GDI TEAM

Andrew is the Founder and CEO of GDI, and also serves as an ex-officio member of GDI’s US Board, a member and the Chair of GDI’s Hong Kong Board, and a member and the Chair of the GDI Solutions fiscal sponsor entity Board. He shapes new opportunities for GDI to drive the global development sector forward and provides strategic guidance to select incubated initiatives. Andrew has played many roles within GDI initiatives, including Interim CEO of Convergence and of Emerging Public Leaders. He currently serves on the Boards of Aceli Africa, citiesRISE, and the Refugee Investment Network, as well as the Advisory Board of Upstart Co-Lab.

Prior to founding GDI, Andrew was the Global Operating Partner at Dalberg Global Advisors. During that time, he helped design and launch ANDE and served as the founding co-chairperson of mothers2mothers. Andrew holds a joint MBA/MPP from Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School and a BA in Economics from Princeton University. When he isn’t urging nonprofits toward their ‘endgames,’ Andrew can be found gardening, kayaking and chasing his young daughter around.

Warren is the Managing Director, East Asia at GDI, where he spearheads GDI’s work in East Asia from Hong Kong. He works alongside the leadership of mission-driven businesses, non-profits and initiatives, as a long-term partner to design, incubate and implement strategies that achieve large-scale social impact. Warren brings strategic consulting and nonprofit management experience to GDI. He has worked at Dalberg Global Development Advisors (Asia), PwC Strategy (Australia), and was the Executive Director of a 170+ employee NGO in Yunnan, China. Warren holds an MBA with distinction from INSEAD. He has also developed a comprehensive personality assessment that he can occasionally be persuaded to administer to his colleagues.

Alice is a Managing Director of GDI US and the CEO of GDI Africa, where she works with large corporations, commercial investors and INGOs to integrate social impact, innovation and social entrepreneurship efforts into their portfolios, and helps philanthropists and social enterprises more effectively create systems-level change. Prior to joining GDI, Alice worked at Bridgespan, Bain & Co, the World Bank and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi. She is the co-founder and executive director of The Muskoka Foundation, as well as the co-founder and chief strategy officer of AppMkr. Alice earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and has a double major BA in International Economics and East Asian Studies from Columbia University and Stanford Japan Center. Alice enjoys spending time at her cabin in Canada with her family – and lots of uninvited black flies.

Tom is a Senior Advisor at GDI, where he works directly with rural enterprise development efforts. Tom focuses on GDI’s incubated initiatives in this space: ISF Advisors, Aceli Africa, the Rural & Agricultural Finance Learning Lab, and the Council on Smallholder Finance (CSAF). This includes the development and application of products and services for small agricultural enterprises, including finance, digital technology, and education. His efforts aim to make the economics of environmentally sound, community-led rural enterprise development sustainable.

Previously, Tom was a Partner at Dalberg Global Development Advisors where he led a strategy consulting portfolio that included efforts such as comprehensive investment/market entry analyses of global and regional commodity markets; the development of public-private partnerships across a host of those markets; the commercialization of agriculture technologies; and the design of innovative financing mechanisms in frontier markets. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Aceli Africa, based in Nairobi, Kenya, and EarthEnable, based in Kigali, Rwanda. Tom holds an MBA from Yale School of Management and a BA in government from the University of Notre Dame.

Jessica Harrison Fullerton is a Director within GDI’s Strategy and Build team, where she supports start-ups that include but are not limited to the global migration space. Jess has over 15 years of experience working with public, private and nonprofit organizations to increase their impact and scale. Jess has a background in strategy consulting from Dalberg Global Development Advisors and Bridgespan. Subsequently, at Evidence Action, she led an initiative to combat intestinal parasites in children using the supply chain of school systems and launched a five-year $35M program with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health and SCI to treat 100M children. Jess spent seven years in leadership roles in strategic planning and operations within the Program Quality, President’s Office, Emergency Unit and External Relations departments at the International Rescue Committee, a $1B organization delivering programs to conflict and crisis-affected populations globally.

Jess has a BA from Middlebury College, an MBA from Columbia Business School and an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School. She is a former Term Member on the Council of Foreign Relations and authored the Stanford Social Innovation Review article, “School for Scaling.” In her spare time, she can be found hiking in the Boulder CO mountains where she lives with her husband, two young sons and dog, Tabasco.

Darin is a Director at GDI, supporting the Marginalized Populations portfolio of multi-stakeholder initiatives and funds. In her incubation work, she has served as start-up COO for LaMP, the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery, and Convergence; an advisor to Unorthodox Philanthropy and Emerging Public Leaders; and co-author of “More than the Sum of Its Parts: Making Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives Work.” Darin was also Managing Director for GDI 2019-2021. Prior to GDI, Darin designed and launched new social impact approaches and capabilities at a range of mission-driven organizations working to expand opportunity and access, from large humanitarian organizations (International Rescue Committee) to an offgrid energy business (d.light). She is a B Lab Standards Advisory Council member and a Council on Foreign Relations Term Member. Darin earned a MA in International Affairs from Columbia University and a BA in International Relations from Brown University. Darin loves fireworks and is pretty good at Knock-out.

Suvranil is the Director, Climate and Environment at GDI. Before joining GDI, Suvranil worked at the World Bank Group for 13+ years where he led several climate smart development projects across transport/water/agribusiness sectors in India, SE Asia, Africa and Latin America. During these engagements, he had worked with governments, corporations, investors, think tanks and academia on creating the enabling environment for sustainable development through public private partnerships. He was one of the founding members of 2030 Water Resources Group (2030 WRG) and had led the design, development and implementation of the Eco Cities Platform at IFC. Suvranil co-founded the Climate Circle incubator at Harvard Innovation Labs where he is supporting 40+ startups working on clean energy, mobility, circular economy, carbon offsets, ESG. Suvranil has also worked in the technology sector for 6 years managing clients in the banking and financial services space in US,Europe, Middle East and East Asia. Suvranil holds a Master’s in public policy from Harvard Kennedy School.

Chintan is Managing Director at GDI, where he leads a portfolio of initiatives focused on human-centered health systems. He is Founder and CEO of Leapfrog to Value which is advancing the field of value-based care in low- and middle-income countries. He was on the founding team of Oxygen Hub; supported the growth phase of iDSI, and serves on the boards of GDI – India, Alignd and the Detroit Institute for Law and Organizing.

Chintan is a medical doctor and public health advocate. Prior to GDI, he was a leader in McKinsey & Co’s public and social sector practice. He started his career at Tower Street Prison in Jamaica, conducting ethnographic research on HIV.

Chintan is a graduate of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and majored in political science at Duke University. He was a Public Policy and International Affairs Fellow at Princeton University and a Fulbright Scholar to Jamaica. Chintan plays capoeira and dances.

Kim has over 17 years of experience in Business Operations with a biased focus on Growth & Strategy, Process Mapping, Improvement & Innovation, Customer service, Business Development, and Research Field Operations, across Sub – Sahara Africa. As Associate Director and Shared Services Lead, Kim will be working closely with the GDI team to incubate the Shared Services Platform, assist with the design & implementation of data and impact tools while playing a strategic role of improving business operations across the organization.

Before joining GDI, Kim was the Chief Operations Officer for Generation Kenya, where he provided overall operational direction and leadership, while closely collaborating with the local and global leadership teams, to ensure that the organization fulfilled its core mission of uplifting youth into meaningful work opportunities. Generation is one of the fastest scaling global youth employment programs, providing young adults with the opportunity to launch successful careers and change their life trajectories.

Kim has also gained a wealth of expertise while working in various roles for Kantar Operations, TNS RMS East Africa, Samasource, Horizon Contact Centers, among other organizations in different capacities.

Danielle is the Senior Manager of Human Resources at GDI. She has spent her professional career working at nonprofits in various roles, including human resources, administrative operations, event planning, fundraising, donor relations, and finance management. Before joining GDI, Danielle was Director of Talent and Administration at Independent Sector and Deputy Director of Human Resources and Operations at New America. Danielle has a BA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia, an MPA with a concentration in Nonprofit Management from American University, and is a senior certified human resource professional (SHRM-SCP) through the Society of Human Resources Management. In her free time, Danielle is either playing tennis or watching Premier League football.

Jon previously led GDI’s Climate and Ecosystems work. He is now the Chief Strategy Officer of Emergent, a non-profit focused on tropical forest protection and incubated by GDI. Emergent has convened a coalition of governments and major corporations willing to commit >$1bn to catalyse a carbon markets-based approach to the preservation and restoration of these priceless natural assets. Before GDI, Jon conceived and set up a global non-profit unit at EY that worked with leading impact entrepreneurs in low and middle-income countries. Earlier in his career, Jon worked for Accenture, The Prince’s Trust – a leading youth development NGO in the UK – and was an infantry officer in the British Army.

Stuart is the Associate Director of Brand, Marketing, and Communications at GDI. His passion for social impact was ignited by experience across Latin America, Africa, Europe, and East Asia. Stuart launched his career in East Africa by leading social impact projects in Djibouti, working with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), and researching the post-genocide legal system in Rwanda.

After a successful career in tech startups, he joined National Public Radio (NPR) to lead marketing, brand and digital strategy. Stuart partnered with the Programming, Digital, and Partnership divisions, among others, to serve 165 million monthly listeners. Highlights included launching new podcasts (Life Kit, Throughline, White Lies, and Peabody-winning Believed), along with key projects for the NPR newsroom and NPR Music’s Tiny Desk. In recognition of his work, Adweek selected Stuart for their inaugural Executive Mentor Program cohort.

Stuart is a passionate advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, leading digital initiatives for D.C.’s official Capital Pride which has over 400,000 people attend annually. He grew the community online by partnering with platforms like Instagram, Giphy, Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter. Stuart volunteers on the boards of the Foreign Service Youth Foundation and Seven United in Rwanda. He also served on the DC Board of Indego Africa.

Stuart earned his BA degree from Yale University in East Asian Studies. He is from Missouri and has lived, studied, and worked in Mexico, Honduras, Ecuador, Spain, Niger, Djibouti, Rwanda, Nigeria, China, and Japan. He is fluent in Spanish, conversational in French and rusty in Japanese. After hours, Stuart enjoys eclectic live music, iced coffee, traveling with friends, and writing about pop culture.

Elizabeth is GDI’s CFO and the Treasurer of GDI U.S. and GDI’s subsidiary legal entities. In addition to leading finance and general operations across GDI, she also supports initiatives in launching their own organizations, and building policy, procedure, and systems to ensure they run effectively. Beyond her finance and operations roles, Elizabeth leads GDI efforts to identify and implement practical solutions to barriers to localizing development.

Elizabeth has experience managing finance, accounting, compliance, human resources, and planning at a range of non-profit organizations in positions focused on capacity development. Before joining GDI, she served as Senior Director of Finance and Accounting at NASTAD and as Vice President of Finance and Administration at Education for Employment. Elizabeth received her MBA from Georgetown University and studied both International Development and Accounting as an undergraduate.

Jason has 20 years of strategy and build experience in the social impact space. As a Director at GDI, he oversees the People on the Move portfolio of initiatives, which span across labor mobility, refugee economic inclusion, and combatting human trafficking. He plays the lead strategy role at Labor Mobility Partnerships (LaMP), having previously done so for the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery (GFEMS). Jason is guiding LaMP to turn a world-changing idea into concrete demonstrations supported by a robust and adaptive organization. He helped develop GFEMS’ strategy to deploy $80M to transform systems of slavery in high-prevalence sectors and grow the evidence base for the field. When he joined GDI, Jason launched and directed the Mastercard Foundation Rural and Agricultural Finance Learning Lab, one of GDI’s efforts to define and shape the smallholder finance sector.

Before GDI, Jason helped establish and build the Nairobi office of Dalberg and its evaluation practice on the continent. Over seven years, he advised the world’s largest private foundations, donor countries, international institutions, African governments, Fortune 100 firms, and upstart innovators on achieving greater impact in agriculture, energy, technology, finance and investment, economic growth, and poverty reduction. Jason serves on the boards of Jibu, Justice Rising, and LaMP, and founded and led a church early in his career. He holds an MPA/ID from Harvard’s Kennedy School and has published and presented on migration, modern slavery, agricultural finance, impact investment, and impact measurement. Jason enjoys taking people, especially his kids, on outdoor adventures they didn’t know they needed.

Wendy Adisa is an Associate – Operations, and Programs at the GDI office in Nairobi. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Daystar University in Commerce (Accounts), and is pursuing an MBA in Finance and Project Management. Being very passionate about creating an impact in the world, especially with regard to the less fortunate, she took the trajectory of Project Management. Wendy worked as an intern at GDI where her career grew leading to her current position. Prior to this, she worked at the African Institute for Health & Development in the Finance and Programs departments where she supported various projects dealing with Gender-based violence, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and Social Protection alongside a variety of stakeholders.

Away from the office, Wendy loves traveling and participating in outdoor activities such as go-karting and swimming. She would pick the beach over the mountains for a good vacation.

As a Manager at GDI, Cyrielle leads projects and supports initiatives in GDI’s jobs and livelihoods portfolio, such as the Global Opportunity Youth Network (GOYN), for which she provides strategic support and leads learning activities. Prior to joining GDI, Cyrielle was working as a Strategy Manager for the UK development finance institution (CDC Group), a government-backed investment fund deploying capital in Africa and South Asia to support private sector development and job creation. Cyrielle started her career as a management consultant with Accenture, delivering projects for private and public sector clients in France and in the UK.

Cyrielle holds a Master’s Degree in Development Studies from the University of Oxford and a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs from SciencesPo Paris. She is currently based in Washington, D.C. In her personal time, Cyrielle enjoys hiking in the Appalachians and looking for new bird species in her neighborhood.

Tanmayata is a Senior Associate on GDI’s Strategy and Build team. She has an extensive background in development research, impact evaluations, and guiding evidence-based decision making. At J-PAL and 3ie, she worked with governments and NGO partners on randomized evaluations. More recently, she worked with Y Analytics and CRI Foundation, where she helped advance evidence-based decision making in investment and grant-making decisions.

Tanmayata holds an undergraduate degree in business studies from Delhi University, a master’s degree in financial economics from Gokhale Institute, and master’s degree in public policy from Duke University. Tanmayata is passionate about building local capacity to create sustainable solutions. Outside of work, Tanmayata loves cooking, hiking, and picking up new hobbies.

Steve is the Associate Director for Operations and Special Projects at GDI. He has over 13 years of experience in program and project management, international compliance, managing donor funding, and nonprofit leadership. He has supported international activities on behalf of the National Science Foundation, Department of State, National Institutes of Health, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Steve was previously at CRDF Global where he served as a Technical Advisor for the organization’s cybersecurity portfolio and the Acting Director for the Research and Innovation Practice Area. He has worked extensively in the Eurasia and MENA regions in basic research, higher education, professional exchange, agriculture, global health, and information and communications technology (ICT). Steve received his M.A. in International Affairs and a B.A. in International Studies from American University. In his free time he enjoys tennis, traveling, baking, and running (3 marathons and counting).

Jennifer is a Manager at GDI. Prior to joining GDI, she spent 5 years on the Swire Management Programme (assigned to Cathay Pacific), leading projects in branding, digital & analytics, and people development. As part of her international rotations, she worked in the Philippines to localise the corporate strategy, and led a team of 30 across sales/operations in mainland China as Area Manager – Henan & Shaanxi. Jennifer is a native Chinese speaker with business fluency in Mandarin, Cantonese, and English. She holds a B.A in History & Spanish from Durham University.

Rainbow is an Associate at GDI. She was involved in several strategy design projects in education and mental health with the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Prior to joining GDI, she served as a Program Assistant at Philanthropy in Motion (Beijing), a social enterprise promoting youth social impact and facilitated the running of the Millennial Impact Summit held at Yale Center Beijing. She also interned at the Hong Kong Government Home Affairs Bureau and Asia Society Hong Kong Centre. Rainbow is a native Chinese with business fluency in Mandarin, Cantonese, and English. She holds a B.A in History from University College London.

Sabrina is a Senior Associate at GDI. Prior to joining GDI, she worked as a research assistant at the Hong Kong Policy Research Institute on education research and spent a year with the Public Sector Consulting team at PwC Hong Kong, where she supported government departments and other public organizations with policy research and advisory services. As a Teach For Hong Kong alumnus, she is also passionate about promoting education equity and innovation. Sabrina is a native Chinese speaker with business fluency in Cantonese, English, and Mandarin. She holds an M.A. in English Studies and a LL.B. with a minor in German from the University of Hong Kong. Outside of work, she is the owner of a local indie bookstore where she curates reading and learning experience to facilitate conversations and understanding of ourselves, communities, and the world.

Lucia is a Manager at GDI. She brings two years of experience as a Creative & Marketing Manager at Leftbrain Creative, managing CSR projects in Taiwan & rural revitalization projects in mainland China. She is passionate in promoting strategic philanthropy since she was an undergraduate. She founded the “Student Take Initiative Rally” in 2014 and worked with with universities across the Greater China Area to promote efficient volunteering and the “learn before you serve” principle. Lucia is a native Chinese with business fluency in Mandarin, Cantonese, and English. She holds a B.A in Social Sciences with a major in Psychology and a minor in Social Policy & Community Building from The University of Hong Kong; and finished a Human Rights Law course at The Koc University in Istanbul.

Grace is Personal Assistant and Office Manager at GDI East Asia. Grace has more than 30 years experiences in the position of Secretary, Personal Assistant, Administrative Officer. She spent 17 years in Cisco Sales Organization as Administrative Assistant, Operations Manager in supporting Managing Directors and Vice President. Grace has experience in operations, office management, and event organizing. Grace was born in Hong Kong and speaks Cantonese, English and Mandarin. She likes living a healthy life, yoga, movies, and traveling.

Vicky Ciesielski is a Senior Accountant – Finance & Operations at GDI’s DC location. Vicky assists with finance and accounting processes implementation and maintenance. Prior to joining GDI in 2023, she has worked in both public and private accounting, ranging from small to medium-size entities. Some of the many skills gained and responsibilities in the past 7 years of her career include bookkeeping, bank reconciliations, financial statements, payroll processing, asset management, systems implementation, and taxes. In addition to these, she has a demonstrated history of success when placed in leadership roles.

Liz Cottle is the Special Assistant to the CEO for both Aceli Africa and the Council on Smallholder Agricultural Finance (CSAF). Based in Washington, DC, Liz manages donor & external relations, and supports the team across communications, governance, and fundraising. She is inspired by financial inclusion for women stemming from her experience with microfinance in Malawi. She has also worked for Peace Corps managing strategic partnerships, the international advocacy organization Global Citizen supporting policy related to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and The Work First Foundation providing economic opportunity in the US workforce development sector. Liz is a master’s student at George Washington University’s Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration and in her free time enjoys running, traveling, and reading.

Joanne is a firm believer that every person should have an equal opportunity to build a better future for themselves and their families. This passion motivates Joanne’s work as Senior Manager at GDI, where she helps design, build, and launch social impact startups.

At GDI, Joanne serves as the COO of Refugee Investment Network, served as the former COO of Emerging Public Leaders, and has worked extensively with the Global Digital Health Index, President’s Young Professionals Program of Liberia, Precision Development, and Co-Impact. She is also the co-author of “Paradigm Shift: How investments can unlock the potential of refugees,” “State of Digital Health 2019,” and “More than the sum of its parts: Making multi-stakeholder initiatives work.”

Joanne joined GDI from the World Bank / IFC, where she specialized in private sector development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Joanne earned an MA in Applied Economics from Georgetown University and a BA/MA in Economics and Management from Oxford University. She is GDI’s resident foodie and a traditionally-trained kintsugi artist.

Inga Finkova is the GDI’s Senior Accountant, CPA Candidate. Inga prepares the accounting work for GDI and Subsidiaries. She has experience working in Accounting, Taxation, and human resources for mid-size and large corporations. Before joining GDI, she worked for a large foreign corporation as a full-charge Accountant working on dual financial reporting and taxation. Moreover, she had experience in public accounting for more than 7 years, where she gained experience working for various sized companies in different industries. Inga holds a B.A. in Accounting, Analysis & Audit. Inga is a mother of two beautiful girls, loves to travel.

Fondo is the County Program Manager for Taita-Taveta in the GDI Nairobi office. Before joining GDI, Fondo worked as Project Manager for the Food Assistance project in Dadaab and as Project Manager for the Drylands Development program for the World Vision Kenya-Machakos Site. Fondo has also worked as the Project Manager for Governance, Environmental Conservation and Livelihoods, which was funded by World Vision Canada. Prior to that, he worked with Kenya Seed Company as a Field Officer in the North Rift – Kenya for over 17 years with World Vision in their livelihoods, food security and emergency aid programs, and with the Ministry of Agriculture. Fondo is a trained Agricultural Engineer from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) – Kenya. He also holds a certificate in Project Management from JKUAT and is a member of the Rain Water Harvesting group.

Andrew serves as Director, Finance on the GDI Africa team. He is a finance and project management professional with several years experience managing large, complex, multi-stakeholder grant programs, combined value of over $200 million, ensuring prudent investments in agriculture, health, and education; Worked cross-culturally – Kenya, Mozambique, Jordan, Liberia; Recent roles include: at Tanager, worked as global director for compliance and operations, and as team leader for AgResults, a private sector-driven pay-for-results project which helped improve grain storage capacity for smallholder farmers in Kenya; Was the technical grants manager for a USAID Kenya Horticulture Competitiveness Project implemented by Fintrac; was grants management specialist with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kenya. Previously managed country finance and operations with various international development organizations, in addition to stints in the private sector as chief accountant. Andrew holds MBA from Edinburgh Business School (Heriot Watt Univ, UK), is a certified public accountant & member of ICPAK. Andrew resides in Nairobi with his wife and their five year old boy. He loves farming, traveling and playing Scrabble.

Stanley Gichobi Mwangi is an Associate on GDI’s Impact Escalated Portfolio team. Gichobi is a business design strategist, user researcher, and design thinker with more than 6 years of experience. As a design strategist, he has contributed to the development and execution of strategic frameworks and organizational processes. He focuses on discovering, researching, ideating, and testing new strategies, programs, and product concepts.

Prior to joining GDI, he worked for Volkswagen as a Business Analyst in Digital Transformation and Process Innovation. His other experiences include working for Kuza Biashara as Manager of Strategy and Partnerships, and as a Strategy Consultant for Reapra (Singapore), JUXTOPIA (US), BCD International (US), Taqdam (Lebanon). He also worked at Growth Africa, a premier accelerator, as a Growth Catalyst (Product Innovation), and Senior Innovation Analyst at Wylde International. Gichobi sits on the Board of Italian Kitchens (Kenya).

Meredith is a Manager on GDI’s Brand, Marketing, and Communications team. In this role she develops and implements digital communications strategies for GDI and its incubated initiatives to drive real-world impact. She currently leads communications for Aceli Africa, the Refugee Investment Network, ISF Advisors, and the Council on Smallholder Agricultural Finance (CSAF).

Meredith comes to GDI with a background in storytelling, and previously worked in TV, radio, and digital post-production. Meredith earned her B.A. in Journalism and Politics from Ithaca College, where she focused on mass media’s influence on immigration policy and public opinion in the US and Europe. In her free time, you can find her hiking and camping in the mountains of North Carolina.

Peter is the Tourism and Hospitality Lead for the Global Opportunity Youth Network (GOYN) Mombasa Initiative. Peter is passionate about new innovations in hospitality and tourism practice and training. Previously, he worked at Strathmore University, where he spearheaded executive education in the hospitality and tourism sectors. He is also the founder of Hoteliers Kenya, an online community that serves as a platform to share knowledge and opportunities for Kenya-based hospitality and tourism professionals. Peter received his master’s degree in Hospitality Management from Kenyatta University, Kenya. During his free time, he enjoys spending time at his small Hass avocado orchard in the village.

Yoori is a Senior Associate at GDI. Currently, her work focuses on the education and health sectors in Hong Kong. Before joining GDI, Yoori spent three years as a strategy consultant at Dalberg Advisors in Kigali, Rwanda, where she supported government agencies, donors, and private sector companies with strategic planning and investment opportunity identification and assessment in agriculture, education, and ICT sectors across East Africa. Yoori is from South Korea and holds an M.A. in International Economics and International Development with honors from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and a B.A. in Sociology and Economics from Wellesley College.

Douglas is the County Program Manager – Muranga in the GDI Nairobi office. Douglas has over 23 years of extensive experience in youth empowerment, agricultural production, agribusiness research and humanitarian development work within commercial, food security and livelihood projects. He has participated in and managed implementation within complex, multi-sectoral cross-organizational, multi-stakeholder projects with multiple stakeholders.

Jeremiah Sarunye Lengure is the County Programme Manager – Marsabit in the GDI Nairobi office. Before joining the Kenya Social Economic Inclusion Project (KSEIP) as Marsabit County Program manager, Jeremy had been working with BOMA as a Monitoring and Evaluation Officer. Before joining BOMA, he worked for the county government’s Ministry of Education in Marsabit as a facilitator. He has also worked with a variety of NGOs including ILRI, World Vision, and IPSO SYNOVATE, as a research assistant.

Jeremy is from Ngurunit Location and currently lives in Marsabit. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Nairobi University and is currently finalizing his master’s degree in Monitoring and Evaluation at Maseno University.

Phillippa is the Lead Partnership and Employer Engagement for the Global Opportunity Youth Network (GOYN). Phillippa is particularly passionate about creating employment for sustainable solutions to youth unemployment.

Prior to joining GDI, she helped design and operationalize programs like the Ajira Digital Program, where she led a countrywide team to implement a nationwide hybrid training program, coordinated strategic partnerships that created market linkage opportunities for youth absorption, and designed mentorship solutions that supported the youth pipeline towards technical upskilling. She hopes one day to become a thought leader in the digital learning and labor markets ecosystem to help solve the unemployment crisis at a regional and global level.

Alizah is passionate about finding sustainable solutions to the world’s most complex problems. She is able to fuel this passion as a Senior Associate within GDI’s Strategy and Build team, where she supports the design, build and launch of GDI’s social impact initiatives across various geographies and portfolios. Alizah joined GDI from a career in Management Consulting at Kearney, where she advised and collaborated with executives across North America and Europe within the health and retail industries. Her expertise was focused on developing and launching business transformation initiatives, as well as crafting consumer and patient strategies grounded in behavioral economics.

Prior to consulting, she worked and lived in Panama and Kenya as a Strategy & Operations Advisor, where she led the planning and development of health clinic infrastructure projects, and supported the operationalization of best practices across hospital networks. She also managed the Marketing teams of various Kenya-based start-ups, where she developed content in collaboration with Facebook’s Free Basics, local health ministries and community groups.

Alizah graduated from the Ivey School of Business at Western University with a dual degree in Business Administration and Health Sciences. Outside of work she enjoys outdoor activities (biking, hiking and skiing are the top 3!), exploring local cafes, and is an amateur R&B record collector / food enthusiast.

Lauren Monahan is a Senior Associate for Operations and Compliance at GDI. She has more than five years of experience supporting development projects and social impact initiatives across sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. While living and working in Egypt, Somaliland, Kenya, and Mozambique, Lauren held a variety of roles including those in monitoring and evaluation, project management, and business development and strategic partnerships. Lauren has worked with various bilateral and multilateral donors and non-profit and private sector implementing partners, and brings this knowledge to support GDI and its incubated initiatives. Lauren holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Boston College. Outside of work, Lauren enjoys live music, running, and skiing.

Ann Murage is an Associate Director, Operations and Programmes for GDI in Africa and formally served as a Manager with the Mastercard Foundation Rural and Agricultural Finance (RAF) Learning Lab. Ann has a background in project management,  with a focus on international development. She was involved in setting up GDI in Africa where her current responsibilities involve the institutionalization of policies & procedures, development and operationalization of the talent strategy, financial management and stakeholder engagement.

Prior to joining GDI, Ann worked as a Project Manager at the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management. She was responsible for partner engagements, research implementation, and coordination of key projects in Sub-Sahara Africa. Earlier in her career, she was instrumental in supporting regional finance project teams in setting up systems including providing onsite support to project offices in DR Congo, Sudan and Southern Sudan.

Ann holds an MBA from the University of Liverpool, she is a Certified Public Account and has qualifications in Microfinance, SME Finance. She is passionate about the promotion of improved livelihoods and uplifting of the less advantaged in society.

Jackson is the County Project Manager for Makueni in GDI’s Nairobi office. Prior to joining GDI, he worked with the Zero Grazing Society of Kenya as a Project Manager, where he supported dairy farmers to improve their production. Jackson also worked with World Vision Kenya for 17 years as an Agriculture Extension Development Facilitator and Project Coordinator, supporting livelihoods and resilience projects. Jackson holds a BSc in Organic Agriculture from Uganda Martyrs University (UMU) and a Diploma in Disaster Management from the Kenya Institute of Social Work and Community Development (KISWD). He is passionate about working with rural farmers and building their capacity on smart agriculture farming for sustainable livelihoods. In his free time, Jackson enjoys nature walks.

Yvonne serves as Operations Associate and Programs Support in the Nairobi office. Before joining GDI, she worked with the USAID-funded project, Financial Inclusion for Rural Microfinance, as a project coordinator, supporting the technical and operations teams. There, her main role were partnership identification and relationship building, planning and coordinating project activities, event organization and administration support. Yvonne holds a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) from East Carolina University and an undergraduate degree in Management Information Systems (MIS). She is passionate about supporting small businesses and enjoys traveling and exploring different countries.

Nitish is an Associate Director within GDI’s Strategy and Build team. He has over 13 years of experience working on financial inclusion, and MSME finance and development. Before joining the Global Development Incubator, Nitish worked as a Senior Manager at MicroSave Consulting’s Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) domain and led the Asia Practice. He worked on projects on financial inclusion strategy development, digital transformation for financial institutions, market research, product development, financial capability development, and implementation and evaluation of government benefit transfer programmes. Nitish holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Forest Management from Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal, India.

George serves as the National Technical Assistance (TA) Coordinator at the GDI Nairobi office. He is a renowned development and humanitarian practitioner with 16 years of experience working with various governments, inter-governmental organizations and charities working in the larger Eastern Africa region.

Prior to joining GDI, he served as a technical government advisor in cash transfer programming in Kenya, Nigeria as well as for the UK Government on Afghanistan. He has also consulted for UNICEF Kenya, UNDP Kenya, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Intergovernmental Agency for Development (IGAD), DANIDA-funded Micro Enterprise Support Programme Trust (MESPT-Kenya), BOMA PROJECT, Wasafiri Consulting and East Africa Grain Council on various development programmes. His work has been presented and published in reputable international conferences, including in Kenya, South Africa, Germany and the UK. He is a beneficiary of the Firoz & Lalji Foundation’s Africa Leadership Programme and graduated from The London School of Economics (LSE) and Harvard University.

James is the Youth Engagement Manager for the Global Opportunity Youth Network (GOYN). He has over 7 years of experience implementing international development programs focusing on youth. A trained partnership development professional, James has managed partnerships with a variety of stakeholders across 14 different countries within East and Central Africa. Prior to GDI, James was previously a Youth Engagement Officer at VSO Kenya, where he supported the embedment of youth engagement across the VSO Kenya programs area. He also previously served as a Program Manager at the organization.

Esther Ogol is the Project Manager for the Shared Services Platform initiative in the GDI Nairobi office, where she leads all project management aspects of the Shared Services Platform activities including communication, planning, and logistics. Esther has over twelve years of experience in integrated International Development, Public Administration and Management, Public Health, and Research. Before joining GDI, she was the interim Programme Officer, Global Initiatives, TrustLaw at Thomson Reuters Foundation, where she provided technical and project management support for all global initiatives. She also worked as a Senior Research Manager at Kantar, Public Division, East Africa, managing diverse social and economic development projects. Esther began her career in 2010 as a Research Assistant for the World Bank Group and quickly grew to become a Research Consultant and further nurturing her penchant for Public Health. Esther is also a Mandela Washington Fellowship 2015 and was hosted at Florida International University to pursue Public Administration and Management. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Integrated Community Development. She is currently completing her Masters of Business Administration and Management in Strategic Management. Esther plans to continue advocating for the empowerment of the vulnerable in our societies with the ultimate goal of achieving equal opportunities and sustainable development.

Dan serves as the County Program Manager – Kisumu in GDI’s Nairobi office with extensive work experience in project management, micro enterprise development, partnership management and sustainable rural development projects for improved livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa. He previously worked at Village Enterprise where he was the Senior Technical Manager for livelihoods and enterprise support and prior to that, he was the organization’s Senior Program Manager – Innovations (Kenya and Uganda). He has also worked in different management positions managing grants from USAID/GIZ and DFID with awards in agri-business development in Nyanza Region of Kenya. He is also a beneficiary of the Erasmus Mundus scholarship to Thessaloniki, Greece for job shadowing to support Syrian refugees. He holds a degree in Development Studies and post-graduate diplomas in Project Management, Business Management and Strategic Management.

Kiran Pawar joins the GDI team as a Senior Associate with the Strategy and Build team. Based in India, Kiran will be supporting Resilient Water Accelerator (RWA) as the Project Coordinator responsible for managing the different internal functions such as finance, budgeting, reporting, as well as coordination with respect to country activities and results. She will also contribute to building the GDI program in India. Prior to joining GDI, Kiran worked on building her own startup enterprise, which aimed to organize the highly unorganized micro and small food processing sector in India. She was also a Senior Consultant at Dalberg Advisors, where she advised clients on issues spanning employment and skill development, agriculture, gender, and COVID-19 response. Kiran has also served the Chief Minister’s Office of Maharashtra in India on issues of integrated rural development including water resilience and resource management in vulnerable tribal districts. She completed her graduation in Economics and Statistics from St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai. She calls herself a “Jack of all Trades,” and in her free time, enjoys exploring a range of hobbies. She recently became a certified open water diver, and is also a Yoga, Kathak, Latin dance, and badminton enthusiast.

Pritham is a Manager within GDI’s Strategy and Build team. He has worked as a social entrepreneur, a strategy consultant, and a technology consultant. Before joining the Global Development Incubator, Pritham worked at Dalberg Advisors on designing strategies across topics such as livelihoods, gender, education, energy access and financial inclusion in East Africa, South Asia, and South-East Asia. Before joining Dalberg, Pritham set up and ran an anti-trafficking nonprofit – Threads of Freedom – that focused on livelihoods and reintegration of survivors of trafficking. Pritham has a Master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Ben is a Senior Associate for the Strategy and Build Team and has over a decade of experience working in global development, technology, and entrepreneurship. Since starting his career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania, Ben has had the opportunity to collaborate with dozens of NGOs and social enterprises in both the US and East Africa. He has worked as a strategic and technical adviser to Field Ready, Villgro Africa, FEMA, and Penn State’s Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship program. He is also the cofounder of the tech start-up Kijenzi, which develops local solutions to critical supply gaps experienced in lower- and middle-income communities.

An engineer by training and an entrepreneur by experience, Ben is passionate about problem solving and believes in the importance of getting to the root of a problem. As a researcher, he has focused on understanding on how innovative solutions are best able to fit in with real-world contexts and human-driven needs. He has passionately worked on these types of challenges in global development while pursuing his PhD (Penn State), Masters (Michigan Tech), and Bachelors (Ohio State) degrees in engineering and design.

Outside of work Ben enjoys all types (and seasons) of outdoor activities, but as a native Michigander, he is especially fond of those outdoor activities that bring him back to the Great Lakes.

Denis serves as the Controller at GDI working within the finance and operation team and overseeing the accounting and finance. Denis has been working in accounting, finance, budget, and administration management both domestically and abroad for more than a decade. Prior to joining GDI, Denis served as an Accountant at ACDI/VOCA, and as a Finance and Information Manager at Fair Chance, a nonprofit consulting organization in Washington DC. He worked at the International Committee of the Red Cross in Ukraine as an Administrative Officer. Denis holds a Master of Science in International Economics from the University of Economics and Law Kyiv, Ukraine.

Wing-cee is a Senior Associate at GDI who works in GDI’s China portfolio. Her current focus is with the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Narada Foundation, Disability Impact Fund, and the Model District Initiative. She has nearly 6 years of experience across strategy and economic consulting, entrepreneurship, and NGOs in the U.S., China, and India. Wing-cee has a diverse background having worked for Groupon U.S., KPMG Economics Valuation Department, and Stax Inc., a boutique strategy firm. While at Stax she has led commercial due diligence and strategy engagements for top global private equity firms and fortune 100 companies. Prior to that, she served as a pro-bono consultant for the Acumen+ Chicago Chapter and Médecins Sans Frontières. Wing-cee earned a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame with honors in Economics and Psychology. A native Chinese and travel enthusiast, she is most proud of her spicy food tolerance and luggage packing skills.

Miruna serves as an Associate on GDI’s  Brand, Marketing, and Communications team, developing and implementing digital communications strategies for GDI and its incubated initiatives to drive real-world impact. Prior to working at GDI, Miruna worked in Public Relations and Marketing, where she specialized in public outreach campaigns to increase media exposure and support strategic marketing initiatives. She has also managed social media platforms and worked in event planning. Miruna earned her Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Boston University, where she focused on rhetorical divides and the relationship between populism and migration in Europe. Miruna speaks Romanian and German, enjoys taking spin classes, and would like to add more stamps to her passport.

Charles is the Finance Manager at the GDI Nairobi Office and is tasked with strategy and leadership in all financial related matters concerning GDI in the Africa region; driving strategic improvements to regional operations, including country-specific tax-efficient structures and transactions between GDI Africa and GDI US; finance planning, budgeting, expenditure tracking, and auditing; and accounting and cash management. Charles has a strong background in Financial Management across a wide range of social impact organizations. Prior to joining GDI, Charles worked as a Finance Manager at Greensteds International School, Pan African Federation of Film Makers, and Health Education Africa Resource Team (HEART). While at HEART, he was actively involved in small businesses’ set-up from identification, verification, growth, and support through regular monitoring and training of the business holders on entrepreneurship, grants writing, sub grants contracting, and international accounting. Charles is a qualified Public Accountant in Kenya (CPAK), holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) in Finance, Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and Finance (BCOM).

Andrea Zinn holds a dual role as the Project Developer for Aceli Americas and the Global Coordinator the Council on Smallholder Agricultural Finance (CSAF). Based in Costa Rica, Andrea leads the design of Aceli Americas, which aims to adapt the Aceli Africa model to Latin America. Prior to joining GDI, Andrea consulted on various donor projects focused in agriculture and specifically coffee, including supporting IFAD’s implementation of its new private sector engagement strategy, developing digital price risk management training for coffee cooperatives, and other initiatives funded by USAID, IFAD, GIZ, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the International Trade Centre. Through her previous work with Oikocredit, a CSAF founding member, she focused on investments to high-impact agri-SMEs in sustainably-sourced value chains. Andrea is a former Fulbright Grantee to Malaysia and a graduate of Villanova University School of Business. Outside of her professional career, she enjoys hiking, rock climbing, surfing, scuba diving, and painting. Andrea is a volunteer Board Member of Bean Voyage and Victor’s Vision.

Andrew is the Founder and CEO of GDI, and also serves as an ex-officio member of GDI’s US Board, a member and the Chair of GDI’s Hong Kong Board, and a member and the Chair of the GDI Solutions fiscal sponsor entity Board. He shapes new opportunities for GDI to drive the global development sector forward and provides strategic guidance to select incubated initiatives. Andrew has played many roles within GDI initiatives, including Interim CEO of Convergence and of Emerging Public Leaders. He currently serves on the Boards of Aceli Africa, citiesRISE, and the Refugee Investment Network, as well as the Advisory Board of Upstart Co-Lab.

Prior to founding GDI, Andrew was the Global Operating Partner at Dalberg Global Advisors. During that time, he helped design and launch ANDE and served as the founding co-chairperson of mothers2mothers. Andrew holds a joint MBA/MPP from Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School and a BA in Economics from Princeton University. When he isn’t urging nonprofits toward their ‘endgames,’ Andrew can be found gardening, kayaking and chasing his young daughter around.

Sewit Ahderom is a member of the GDI Kenya Board and the Co-Founder and COO of Gro Intelligence. Previously, Sewit was a Vice President at Helios Investment Partners, an Africa-focused private investment fund with more than $1.7 billion in capital under management. She joined Helios after working with IPS, an investment arm of the Aga Khan Development Network focused on food and agro processing as well as infrastructure development. Before moving to Nairobi, Sewit was a VP at Citigroup’s Investment Banking Division in NY where she worked in the leveraged finance and global portfolio management teams. Sewit holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from University of Connecticut and an M.B.A. from Columbia University.

Habtamu Girma is currently a Local Partner Transition Advisor at USAID. He previously served as the GDI Development Impact Bond Compliance and Project Manager and the Executive Director of GDI Solutions, LLC. Prior to GDI, Habtamu served as a Senior Manager for Compliance at NASTAD. In this role, he was responsible to provide technical guidance and monitor procurement, contract and grant management practices, and compliance matters of the organization. Prior to this position, he has served as an Associate Director for the NASTAD Global Program and was responsible for leading the planning, implementation, monitoring, and successful transition and close-out of several USG funded projects in Eastern and Southern Africa region (Ethiopia, Botswana, Uganda, Mozambique, Nigeria and South Africa). Prior to joining NASTAD, Habtamu served as a Technical Officer for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-PEPFAR program in Ethiopia where he was responsible for overseeing multiple cooperative agreements, grants, and contracts of several local and international development partners.  Habtamu received his BA in Management and MA in International Relations from Addis Ababa University and his MPH from the University of Maryland. Habtamu is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified Federal Contract Manager (CFCM).

Xi Chen is member of GDI’s Hong Kong Board and Associate Director at Deloitte Sustainability & Climate Change team advising corporates, governments and NGOs on topics of transitioning to low carbon economy, developing corporate climate change strategy and measuring social impact. Prior to Deloitte China, Xi was Finance Director at Blue Ventures Conservation, a UK based environmental NGO that engages the coastal communities in alternative wealth creation and responsible fisheries supply chain to reduce their reliance on marine resources. Xi also has over 9 years of Finance & Strategy consulting experience from Accenture and PwC UK with expertise in managing sustainable change programs.

Xi worked with the Accenture Development Partnership, a not for profit arm of Accenture and advised a microfinance network to improve their outreach and impact in Africa. Xi is a qualified Chartered Accountant and has a master’s degree in Finance and Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Warwick in the UK. Xi is fluent in Mandarin Chinese, English, French and Romanian.

Grant Gordon is the Founder and CEO of Essential, a non-profit that leverages advances in basic science to create the next generation of cost-effective lifesaving products to tackle malnutrition. Prior to launching Essential, Grant was the Senior Director of Innovation Strategy at the International Rescue Committee, where he supported the organization’s 50+ R&D team to design, test, and scale new breakthrough products and services for humanitarian response. Grant has worked in leadership positions at the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, and has helped a number of UN agencies and NGOs establish new research and innovation units. He has worked and lived in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, West Africa, Somalia, and Haiti. Grant holds a Ph.D. in political science with a specialization in applied statistics from Columbia University and has a BA in public policy from the University of Chicago.

Ernest is a member of the GDI US board and a co-founder of the BroadReach Group of companies which focuses on using innovation and technology to improve the health and well-being of populations around the world. He is an internationally renowned expert in strategic planning, systems and large-scale program implementation in the health and social sectors. Ernest’s recent work has focused on the intersection of using new 4th Industrial Revolution technologies, big data analytics and organizational behavioral psychology to improve population and individual healthcare outcomes. He has worked with the private sector, governments, international normative organizations and non-governmental organizations across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and North America.

Ernest was selected a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and was named one of eighteen “Global Health Heroes” by TIME Magazine for his leadership in launching Africa’s first HIV public sector treatment program in Botswana. He is on the board of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship and has previously served on the board of the Medicines for Malaria Venture and on the advisory board of Gilead Health Sciences. He was a member of the President’s Advisory Council on HIV & AIDS during President Obama’s term. He is a frequent plenary speaker on strategies for implementing large-scale health and social sector interventions.

Before co-founding BroadReach, Ernest worked for ACHAP (funded by the Merck & Bill & Melinda Gates Foundations) in Botswana. Prior to that he worked as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company. Ernest earned his BS with honors in Chemistry, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received his MD from the Harvard Medical School, his MPH from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and his MBA from the Said School of Business at Oxford University (Balliol College) as a Fulbright Scholar.

Dr. Liow Chee Hsiang is a member of GDI’s Hong Kong board and a senior lecturer in the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health (National University of Singapore) since 2016. He currently lectures both Master and undergraduate students in global health, programme design/ implementation/ monitoring / evaluation (DIME).

Prior to that, Chee Hsiang worked in Bless China International (a US-based NGO in Yunnan Province) China for 14 years where he was the Managing Director of Operations and chairman of the General Management Team overseeing about 20 public health and global health projects including village doctor training, medical and dental clinics, HIV prevention and care, sex-workers projects, physical rehabilitation centres for the disabled and cerebral palsy children, autism centres, orphan prevention, orphan foster care projects and disaster relief. He has also been involved in several global health programmes in the Greater Mekong Region including HIV prevention, TB, and community-based healthcare. He has undertaken various evaluations in the region including China and Cambodia.

He advises a number of Singapore-based and International VWOs/NGOs and agencies in programme monitoring, evaluation and research (including the National Council of Social Services, Lien Aid, TOUCH Community Services, Children’s Cancer Foundation). He is also on the board of Bless China International.

Wadzi Katsidzira is a member of GDI Solutions fiscal sponsor entity Board. Wadzi is a sustainable finance specialist with over a decade of experience in private equity, government, and international development. She is passionate about building collaborative initiatives and organisations that are aimed at solving persistent global challenges such as enabling sustainable economic development, eliminating social injustice and enabling innovative finance models.

Wadzi is the founder of Taumba Advisory a strategy consultancy advising businesses, governments and investors on how to achieve growth and allocate capital in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals. She is also a Board Trustee at Feedback a campaign group that works to regenerate nature by reducing the demands placed on it by the food system.

Prior to founding Taumba, Wadzi was Vice President at Greenoaks, a private equity fund investing in Asian and African insurers. She was previously a Director at African Leadership Academy and an analyst at the Western Australian Treasury. She holds an MBA from INSEAD and undergraduate degrees in Commerce (with honours in Finance) and Science from the University of Western Australia.

Kate Montgomery is a member of the GDI Kenya Board and Associate Director, Strategic Partnerships at Acumen. She leads business development and partner engagement for our Pioneer Energy Investment Initiative and Africa.

Prior to joining Acumen, she was d.light’s Director of Global Partnerships for five years, developing d.light’s strategy for engaging with the public sector and other key partners globally. A key part of this work is the institutionalization of d.light’s strategy to rigorously measure and communicate their social impact. Prior to that, she was in the humanitarian aid sector working for Tuft’s Feinstein International Center and the International Rescue Committee in Pakistan and Haiti.

She holds a BA with honors in Political Science and East Asian Studies from Colgate University and a MS in Conflict Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Bilha Ndirangu is the Board Chairperson of GDI Kenya and the current and first non-founder CEO of African
Leadership Academy (ALA). She is driven to build great organizations that will shape Africa’s future in her lifetime.
Prior to joining African Leadership Academy, Bilha was the CEO of Africa’s Talking, based in Nairobi, Kenya. Africa’s
Talking enables the continent’s technology ecosystem by empowering software developers. Over seven years,
Bilha expanded Africa’s Talking into 20 markets, with offices in 14 African countries, and significant revenue
growth. Throughout her time at Africa’s Talking, Bilha gained a reputation as an extraordinary operator and team
builder. She has been recognized as an Endeavor Entrepreneur.

Bilha previously worked at Dalberg, where she was the first employee of the consulting firm’s Nairobi office. At Dalberg, she advised governments, corporations, and foundations across the continent on solutions to African challenges. She particularly thrived in education projects, including the design and delivery of Wings to Fly, Kenya’s leading secondary school scholarship program, with Equity Group and the Mastercard Foundation.

To date, Wings to Fly has enabled over 26,000 promising youth in Kenya to access high-quality secondary education. Bilha holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and a minor in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Before returning to Africa, she worked with the Mitchell Madison Group in New York City.

Elchi is the Chair of GDI’s US board and a Principal at the Carlyle Group in New York City. Prior to joining Carlyle in 2014, Elchi was Director and Counsel at Credit Suisse, where he served as head of Alternative Investments Legal for the Americas. Elchi also worked at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen + Hamilton LLP specializing in complex financial transactions, including private investment fund formation and private acquisitions.

Elchi currently sits on the Sub-Committee on Africa of the Advisory Committee of the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice. He is also a past Chair of the Committee on African Affairs of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Elchi has worked and lived in Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa.

Dr. Omchand Mahdu is a member of GDI Solutions fiscal sponsor entity Board and an international development practitioner with experience in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Tunisia, Uganda, and other parts of Africa. In his current role as Local Capacity Development Advisor at USAID/Uganda, he supports accountability, risk management, and system strengthening by coordinating and overseeing capacity building activities of local implementing partners.

Prior to joining USAID/Uganda, Omchand planned, coordinated, and led in-country project financial compliance reviews and pre-award surveys in support of USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (legacy Office of Food for Peace), and brings extensive experience advising and managing large donor-funded projects with responsibility for overall financial, operation, compliance, and risk management.

He holds a Ph.D. in Planning, Governance, and Globalization, a Master of Natural Resources (MNR), and an M.S. in Agricultural and Applied Economics from Virginia Tech. Additionally, he holds an M.S. in Industrial Technology and an MBA in Finance from Morehead State University. His undergraduate degree is in Accountancy from the University of Guyana.

Omchand is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), licensed in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and holds several other professional certificates. He is an Associate Professor of Practice at Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment where he teaches Global Issues in Environmental Sustainability in the Online Master of Natural Resources program.

Jane Mwangi is a member of the GDI Kenya Board and the CEO of AJW AFRICA (Apprentice Job Work Africa). AJW
AFRICA designs and executes Shared Value Programs on behalf of Local, International and Regional Banks,
Corporates, Donor Partners and other institutions seeking to create sustainable livelihoods in Africa, while realizing
far-reaching Business and Social Impact in varied sectors.

Development Executive with 30+ years experience in Program Design and Coordination, Resource Mobilization and Fund Negotiation. Conceptualized a job creation program that seeks to skill Africa’s youth for self-employment across five East African Nations. The program has received Continental and Global recognition, and won Accolades for both the Bank the Foundation including: 2018 Financial Times Award London (Bank of the Year Banking in the Community), 2017 Euro Bank, London (Bank of the Year Banking in Society Award), and on a personal leadership level 2018 African Woman Leader Award by the World CSR Community, Mauritius. Successfully negotiated a 125 Million Dollar partnership with MasterCard Foundation (MCF) for a project titled ‘MCF Young Africa Works – Kenya’. (September 2019 to August 2024 Project period).

Dr. Bernard Olayo is a member of the GDI Kenya Board and a Kenyan physician and public health specialist with more than 14 years’ experience as an Africa based Public Health Practitioner. He is also an entrepreneur and is the founder of a non-profit organization (Center for Public Health and Development) and three social enterprises working toward improving access to quality healthcare in Africa.

He currently serves as the Chair where he provides strategic direction, thought leadership and oversight of the CPHD programs and subsidiary social enterprises. Dr. Olayo is also a technical team member for several World Bank programs in East Africa and an advisor to several ministries of Health in the region- with the main focus on enhancing the role of private sector in improving access to health services and goods through public private partnerships.

He previously worked for Columbia University’s Earth Institute as a health specialist in the Millennium Villages Project, and Italian Development Corporation as a Health Advisor. He started his career with the Ministry of Health in Kenya as medical officer of health.

Gretchen is a member of GDI’s US board and is currently the Chief Executive Officer of GenerationHope, Inc., a consumer products company that reinvests its profits in innovative programming for the economic advancement of Filipinos.

Gretchen is passionate about building organizations that drive innovative, market-oriented solutions to enable inclusive growth, and has worked with a range of organizations to that end, including Goldman Sachs, McKinsey & Company, the US Department of State, TechnoServe and PRADAN. Gretchen is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and in addition to GDI, she currently serves on the Boards of GenerationHope and Friends of Hope in the Philippines.

She holds a Masters in International Development from Harvard University and has an A.B. in Economics, Spanish and Latin American Studies, summa cum laude, from Duke University.

Beth is a member of GDI’s US board and the Founder and Managing Director of Lucid Capital, an investment company focused on investing in and creating value in companies located in eastern and southern Africa.

Prior to establishing Lucid Capital, Beth worked for ONCAP Management Partners L.P., a $575 million middle market private equity fund established by Onex Corp. in Toronto, Canada to invest in North American small and mid-size companies. Beth was responsible for identifying, analyzing, negotiating, executing, and monitoring private equity investments.

Beth holds a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She is a native of Ethiopia.

Brian Trelstad is a Partner and Board Member of Bridges Fund Management, an investment fund that has raised and invested $1B in impact and sustainable investments. He is currently investing out of the U.S. Sustainable Growth Fund, and a director of ABIC, an impact-focused special purpose acquisition corporation formed in partnership with private-equity firm AEA. He is also a co-chair of the Impact Capital Managers, a network of over 60 market rate impact investors in the United States managing over $5B in AUM.

Brian began his career in impact investing in 2004 when he joined Acumen, where he was the Chief Investment Officer, overseeing the investment of more than $50M into portfolio companies in India, Pakistan, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Ghana. Prior to Acumen, Brian was a consultant at McKinsey & Company, a program officer at the Corporation for National Service and on the founding team of several for-profit and non-profit social enterprises. He serves on the boards of several of the portfolio companies at Bridges and two non-profits: VisionSpring and Candid.

He is a Kauffman Fellow and a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute. He has a BA from Harvard, an MBA from Stanford University, and a MA in City and Regional Planning from UC-Berkeley.  He teaches courses in social entrepreneurship and systems change and leadership for corporate accountability at Harvard Business School.

Jim Wert is member of GDI’s Hong Kong Board and the managing director of Wert & Associates, a consultancy focused on building strategic clarity and organizational health for a wide array of clients spanning from Fortune 500 businesses to nonprofit clients, including single-site agencies and national and international networks.

Prior to Wert Associates, Jim gained more than 20 years of experience as a strategic consultant with McKinsey & Company and Triaxia Partners. Jim also spent seven years in national and multinational corporate environments. He served as the Chief Financial Officer at National Service Industries’ (NSI) Atlantic Envelope Division, directing strategic planning, performance management, sourcing, and merger and acquisitions efforts. Prior to NSI, Jim served as the Vice President of Marketing for Mead Coated Board, where he led market assessment, customer service, logistics, and product development teams.

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with majors in political science and German, Jim earned his MBA from the Harvard Business School where he was a Baker Scholar.