AARON OGUNDE

Co-founder, Damu Sasa

Ogunde Aaron Ochieng is the Co-Founder of Damu Sasa, an innovative end-to-end blood services information management platform that seeks to save lives through facilitating the timely availability of safe blood for transfusion, especially to mothers and children, in Africa. Damu Sasa saves lives every day. Ogunde has a background in ICT.  

ABDUL MOHAMED  

Head of Portfolio, EAST AFRICA, Acumen  

Abdul joined Acumen East Africa in 2019 where he works on supporting education innovations, overseeing the complete lifecycle of investments. Most recently, Abdul was an Investment Manager with Grand Challenges Canada, one of the largest impact-first investors in Canada, where Abdul focused on mHealth and humanitarian innovations tackling global health challenges. Also, Abdul has supported UNICEF’s Office of Innovation as a business model mentor, in addition to working with Social Venture Partners-Toronto (a global network of engaged philanthropy that supports local non-profits). Abdul is a recovering engineer who spent several years designing and deploying robots to inspect nuclear power plants. Abdul loves photography, learning new random facts, and being the best uncle to his niece. 

ADEKEMI AJAYI

Regional Director, Acumen West Africa

Adekemi’s breadth of experience in finance, strategy, and consulting spans over 25 years from various senior and executive management roles in Finance, Strategic Advisory, Investment Banking and Corporate Restructuring. Her strengths derive from combining leadership, knowledge, strategic thinking, and a hands-on approach to problem-solving in companies across sectors including telecommunications, asset management, a regional conglomerate, investment banking and advisory services.

AGNES KARIUKI

Sustainability, Safaricom PLC

Agnes is a responsible business and sustainability practitioner who is passionate about sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She has proven competencies in policy formulation and implementation of social policy projects on human rights issues and reducing inequalities in line with SDG 10. In addition, she has engaged in sustainability reporting, research, shared value partnerships and the Safaricom Foundation’s strategy development. Agnes has over 10 years progressive experience in various roles - in East Africa’s largest and most profitable company, Safaricom PLC- such as project management, operational management, unparalleled customer management, financial management and reporting.  Agnes holds a degree in Community Development and Psychology from Daystar University and a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from United States International University (USIU-Africa).

ALICE ACOMO

Proprietor & Co-founder, Serve the Nation  Uganda 

Acomo Alice is a Proprietor and Co-Founder of Restoration of Hope Uganda and Mt. Gerizim Nursery & Primary school in Uganda. This is an initiative created to see the community living in extreme poverty become self-sufficient and poverty-free by supporting children to achieve education and empower the local community with diverse knowledge, livelihoods and resources. Alice also offers business and financial management consulting services to young people and emerging organizations or institutions.

BERNADETTE MUYOMI

Founder, African Grassroots

Bernadette is a multiple award-winning social entrepreneur and social justice advocate. Also, the founder of African Grassroots where she serves as a board member. She has 10 years of work experience in the NGO sector in Kenya and internationally and 4 in the government. Her expertise is in policy formulation, social inclusion and intersectional program design. At Green Agri Ventures she provides strategic leadership with focus on building partnerships. She is also passionate about politics and good governance. She is a fellow of various leadership programs like the Young African Leadership Initiative (East Africa), Global Change Leaders (Canada), International Visitor Leadership Program Fellow (USA), Mo Ibrahim Governance Program (Morocco), Y-gap entrepreneurship program (Kenya) and Acumen, 2019 among others. 

BRIAN ONDENG

Senior Portfolio Associate, Acumen East Africa

Brian joined Acumen as a Senior Portfolio Associate in 2021, where he supports the portfolio team in identification, due diligence and execution of pipeline investments focussed on empowering impoverished communities across East Africa. Prior to Acumen, he worked for Pharo Ventures, where he was involved in establishing several social ventures aimed at creating 100s of jobs across East Africa. Prior to this, Brian served several years in PwC’s deals department driving and supporting a myriad of mergers and acquisitions across the region. Brian is highly passionate about seed-stage African social entrepreneurship, especially driven by African youth. 

ELIGUARD DAWSON

Strategy Lead, Leadership Ladder Tanzania

Eliguard serves as a Strategy, Training and Coaching Lead at Leadership Ladder Tanzania, an innovative leadership development company he co-founded in 2017. In 2010, Eliguard decided to become a student of leadership, and over time, he enjoys his journey to develop himself and others as leaders through lifelong learning approaches. Previously he served as Country Director at Digital Opportunity Trust and D-tree International, Chair of the National Board at Restless Development, Senior Manager at KPMG and an Associate Director at United States Peace Corps. Eliguard is passionate about personal development and believes that everyone has a gift of leadership in them, but it takes intentional efforts to become an effective leader through leadership development. He is an Acumen Fellow, a marathoner, a small-holder farmer, a bookworm and an amateur writer.  

ENGIDAWORK LEMMA

Youth Development Specialist, International Samaritan

Engidawork is an Ethiopian social entrepreneur, social impact advocate and youth empowerer.  He had spent most of his time in the provision of training for different target groups, the main focus being youth for the purpose of helping them realize their self-esteem and hidden potential. Engidawork works as a youth development specialist at International Samaritan and is a co-founder of Samaritan Health and Education Support P.L.C.  Samaritan Health and Education Support Center pls is a social enterprise established to support students and their families whose main source of income is based on garbage collection and recycling through the provision of scholarship opportunities covering their expensive school fees to get quality education, need for an extra hand to feed their families that results in high dropout rates.

Engidawork always stretches himself towards enabling Ethiopian youth, specifically beneficiaries at Samaritan to understand their abilities and talents for the realization of their values. Engidawork holds a Master’s degree in Sociology from Indira Gandhi National Open University and BA degree from Haramaya University.  Engidawork is a proud Acumen East Africa fellow of the year 2016! 

EUNICE OWINO

Partnerships Strategist for Power for the People UK, and Co-founder, Centre for Women Empowerment in Technology (CWE-TECH)

Eunice is the co-founder and Board chairperson of the Centre for Women Empowerment in Technology (CWE-TECH).  She is a pioneer County Chief Officer in the devolved government system in Kenya in the sectors of Education, ICT, Youth and Vocational Education and Training from 2014 to 2019. Eunice has 21 years of work experience in both government and non-governmental organizations on education, ICT, TVET, youth and women’s programs.  Eunice is a Board Member for Comesa, Federation  Women in Business COMFWB. She is East Africa Acumen Fellow for Cohort 2018, Technovation Judge Advisor, World Pulse ambassador and an Advisory Member of International Academy of Science, Technology, Engineering and Management (IASTEM).

EVELYNE SERRO

Senior Manager - Sustainability, Safaricom PLC

Eve is an accomplished professional with over 12 years of experience in; Communication, Government & Public Affairs, Sustainability and Stakeholder Management, cutting across various industries in Oil & Gas, Manufacturing, and Security. She was previously the Senior Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Advisor at Tullow Oil; she was responsible for leading and implementing communication and multi-level stakeholder engagement strategies for the complex oil and gas project. She is passionate about social change and continuously leverages opportunities to create shared value. Eve is a certified GRI professional, holds a Master of Arts in International Relations (Peace and Conflict) from USIU-A and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication from Daystar University.

FLORA GITARI

Associate Director of Program Finance - Acumen East Africa

Flora serves as the Associate Director of Program Finance at Acumen East Africa with a significant role in planning and overseeing all issues related to the successful and efficient financial management of the EA regional office. She has significant international experience over 20 years and has worked closely with the private sector, Government and Public institutions in Southern Africa, the Middle East and East Africa. She has immense skill in financial management and a development planning Specialist expert. She holds a Bachelor of Administration degree in Development Studies from the University of South Africa, and a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Sustainable Development Planning and Management, from Cape town-South Africa. She is a Certified Public Accountant of Kenya (CPA(K) and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK), and the National Board of Accountants and Auditors of Tanzania (NBAA-T).

FLORENCE AKARA

Collabo254 - Founder

Florence is an 2022 East Africa Acumen Fellow. She graduated from the University of Botswana with a degree in law and worked in corporate law before transitioning to advocacy campaigns for Chapter One Kenya. Driven by her personal commitment to social justice issues, she joined Femme International in 2018 as its Director and has since been a powerful advocate for equality, challenging gender stereotypes and engaging communities in conversation. Florence is a natural collaborator, problem-solver and organiser, and she spurs people into action with grace, compassion, and empathy. Florence's new initiative; Collabo254, is desirous of addressing systemic gaps faced by African leaders in social impact/development work.

GEORGE OKUTHE

Energy Portfolio Manager, Acumen East Africa

As the Energy Portfolio Manager, George is responsible for sourcing, vetting, structuring, closing, managing and exiting investments in the sector.  He started his career at Deloitte East Africa as a Business Analyst in Corporate Finance. He then joined LGT Venture Philanthropy where he assisted execute new investments, avail follow-on capital, and perform all aspects of portfolio management. Moving to Industrial Promotion Services as the Group Financial Analyst, he assisted industrial companies with business valuations, due diligence and feasibility studies. He also assisted revive a large greenfield agricultural project which had stalled for close to a year, bringing it back to action by running with activities ranging from operations and corporate governance to financial management. 

JEDIDAH NDUBI

Senior Portfolio Associate, Acumen East Africa 

Jedidah commenced her role as a Senior Portfolio Associate at Acumen in 2022, where she supports the portfolio team with the identification, due diligence, and execution of pipeline investments that are aimed at uplifting vulnerable communities in East Africa. Before joining Acumen, she honed her skills in Transaction Advisory and Corporate Finance Services at PwC, where she played an integral role in various M&A transactions and capital-raising processes. Driven by her passion for social impact, Jedidah is committed to using her expertise to effect meaningful change in the lives of low-wealth, underserved individuals across the globe.

JOHN NYAGWENCHA

CEO, Aqua Clara Kenya

John Nyagwencha is the CEO of Aqua Clara Kenya, an organization he has been involved with since 2011. In his role, John leads a team of 30 employees and over 500 community agents engaged in the promotion and distribution of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) solutions across East Africa. Under John’s leadership, Aqua Clara Kenya has become an established brand in the WASH sector, gaining B corporation certification and developing partnerships with various reputable local and international organizations. John is a 2020 Acumen Fellow and an alumni of the IKEA/Acumen Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator Programme.  

JUDE OKONGO

Director of Programs and Business Development, Youth Alive Uganda

Youth Alive Uganda, is a National NGO whose mission is to holistically empower children and youth to become resilient and live fulfilling lives. Jude is social worker with 10 years of experience in integrated youth development programming, and an experienced program content developer and trainer with a particular interest in applied learning and participatory training methodologies. He holds a Master’s degree in Institutional Management and Leadership of Uganda Management Institute.

KATE MONTGOMERY

Head of Business Development, Acumen  

As Head of Business Development, Acumen Capital Partners, Kate leads our fundraising for our blended finance funds and manages our partnerships with DFIs and PRI investors globally. She previously led Acumen’s business development and partner engagement for bilateral and multilateral government partners and before that launched Acumen’s Pioneer Energy Investment Initiative. Prior to joining Acumen, she was d.light’s Director of Global Partnerships for five years, developing their strategy for engaging with the public sector and other key partners globally. 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. 

LEO HENGHES

Team Lead, United Social Ventures

Leo Henghes is the Founder and Team Lead of United Social Ventures, a nonprofit venture builder for innovative social startups at the start of their journeys to cross the ‘pioneer gap’. He graduated from Oxford University in 2013 with a degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. He’s lived in Uganda ever since – starting at Makerere University’s Nsibirwa Hall and now in Jinja with his family. USV has supported over 150 ventures to raise over $1.3M. His work has won him recognition as a 2016 YouthActionNet Global Fellow, a 2018 Praxis Emerging Founder, and 2022 Acumen East Africa Fellow.

LYNNETTE MICHENI

Organization Development Practitioner

Lynnette is a versatile Systems Change Leader & Organization Development Practitioner with a keen interest in positioning organizations for well-being, efficiency and realization of purpose. She is highly skilled in organization development, resource mobilization, project management and grants administration. Her practice spans over 10 years, in youth development, social enterprise, social accountability, sports for development and education with various partners including World Bank, Ford Foundation, Internews, ILO, Emerging Leaders Foundation, Moving The Goal Posts and Kenya Community Development Foundation.  

MAGDALENA BANASIAK

Head of Government Development and Partnerships, Acumen

As Head of Government Partnership Development, Magdalena leads our fundraising for Acumen Climate Resilient Agriculture - Trellis and manages our bilateral and multilateral government partnerships and programmes focusing on gender lens investing, youth employment and climate resilience. Prior to joining Acumen, she was Head of Tech and Innovation for the UK International Development Agency. She has over 25 years of experience working in a range of roles in International Development across Africa, MENA and Asia, working for funders such as UK FCDO/DFID, leading on climate, infrastructure and tech advisory, thought leadership,  strategic partnerships and private sector development and investment.

MARTHA OSIRO

Executive Director of Enlight Institute

Martha manages the Uganda branch of the Aga Khan University Hospital, which provides quality healthcare and medical education in East Africa. She has engaged over 17,000 Ugandans through outreach events that offer treatment, health education and referrals. She is passionate about improving health systems, helping people understand their health and how and where to access quality care. Martha seeks to create a culture of prevention rather than cure where early interventions are made in an effort to save lives. Her vision is to see a marginalized people enlightened, empowered and healthy contributing to the development of East Africa. 

NANCY NJOKI

Finance & Administration Director, Acumen East Africa

Nancy serves as the Finance and Operations lead at Acumen East Africa. She has an extensive background in strategic finances, human resources and administrative management. Nancy has previously worked with local organizations and international NGOs including Church World Service, FARM Africa, World Neighbors and Rockefeller Foundation at the regional offices in Nairobi.  Nancy’s work includes Financial Accounting, Budgeting, Variance Analysis, Tax and Legal Compliance.

NORAH MAGERO 

Co-founder of Drop Access NGO, CEO of Drop Access Limited

Drop Access is an organization that develops sustainable rural communities by providing access to clean energy technologies. The organization advocates for the productive use of energy by bridging the financing gaps, innovating cold storage technologies, capacity development and advocacy. Norah is Mechanical Engineer, Renewable Energy Expert and innovator. Her work is dedicated to seeing that Africa becomes an equal technology producer in the world

NYAGOA NYUON

Co-founder and Director of Catwalk to Freedom in South Sudan

The organization helps protect girls who are at risk of being forced into early marriage through fashion, photography, and film awareness. Catwalk also supports survivors and girls at risk with continuing their education. Prior to Catwalk, Nyagoa worked with the South Sudan Government, in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Investment where she advocated for the protection of the rights of women, girls and refugees.

OGHENEKOME ORUADE 

Fellows Programme Manager, Acumen West Africa

Kome leads the Acumen Academy Fellows Program in West Africa. Before joining Acumen, Kome worked as an Associate Consultant (Fellow) at the Mastercard Foundation on the Young-Africa-Works Project focused on enabling 30 million youths across Africa to access dignified work by 2030. Until 2018, she was the Chief Executive Officer of The Write House. A qualified legal practitioner and arbitrator, Kome was a Partner at Assizes Lawfirm. She holds an MBA from the Lagos Business School.

OLIVE SAFARI

Country Manager, Miracle Corners Rwanda

The organisation is an affiliate of MCW Global in New York. Responsible for the implementation, operation, donor engagement, fundraising activities, and review of all programs at MCR where youth are provided competent skills in Technical vocational training and market readiness, preparing them for the Labor market. Olive holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology and a Post Graduate from Maastricht School of Management in the Netherlands.

ORITSEWEYINMI JOSEPHINE SMITH 

Fellows Associate, Acumen West Africa

Before Acumen Academy, Weyinmi was a Corporate Communications Lead and Program Officer at the Enterprise Development Centre of the Pan Atlantic University. While there, she brought her skills in multi-platform content development and scheduling, analytics, customer and stakeholder engagement, and strategic communications to support the organization’s objectives. She also supported community outreach and facilitation. Weyinmi enjoys accompanying entrepreneurs; She has worked on a project with the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women aimed at educating female entrepreneurs on finance and investment readiness. More recently, she worked on a Mastercard Foundation project seeking to create 200,000 jobs for Nigerian Youths. 

OPOLOT EPHRAIM

Founder and Director of Ezel Nursery and Primary School (ENPS) in Uganda. 

ENPS is committed to building a firm educational foundation for the rural children of Pallisa with a focus on quality education geared towards narrowing the inequality gap between urban and rural children. His vision is to ensure that a child's future is not dependent on whether they are urban or rural. 

OYINDAMOLA ADEGBOYE

Senior Associate, Acumen West Africa

Oyindamola serves as Senior Associate, West Africa Fellows Program where she is responsible for designing and managing all the West Africa community initiatives.

Before joining Acumen, Oyindamola was Grants and Special Projects Coordinator at LEAP Africa where she supported the leadership team in executing the organization's strategy by mobilizing resources, building multi-sectoral partnerships and managing short-term and multi-year grants. 

PAULINE WANJA

Program Director, Future First Kenya

Future First Kenya is part of a global movement to build alumni communities in public schools. Their goal is to help strengthen public education systems and create fairer societies by engaging former students as career role models, sports coaches, mentors and governors at their old schools. In 2011 she founded Living in a Shanty Town, a network of support to address the aspiration gap of young people born in poverty. She sits on the Civicus Board and is a director for the African Social Entrepreneurs Network.

RADHA KARNAD

Chief Medical Officer at HealthX Africa

Radha believes that every woman and her family should view childbirth with excitement and joy rather than with fear of debt, disability, or death. She is passionate about improving health systems to provide equitable access to high-quality healthcare for low-income women. Radha is a medical doctor with an MPH from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and is an 2016 Acumen East Africa Fellow and 2016-2017 Afya Bora Global Health Leadership Fellow. She is a founding team member and Chief Medical Officer at HealthX Africa, a virtual medical service built with the vision of A Doctor for Every Kenyan. 

REKIK BEKELE

Co-founder, RK Renew Energy

Rekik is from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and is the co-founder of RK Renew Energy, a company that manufactures efficient, ceramic cook-stoves and solar lights for refugee camps. After only six months, RK Renew won a 2015 SEED Africa Award in the energy sector—a prestigious grant given to locally-led social and environmental start-ups in developing countries—and is currently a finalist in the World Bank-funded CIC Award. Her hope is that RK Renew Energy can provide improved cook-stoves at low prices to disadvantaged communities and ultimately foster better, more competitive local energy markets in East Africa. An Electrical Engineering graduate from Addis Ababa University, Rekik has worked as a renewable-energy consultant on various development and private-sector projects. She is a fellow of RENAC Germany, a board member of the Ethiopian Solar Association and, in addition to RK Renew Energy, runs her own sports tourism company and bakery co-op on the side.

ROSELYNN AWILI

Program Director, Dignitas Ltd

Roselynn is the Program Director at Dignitas Ltd in Kenya. Dignitas uses an innovative training and coaching approach to empower schools and educators in marginalized communities to transform students’ opportunities. Roselynn leads the programs team in strategic direction setting and, is a certified strategic management and leadership professional who believes that leadership involves pursuing excellence and making a difference.

ROY KIHARA

Senior Finance Associate, Acumen East Africa

Roy has an extensive background in audit and financial accounting having worked with audit firms: Grant Thornton, VKM and Nyaga Associate & Co. He has also worked with the National Council of Kenya YMCA. Roy loves music (listening, singing, and dancing), watching documentaries, and reading and is a covert sports follower.

RUTH WAIRIMU

Senior Associate, Acumen East Africa

Ruth joined Acumen East Africa in 2022 and focuses on the end-to-end deal process including sourcing, investment appraisal and post-close portfolio management. More recently, Ruth worked with Optimizer Foundation driving Pre-Seed and Seed investments in Healthtech and Edtech primarily in East Africa. Prior to that, she began her career in venture capital working on investments in decentralized renewable energy assets in some of the least electrified countries in Africa. 

SARAH FAROOQ

Associate Director, Acumen Academy 

Sarah oversees the operations of the Acumen Fellowship program across all regions.  She is passionate about building companies solving problems of poverty and has launched and scaled three social enterprises. Before joining Acumen, she was COO at Taleemabad, an EdTech founded by an Acumen Fellow in Pakistan. At Taleemabad, she managed the overall operations and strategy and helped the company increase its impact footprint to 10 million children.  Sarah is also an Acumen Fellow from the 2017 cohort and holds a Bachelor's degree in Accounting and Finance from Lahore University of Management Sciences, and a Master of Arts in International Political Economy and Development from Fordham University.

SARAH KARANJA

Research Scientist 

Sarah is from Nairobi, Kenya and is the Project Manager of WelTel, which leverages mobile phone technology to improve health outcomes for HIV/AIDS patients. WelTel's technology has proven to be effective at increasing anti-retroviral adherence through clinical trials, and has helped hundreds of patients. She holds a Master’s degree in Medical Sociology from the University of Nairobi.

SELAM KAHSAY

Health and Wellness Specialist

Selam is the leader of the Health and Wellness program at SHE in Ethiopia. A social enterprise that supports students and their families whose main source of income is based on garbage collection and recycling. Selam works very closely with the Kore community to tackle years-long health problems. Prior to joining SHE, Selam worked as a consultant for a Non-profit called Lifebox that works to make surgery and anaesthesia safer on a global scale. Selam holds an MPH from AAU. 

SHIRU MWANGI

Regional Director, Acumen East Africa

Shiru is the Acumen East Africa Regional Director. She comes to Acumen with 25 years of experience and a deep understanding of markets, transactions, investing, agriculture, and managing large teams. She also owns her own farm - she’s a grower and exporter. Prior to Acumen Shiru was the Head of Agriculture and Debt Financing at responsibility, where she managed debt financing and investment in agribusiness in Africa, handling a total of $70M spread over commodity trading and process companies in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Togo, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Egypt, and Tunisia.

SULEIMAN SHIFAW

Creative and Managing Director, Impact Communication (ICM) Savannah Printing Press and Felek

Suleiman is the Owner and Creative Director of Impact Communication, an innovative communication company in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The company uses social and behaviour change communication to improve the lives of Ethiopians affected by poor hygiene, malnutrition and HIV/AIDS as well as other health and development related issues. Impact communication has partnered with the Government of Ethiopia and international development organizations including: UNICEF, UNAIDS, Marie Stopes, Mercy Cops, SNV and WFP. In one of his recent endeavors he started a printing press, Savannah, under which he started manufacturing traditionally hand-made notebooks made entirely from recycled material that represent the artisanal/artistic side of Ethiopia.

SYLVIA KAKYO

Director of Enlight Vocational Institute 

She's the UN Global Youth Ambassador (GYA) for A world at school and 2016 Africa youth award winner for the Advocate of the year as well as an Acumen fellow for 2017. Sylvia is also the Selection committee Chair for Young African Leaders Initiative Regional Leadership Center for Uganda Chapter (YALI RLC) an Initiative of the former U.S President Barak Obama. She is the first youth from Uganda to represent GYA's from 80 Countries at the 72nd United Nations General Assembly in New York -USA. Sylvia was named most influential 100 young Africans 2017 Africa youth awards. She's a lawyer by profession who is passionate about human rights and child education.

TANGUN STEPHEN 

Executive Director, Star Trust Organization (STO)

Tangun Stephen is a co-founder and executive director of Star Trust Organization (STO), an indigenous organization improving the livelihoods of rural communities in South Sudan. He is also a co-founder of Kings College secondary school (Yambio). Tangun reckons economic empowerment as the best strategy to liberate his people from poverty and has committed his time to designing projects and ventures aimed at helping farmers improve their productivity and incomes.

TERESA NJOROGE

Founder, Clean Start Solutions

Clean Start gives second chances through collaboration with those who desperately need it and receive it graciously knowing they won't need a third. Clean Start ensures successful re-integration back into society of re-formed ex-inmates.An active Discharge Board member of various Women Prisons in Kenya, through the Ministry of Home Affairs - Prison department, working closely with the department of rehabilitation and social work of Kenya Prisons. A former professional banker with some of the International Banks in Kenya, she is a graduate of the University of Pune, a Vital Voices Lead Global 2015 Fellow.

TSEDALE KINFU

Executive Directress, New Bright Community Development Center

Tsedale Kinfu is the Founder and Executive Directress of New Bright Community Development Center (NBCDC). She strongly desires and is committed to transforming and empowering children, youth, and women. 

Before her current position, Tsedale was a teacher, trainer, and project coordinator. Her extensive experience in programs focuses on social, educational, and different personal and economic empowerment program give her ample knowledge in designing and implementing projects transforming children, youth, and women's lives. 

Besides leading NBCDC, she is a trainer on leadership, personal development, emotional Intelligence, and mentorship.  

VISION NYAJI

Senior Legal Associate, Acumen East Africa

Vision Nyaji is Acumen's EA Senior Legal Associate. In her role, she serves as legal lead for all functions in East Africa, including driving Acumen’s investments and exits in the region (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia and South Sudan). In previous roles, she worked in various capacities within top tier as well as boutique law firms practicing the law in fields such as litigation, conveyancing, business development and intensive legal research. She is an Advocate of the High court of Kenya and is passionate about upholding justice and is a champion for human dignity.

YAYERI NAVUGA

Bless a Child Foundation - Uganda

Yayeri is the Operations Manager at Bless a Child Foundation, which provides support services to children up to 17 years old suffering from cancer and related infections. Established in 2007, the organization was created to address Uganda’s need for adequate access to medical care and support for pediatric cancer patients. Yayeri, who developed her passion for working with pediatric cancer patients after visiting a children’s cancer home, is also part of the Patient Support Working Group, which helps spread awareness about cancer.

XIAO CHENG WONG

Program Lead, Acumen Malaysia

Xiao Cheng builds a community of valued-based leaders to build a Malaysia filled with hope and dignity. She is a 2020 Acumen Fellow, and Founding Partner of Earth Heir, a pioneer social enterprise that celebrates Malaysia’s varied heritage art forms. With her unique sense for meaningful connections and background in entrepreneurship, she started her impact work through Social Enterprise Alliance Malaysia and Impact Hub Singapore. Xiao Cheng is also an alumna of The Global Good Fund, Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship and awardee of Prestige 40 Under 40.

f safe blood for transfusion, especially to mothers and children, in Africa. Damu Sasa saves lives every day. Ogunde has a background in ICT.