USA. She holds a Master of Public Policy from the Harris School at the University of Chicago and a B.A. in philosophy, political science, and economics from the University of Pennsylvania.
Sarah Kenkuyu
External Relations Manager, Rwanda
Sarah Kenkuyu holds a bachelor’s degree in development economics from Makerere University. Prior to joining GiveDirectly, she worked for Vanguard Economics as a Research Analyst and the company’s business development lead where she gained extensive research experience. She has worked on different projects for the Government of Rwanda and donors on several sectors pertaining to private sector development.
Ariana Keyman
Partnerships Director
Ariana holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from McGill University and a Master of Global Affairs from the University of Toronto. Prior to joining GiveDirectly, she was a Director at the Busara Center for Behavioral Economics in Kenya, where she led growth through expanding the organization’s funder base, driving strategic direction, and leading international expansion across 10 countries. She has also consulted for several international development organizations, including for Building Markets and the MIT GOV/LAB, on program management and evaluation.
Peter Kibet
Associate Field Manager, Kenya
Peter holds a bachelor's degree in Applied Statistics with Information Technology from Maseno University, Kisumu. Before coming to GiveDirectly, he worked for Innovations for Poverty Action Kenya as a data entry officer, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics as a data entry clerk and the International Center for Reproductive Health Kenya as a county resident enumerator supervisor.
Lilian Kimuya
Finance Manager, Kenya
Lilian holds a Bachelor's degree in Commerce from the University of Nairobi and is a Certified Public Accountant of Kenya(CPA-K). Prior to joining GiveDirectly, she worked at KPMG Kenya for four years; specialized in the Public Sector and Development unit.
Pamela Kirabo
Metrics and Quality Associate Field Manager, Rwanda
Pamela holds a bachelor's degree in Tourism Operation and an associate's degree from Nkumba University Entebbe. Prior to joining GiveDirectly, she was the Human Resource Coordinator at Songa Africa Tourism. Prior to that, she was Human Resource Manager at Dash- S Technologies Inc. Rwanda.
Doug Kirke-Smith
Regional Director
Doug has been working for NGOs in East and Southern Africa since 2008. His NGO experience spans 11 African countries working in Agriculture, Health, Child Protection, Education and Research. Prior to joining GD, Doug was the Country Director for Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) in Rwanda. Doug is an FCA Chartered Accountant with a BSc in Economics.
Victoria Allen Kumukyaya
Field Manger-Special Projects, Uganda
Victoria holds a bachelor's degree in social work and social administration from Uganda Christian University and a postgraduate diploma in project planning and management from the Uganda Management Institute. She has over five years of experience working with international nonprofit organizations in Uganda focusing on project planning, fundraising, and policy formulation. Prior to joining GiveDirectly, she worked for the Prisons Fellowship – Uganda Chapter, Watoto Child Care Ministries, and Oasis Uganda in various management roles.
Leila Lahlou
Associate Field Manager, Morocco
Leila Lahlou has a master's degree in auditing and management control. Her professional experience in the field of sustainable economic development is divided between the International Cooperation and the public sector. This rich experience has enabled her to acquire skills in the field of support to economic and social development, including monitoring and evaluation of projects, strategic planning, multi-actor coordination, and administrative and financial management. This experience has also allowed Leila to travel the rural world and to know first hand the economic and social development challenges of communities living in poverty.
Miriam Laker
Research Director
Miriam Laker is a Medical Doctor with specialist training in Tropical Medicine, International Health, and Research Methods. Before joining GiveDirectly, she was a Senior Researcher in the United States East Africa HIV-associated Malignancies Research group: a collaboration between the Infectious Diseases Institute, Makerere University, Uganda, and the University of California, San Francisco. She also heads the Client Welfare and Development Board Committee of Reach Out Mbuya Community Health Initiative which serves the urban poor in Uganda. In 2016 she was named one of Uganda's top 40 women under the age of 40.
Linda Lamya
Malawi Associate Field Manager
Linda holds a Bachelor’s degree in Aquaculture and Fisheries from the University of Malawi. She previously worked with ADRA Mw as a Project Manager where she led the implementation team and contributed to the strengthening of community’s resilience to climate change. Linda is an alumni fellow of the YALI RLC SA, as well as the Community Solutions Program.
Kristen Lee
Sr. Manager, Data/Tech
Kristen holds a B.A. in Food Studies and Urban Planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Previous to GiveDirectly, she worked with students at the National Outdoor Leadership School and with crisis response and preparedness at the United Nations Development Programme.
Cedric Lisasi
Human Resources Intern
Cedric Lisasi holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Kinshasa in Social, Administrative and Political Sciences. I joined GiveDirectly after working for Oxfam-GB in the humanitarian sector. I have experience in personnel management and business administration
Stella Luk
Regional Director, North and West Africa
Stella Luk is the Regional Director for North and West Africa at GiveDirectly. Previously, she was the Vice President of Global Services at Dimagi, overseeing national scale digital health and development programs in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Stella has led from inception to national scale the largest digital nutrition program in the world. Prior to this, Stella was a human rights lawyer in Egypt and Canada, an anti-corruption program officer for Eastern Europe with the Government of Canada, and a software developer at IBM. Stella has a B.Sc. in Computing Science, an M.A. in International Relations, and a J.D.
Vera Lummis
Innovation Manager
Vera joins GiveDirectly from IDinsight in Manila, where she was a Senior Associate focused on designing and implementing measurement strategies for non-profit and government partners across Southeast Asia. She previously worked in research and strategy roles at Dimagi and the Natural Resources Defense Council. Vera holds a B.A. in Public Policy from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.
Alexandra Mackenzie
Country Director, DRC
Alexandra joined GiveDirectly from primary research firm Third Bridge, where she was Vice President of Operations for European Private Equity. Prior to this, she managed their francophone research team, responsible for growth in France & Benelux. Alexandra holds a B.A. in Modern Languages at The University of Manchester.
Bennis Dahn Madave
Associate Field Manager
Bennis holds Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology and Mass Communications from the United Methodist University. I joined Give Directly from the private sector working for the Danish Refugee Council. She is experienced in protecting, empowering and monitoring the social well being and livelihood of vulnerable people through community and individual engagement.
Violet Magoba
Government Relations Manager
Violet holds a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and Media Studies, with a major in Broadcast Journalism and more than eight years of advanced knowledge and experience in both public and private sectors. Prior to joining GiveDirectly, she was a project specialist at One Acre Fund. She has also worked as the Lead Research Assistant for the Rotary Club of Nairobi and the University of Denver in the global WASHES program in Kenya.
Sada Malumfashi
Communications Intern
Sada Malumfashi works with the communications team at GiveDirectly. He is a freelance journalist covering social development issues and gender in and within Africa for Al Jazeera, African Arguments amongst others. He is a current graduate student of Development Studies at the Nigerian Defence Academy.
Lucio Melito
Data Scientist
Lucio joins GiveDirectly as a data scientist from the World Bank, where he worked on the response to the coronavirus pandemic; before that he was at Dalberg, where he advised and built data products for governments, non-profits, and companies working in international development. Lucio holds a bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Oxford and an MSc in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Edinburgh.
Lalena Meyerson
Compliance and Grants Associate
Lalena is a social worker with more than a decade of program management, community organizing and direct service experience in community based organizations throughout New York State. She is passionate about working in collaboration with others to ensure that all people have access to the resources and information they need to live self-determined lives. She holds a MSW from Hunter College School of Social Work and a B.A. in Anthropology from SUNY Purchase College.
Edwin Monda
Cluster Finance Manager, Treasury
Edwin holds a certification from the Institute of Certified Public Accounts Kenya (ICPAK), and Bachelor of Commerce in finance from KCA University. He joined GiveDirectly from the Nairobi Hospital, where he was a credit officer in the credit control department.
Leonard Moragia
Data Coordinator
Leonard holds a Bachelor of Commerce in finance from KCA University and is currently pursuing CPA (Certified Public Accountant) Part III. He has experience in Research, Monitoring and Evaluation. Prior to joining GiveDirectly, he worked with Innovations for Poverty Action Kenya as a Research Associate.
Sarah Moran
Country Director, US
Sarah Moran is an experienced fundraiser and operations professional. Prior to GiveDirectly, she worked as Senior Director of Development and Operations at Grassroot Soccer, an adolescent health organization. Before that, she worked as a Program Officer at the National Democratic Institute and as a high school teacher and coach. She attended Georgetown University for her master's and Harvard University as an undergraduate. She is originally from Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Chikondi Mphonde
Human Resources Manager
Chikondi Mphonde holds a Bachelor or Arts Degree from the University of Namibia in Industrial Psychology and Communications. She joined GiveDirectly from the private sector working for Nedbank. She has experience in People management and Learning and Development.
Rudy Mudakikwa
Finance Manager, Humanitarian
Rudy holds a Masters in Business Administration with specialization in Project Management from Oklahoma Christian University. He has been working with NGOs for the last 10 years with extensive experience in financial management. Prior to joining GiveDirectly, he worked at Society for Family Health Rwanda (SFH) as the organization accountant.
Urbanus Mulobi
Finance Intern
Urbanus holds a Bachelor of commerce finance degree from University of Nairobi and also part-qualified ACCA. He runs his own CBO that heavily empowers women, youth, and children to live in sustainable environments. Prior to joining GiveDirectly, he worked at I Tech Kenya for 3years as a finance assistant.
Grace Mwihia
Senior Finance Manager, Africa
Grace holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Statistics and is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Project Planning and Management. She is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA-K). Prior to joining GiveDirectly, Grace worked at KPMG Kenya for 5 years.
Alex Nawar
Director, Humanitarian & US Operations
Alex holds a B.A. and an M.A. in Political Science from Boston University. Prior to joining GiveDirectly, Alex managed the Basic Income project at Y Combinator Research. He previously worked as a research associate at Innovations for Poverty Action.
Yvonne Namala-Murindiwa
Senior Manager, Malawi
Yvonne is a program management and development specialist with 13 years of experience leading resilience building, inclusive markets, operational research, health, governance, and humanitarian response programs. She holds a Master of Public Health Degree from the College of Medicine (University of Malawi), and a Bachelor of Social Science Degree from Chancellor College (University of Malawi). Yvonne is also a certified expert in Financial Inclusion Policy (Frankfurt School of Finance & Management). She began her career in operational research at the College of Medicine and Médecins Sans Frontières, and then progressed to lead several resilience building and rural enterprise development projects as Head of Programmes at Christian Aid. Yvonne’s passions are to promote financial inclusion and self-agency among those that are less privileged in the world.
Gloria Ngabire
Field Director, Rwanda
Gloria joins Give Directly from the fields of IT Systems Integration and Internet Service Provision where she held executive roles and spearheaded nation-wide scale initiatives. She brings a 10 year track record working with the Rwandan private sector as a project manager, a sales and marketing director and a business entrepreneur. She holds a diploma from the School of ICT at the University of Rwanda, is ITIL certified, and is also currently pursuing a Portfolio Management Professional Certification (PfMP) with the Project Management Institute.
Jerome Ngoga
Data Coordinator
Jerome holds a B.Sc. in agricultural economics and agribusiness from the National University of Rwanda. Prior to joining GiveDirectly, he was a seed sector consultant and researcher at Center for Development Innovation, Wageningen University.
Venuste Niyitanga
Associate Field Manager, Rwanda
Venuste holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with specialization in Finance from the University of Rwanda. Venuste has managed to acquire additional knowledge during his education and career period in marketing, leadership, fundamentals of project management and planning for monitoring and evaluation. He joined GiveDirectly as a Field Officer and is now promoted to Associate Field Manager. Prior to joining GiveDirectly he was working with Delta Finance and Collection Agency, a loan recovery company based in Rwanda.
Moise Niyitegeka
Tech Associate Field Manager, Rwanda
Moise Niyitegeka holds a bachelor's degree in Business Information Technology from the University of Rwanda and he is doing a Masters in Information Technology. Moise joined GiveDirectly as a field officer and was recently promoted to Associate Field Manager in charge of Tech. Prior to GiveDirectly, he was working at the University of Rwanda, in the Registration office and supporting the university Management Information System.
Roben Nshimiyimana
Follow-up Associate Field Manager, Rwanda
Roben holds a Bachelor of Arts in Management with concentration in Logistics and Operations from Southern New Hampshire University. Before joining Give Directly, he worked in different NGOs including Alight and Gardens for Health International. His skills include computer (MS tools and typing), communication, team management, conflict management, planning, attention to details, and others. He is a passionate and goal-oriented professional committed to achieving sustainable development by ensuring consistent persistence, quick learning, and self-motivation.
Cedric Ntwali
Associate Field Manager, Rwanda
Cedric Ntwali holds a bachelor's degree in banking and finance from Mount Kenya University. Cedric joined GiveDirectly as a field officer and was recently promoted to associate field manager. Prior to GiveDirectly, he was working with Laterite Ltd., a research and advisory company based in Rwanda.
Ivan Ntwali
Country Director, Rwanda
Ivan holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and an associate's degree in microfinance from Uganda Martyrs University. Prior to joining GiveDirectly he was the sales and marketing manager at Mobisol where he joined from Bharti Airtel retail and corporate manager at Bharti Airtel. Prior to that, he was operations manager at Hass Petroleum and supplies officer at Total Uganda.
Patience Nuwagira
Office and Procurement Manager, Rwanda
Patience has a Degree in Finance and five years’ experience in administrative operations in NGOs. Before GiveDirectly, she was Administrator at WaterAid Rwanda and was also Finance and Administration Officer at Garry White Knight Audit Firm. Her skills include office management, customer care, logistics and general finance.
Zondwayo Nyirenda
Associate Field Manager, Malawi
Zondwayo holds a Diploma in Environmental Management from Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources College. He has worked as a Field Director at One Acre Fund Malawi where he was responsible for contributing in planning of field activities.
Denis Nyanja
Finance Director
Denis has a bachelor of science degree in information sciences from Moi University and is pursuing an MBA at Strathmore Business School. He is a certified and registered public accountant in Kenya. He joined GiveDirectly from Virunga Power, a renewable energy start-up where he was the Finance Manager. Prior to joining Virunga, he was a Senior Audit Associate at KPMG Kenya. He has extensive experience in financial accounting, reporting, financial controls, and compliance.
John Odero
Senior Manager, Recipient Advocacy
John holds a bachelor's degree in business and economics with IT from Maseno University. Prior to joining GiveDirectly, he facilitated digital empowerment programs and provided support to social enterprises in business and technology at Digital Opportunity Trust Kenya. John has experience in capacity development, entrepreneurship, monitoring and evaluation, and IT.
David Onyango
Program Manager, Recipient Advocacy
David holds a BSc in Environmental Studies and Community Development from Kenyatta University, and is currently pursuing M.A. in Project Planning and Management from University of Nairobi and Certification in Monitoring and Evaluation from Kenya Institute of Management. He has experience in Projects Management, Fraud and Safeguarding investigations, and Project Risks Management. Before joining GiveDirectly, he worked as Assistant Field Manager at Busara Center for Behavioral Economics leading different behavioral economics research projects in Kenya.
Calvin Opiyo
IT Manager
Calvin is an IT specialist with over 6 years of experience deploying, managing and supporting IT service operations within Africa. Prior to joining GiveDirectly, he was the lead IT, Web and Database systems administrator at the East Africa Wild Life Society. He holds a Bachelor of Business Information Technology and a Diploma in Business IT both from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
Kwamina Orleans-Pobee
Engineering Lead, Growth
Kwamina joins GD after 5 years at Google working on Google Docs and the Google Search App for Android, and some experience in the anti-human-trafficking tech space working on the chrome extension AboliShop. He is excited by using technology for social good and holds a B.S. in Computer Science and B.A.s in Physics and Philosophy from Virginia Tech.
Andrés Parrado
Manager, Data/Tech
Andrés joins GiveDirectly from IDinsight in New Delhi, where he was a Manager in the financial inclusion team. He has previously worked in various research roles at MIT's Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), the University of Oxford's Blavatnik School of Government, and the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad. Andrés holds a B.A. in East Asian Studies from Princeton University and loves to learn new languages.
Kazmyn Ramos
Program Manager, US
Kazmyn believes in community wealth building and advocacy. Prior to joining Give Directly, Kazmyn worked as the Director of Services for an affordable housing developer. In this role, Kazmyn focused on creating partnerships to support resident centered programming, securing funding, and creating systems to address the social determinants of health of affordable housing residents. Kazmyn was selected as a fellow in the second cohort of the Landecker Democracy Fellowship. Her project, “Seeking 1610”, focuses on improving access to housing in her hometown of Indianapolis.
Farheen Rizvi
Senior Manager, Humanitarian
Farheen joined GiveDirectly from One Acre Fund, where she worked in Field Operations in Malawi and Tanzania. She was previously a management consultant at PwC and physics teacher with Teach For America. Farheen holds an M.S. in International Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a B.S. from the University of Michigan.
Harris Roberts
Senior Growth Marketing Manager
Harris focuses on organic traffic acquisition, conversion optimization, and donor retention. He joined GiveDirectly after working for three years as an independent marketing consultant. Harris holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Bryant University.
Tessa Robertson
Chief of Staff
Tessa joins GiveDirectly from Oliver Wyman Consulting, where she worked in healthcare and financial services across the US and Asia. She holds a B.A. in Government from Dartmouth College.
Gilda Simbine
Finance Associate
Gilda holds a bachelor degree in Finance and Banking from Southeast University and Executive MBA from Tongji University. She has one year of experience as Financial and Management Consultant at Victory International, S.U.LDA and three years of experience as accounting advisory at KPMG Auditores e Consultores, SA. She joined GiveDirectly from Moçambique Dugongo Cimentos, SA, a cement factory in Mozambique that belongs to the West International Holding group where she was financial accountant.
Maggie Shun
Senior Manager, Humanitarian
Prior to joining GiveDirectly, Maggie worked in corporate strategy at Flex and management consulting at Deloitte. She has also completed several graduate internships and consulting fellowships in the nonprofit sector at Sesame Workshop, Sanergy, and TechnoServe. She holds an MBA from Yale and B.S. from New York University.
Caroline Teti
Director, Recipient Advocacy
Caroline holds an M.A. in development communication from Daystar University, a B.Ed. Arts English-major from Kenyatta University, and a diploma in gender and human rights from Uppsalla University. She joins GiveDirectly from Evidence Action where she worked as a Senior Program Manager of Kenya's National school-based deworming program. She has experience in program management and advocacy in government and NGOs in Kenya.
Graham Tyler
Sr. Manager, Data/Tech
Graham followed his college baseball playing experience into a career in analytics and operations with the Tampa Bay Rays. He left the Rays after six seasons to spend 2019 exploring abroad, working primarily in Palestine and Kenya. After returning to the U.S., he volunteered for a 2020 political campaign and for GetUsPPE prior to joining GiveDirectly as a Data Associate.
Ephrem Uwizeyimana
Finance Manager, Rwanda
Ephrem joins GiveDirectly after auditing and advisory roles. His experience cuts across financial sectors, consumer industries, aviation, the public sector and Nonprofit organization. Prior to joining GiveDirectly, he worked at KPMG Rwanda for four years and two months. Ephrem holds a bachelor’s degree in public health and nutrition and is currently pursuing ACCA professional course.
Gabriel Varela
Data Associate
Gabriel joined GiveDirectly as a data associate after three years working as an academic research assistant, first in particle physics at Fermilab and then in business at the Booth School of Business. He holds BAs in Physics and Economics from the University of Chicago.
Andrew Vaziri
AI Software Engineer, Innovation
Andrew previously worked as a roboticist, machine learning, and software engineer at Covariant.ai, Microsoft, and Apple. He brings his expertise to the Innovation Team to help develop algorithms to find the people in the most need, improve the speed of cash transfers, and improve the scalability of GiveDirectly's efforts. He is passionate about poverty alleviation and UBI. He holds a Bachelors’s and Masters’s in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Winnie Vivian
Field Manager, Kenya
Winnie holds a bachelor's degree in education from Moi University and is currently pursuing a CPA. Prior to joining GD, she worked at Nyamonye Girls' High School in Bondo where she taught and headed the counseling department, working hand in hand with the Impact Research Organization to ensure the quality of students' education and opportunities.
Rachel Waddell
Director, European Partnerships
Rachel joined GiveDirectly from the Overseas Development Institute where she was Head of Strategic Partnerships for governance and climate change. Prior to this, she worked on climate change and sustainable development in strategy and partnerships roles with the New Climate Economy, the Global Green Growth Institute and the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change. She holds a BA from the University of Nottingham and an MA from the University of Leeds.
Ilan Wallentin
Associate, CEO’s Office
Ilan joins GiveDirectly from EF Education First, where he worked as a Product Manager in the Emerging Tech and Education division. He holds a B.A. in International Development from Washington University in St. Louis.
Lydiah Wangechi
Country Director, Kenya
Before joining GiveDirectly Lydiah was the Interim CEO at Ongoza - an accelerator for early-stage, growth-oriented young entrepreneurs in Kenya, providing a blend of tailored technical assistance, peer community, and investment readiness support. She has extensive experience in international development throughout East Africa with specialties in fundraising & partnerships, start-up coaching, program design and product development.
Through her leadership, Ongoza has served over 500 entrepreneurs across sectors in Kenya this year with revenue growth of up to 2,100%.
Lydiah is passionate about nurturing high potential young women leaders of impact and is an alumni of The Coaching Fellowship and Perennial Fellowship.
John Wanjau
Field Manager, Kenya
John holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biochemistry from Egerton University, and is currently pursuing a Project Management certificate at Kenya Institute of Management.
He joins GiveDirectly from Innovations for Poverty Action where he worked as an Associate Field Manager on the impact evaluation of Smallholder Horticultural Farmers Empowerment as well as Universal Basic Income programs. He has also worked with Georgetown University Initiative for Innovation, Development, and Evaluation.
Jason Watters
Chief Financial Officer
Jason holds a B.S. in Finance from Georgia State University and an MBA in Finance and Economics from the New York University, and joined GiveDirectly from a long string of Private Equity and Venture Capital backed technology companies, most recently Imbellus, Inc. and has served in a variety of CFO, COO, and Chief Innovation Officer roles. Jason started his career with a short stint at the US Department of the Treasury and a decade at McKinsey & Company.
Dash Wieland
Growth Data Analyst
Dash joins GiveDirectly from the academic publishing space, where he helped launch a preprint platform that played a crucial role in disseminating research during the COVID-19 pandemic. He holds master's degrees in Predictive Analytics and Spatial Analysis for Public Health from Northwestern and Johns Hopkins Universities.
Ron Wilson
Operations Manager, Liberia
Ron holds a B.Sc. in Accounting from Cuttington University in Liberia and is currently pursuing an MBA (General Management). He has over nine years of professional experience focused in General Support Services. Before Ron joined GiveDirectly, he worked with Concern Worldwide as the Country HR Supervisor. Prior to that Ron, was Head of Field Office for Danish Refugee Council in Northern Liberia.
Catherine Wu
Director of Product
Cat joins GiveDirectly from Google where she spent 5 years as a Product Manager on Google Docs, Maps, and Data Privacy. She holds a B.S.E in Computer Science from Princeton University and is passionate about bridging technology and social impact.
Julie Xia
Software Engineer
Julie joins GD after 3 years at Google working on cross-platform support for the Bazel build system. In that time she took a 6-month sabbatical to work with Google.org on GD's data-driven recipient targeting for post-natural disaster humanitarian response. She graduated from Amherst College with a BA in Computer Science and Environmental Studies (go mammoths!)