Our Founders and Board of Directors
Rosine Assamoi
Country of Residence: Canada
Expertise: Co-founder and Executive Vice-President of Afrisda with over 22 years experience in international development – Strategic planning, program implementation, oversight, coordination, and technical support. Extensive experience in HIV/AIDs including Youth and OVCs, Maternal and newborn health (MNCH), Sexual Reproductive Health, Exclusive breastfeeding, gender-based violence (FGM), Child migration/Children on the move, Education, Child labour, Water Sanitation and Hygiene, Economic empowerment
Country of Experience: Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Benin, Niger, Cameroon, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea Conakry, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Sudan.
Experience with donors: GAC, ILO, DFID, USAID, EU, Governments and UN agencies, Foundations, Banks, private sectors
Languages: English and French
Dr. Djo D. Matangwa
Country of Residence: Canada
Expertise: Co-founder and former CEO of Afrisda, 13 years of experience in developing, implementing, and leading complex sexual and reproductive health and right and gender equity portfolio, HIV and Nutrition in development and humanitarian contexts such refugees, IDPs, and returnees while working in coordination and collaboration, strategy planning, program technical advisor and, supporting national offices and multi-stakeholder grants, and diverse organizational environments that working in a complex matrix system. Country of Experience: Burkina Faso, Burundi, Canada, Central African Republic, DRC, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Sudan.
Experience with donors: Global Affairs Canada, DFID, USAID, EU, Belgium Government, and UN agencies.
Languages: English and French.
Our Technical Experts and Advisors
Gaby Cabrera-Serra (PhD)
Country of Residence: Guinea/Spain
Expertise: 17 years of professional experience on:
- Social & Health Innovation, Human Rights Activist & Change Maker: resilience, recovery, sustainable development, and fragile context.
- Systemic thinking- designer solutions – SDG change-maker and thinker activist
- Preparedness, Readiness, and Capacity Building (PCB)
- Expertise in HSS, RBF, UHC
Senior Programs Manager in several contexts: crisis, large and complex crisis-conflicts, even disasters, hazard, and emergency rapid response. Programs, Campaigns, and strategies design focused on SDG, Human Rights, and peace-democracy. Mainstreamed in grants management, funds raising, and advocacy (programs and campaigns). Large experience in early/ recovery and BBB, preparedness and DRM-DRR, reconstruction and development based rights approach as well.
Country of Experience: DRC, Niger, Liberia, Sierra Leona, Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Benin, Uganda, Kenya Tanzania, and Burundi.
Experience with donors: UE: FED-ER / DIP-ECHO / EuropeAid and CE, USAID, AFD/CDC/CDI-MAE, DFID/UKAID, SIDA, CIDA, UN agencies.
Languages: French, English, Spanish, and Portuguese
Dr. Mozart M. Wilondja
Country of Residence: Burundi
Expertise: 14 years of experience working with INGOs in complex humanitarian contexts, managing and implementing emergency, post-emergency, recovery and forgotten crisis & development projects/programs in Africa and Haiti. Experienced with multisectorial Needs Assessment, Analysis and Concept, Program Design, Implementation, Monitoring & Evaluation, etc. Strong experience in managing major outbreaks: Cholera response and Ebola response programs in Africa and Haiti.
Country of Experience: D.R. Congo, Burundi, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Mali and Haiti.
Experience with donors: ECHO, USAID/ BPRM/ OFDA, HFF, COOPERATION SUISSE/DDC, POOLED FUND, BMZ, DFID, UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF, WHO/CERF
Languages: English and French
Rabi Hagne Seck
Country of Residence: Senegal
Expertise: Consultant expert in youth and women socio-economic empowerment. 32 years of professional experience in supporting communities and partners in program development and implementation for women and youth both in rural and urban areas.All programs aimed to strengthening the socio_economic power of adolescents boys and girls and women. These included issues of gender, savings and credit, economic and social entrepreneurship, value chain analysis, leadership in order to facilitate access to youth and women to decision making bodies.
Country of Experience: Senegal, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo, Gambia, Niger, Benin, USA, France.
Experience with donors: Master Card Foundation, DFID, USAID, EU, UN agencies
Languages: English and French
Roy Mutandwa
Country of Residence: Zimbabwe
Expertise: Roy is an experienced MEAL specialist for humanitarian and international development programmes and strategies. He has demonstrable thematic experience and knowledge in public health, education, resilience and DRR (to climatic events such as drought), livelihoods, agriculture programme monitoring, protection, displacement and gender sensitive studies and programmes. His public health experience includes research for strengthening of public health systems, WASH, public health with a focus on HIV/AIDS and maternal and child health. He has extensive experience of designing sampling frameworks, data collection tools and training enumerators in data collection approaches, as well as coordinating data collection and organising logistics and managing budgets. Roy is experienced with collecting data on smart phones/tablets and using the online ODK platform to track data and support the mentoring of enumerators, as well as applying quality standards such as the OECD/DAC evaluation criteria in analysis and reporting. Roy has experience of supporting a range of organisations through focused consultancies and is highly motivated, flexible and committed to produce quality evidence to support decision making, policy and strategy development..
Country of Experience: Zimbabwe, South Africa, South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Somaliland, Thailand, Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon’s Island.
Experience with donors: USAID, World Bank, UN, DFID, OFDA, Peace Building Fund (PBF),Global Affairs Canada (GAC), SIDA
Languages: English
Dr. Cecilia Makafu
Country of Residence: Tanzania
Expertise: She is a public health specialist holding MD and MPH (Clinical practice and Policy) with more than 10 years’ experience in the area. She has worked in a number of thematic areas including TB/HIV, Nutrition, Child Survival, Malaria and sexual and reproductive health. Also founder of Great World Plus Consulting firm in Tanzania. Her key area is project management specifically project design/ development, proposal writing, evaluations/ analysis and research.
Country of Experience: Tanzania, USA and Malawi.
Experience with donors: DFID, USAID, CDC, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UN Agencies.
Languages: English and Swahili
Bento Novela
Country of Residence: Mozambique
Expertise: International consultant focused on Governance, Strategic partnership, Resources Mobilization, Human Rights and Gender. Led the development of Resources Mobilization Strategies for nine CSO funded by OXFAM (AGIR Program), namely: JOINT, GMD, ADEL Cabo Delgado, AMME, PNDH, Sociedade Alberta, AKILIZETHO, FACILIDAE, and ESTAMOS (all from Mozambique).
Country of Experience: Mozambique, Madagascar, Tanzania, Kenya, and Seychelles.
Experience with donors: USAID, DFID, ACCD Spain, AVCD Spain, Global Fund, Sida Sweden, Big Lottery, JICA Japan, TX Foundation China, Norad, Government of Finland, Embassies in Mozambique: Sweden, Switzerland, German, Belgic, Canada, Portugal, Norway
Languages: English and Portuguese
Annet Kyarimpa
Country of Residence: Uganda
Expertise: Public health specialist with over 18years of experience in managing sexual and reproductive health programs including program design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation with special focus on maternal and adolescent sexual and reproductive health, including family planning, cervical cancer screening and preventive therapy, HIV prevention, prevention of unsafe abortion and male involvement in sexual reproductive health services. She is very passionate about improving maternal and adolescent sexual and reproductive health especially among the poor, vulnerable, and underserved populations.
Country of Experience: Uganda.
Experience with donors: USAID, DFID, DANIDA, SIDA, Gates Foundation, IPPF.
Languages: English
Tambudzai Muzenda
Country of Residence: South Africa
Expertise: Over 15 years of international experience with project management including design, planning, implementation, and evaluation, including research with a specific focus on improving gender equality, sexual reproductive health, and rights, including adolescent and youth-friendly services inclusive of contraception, family planning, and abortion services.
Country of Experience: Canada, DRC, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Kenya, Swaziland, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Experience with donors: GIZ, EU, World Bank, GAC, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDP, Global Fund, Gavi.
Languages: English
Peninah Kimiri
Country of Residence: Kenya
Expertise: A consummate gender professional with over 9 years profession experience, primarily in prevention and response to Gender-Based Violence (GBV), delivering expert and practical implementation strategies on mitigating GBV in developmental and humanitarian contexts: Supporting and complementing existing structures on national, regional and global levels, specifically: technical support, gender and GBV mainstreaming, GBV prevention, risk mitigation and response, case management, capacity building, coordination, CRSV response, social behavior change communication (SBCC), institutional strengthening, and data driven advocacy.
Country of Experience: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda.
Experience with donors: Danida, DFiD ECHO, EU, GAC, USAID, UNFPA, UNWOMEN, IrishAid, KfW, Governments and UN agencies, Foundations, Banks, Private Donors.
Languages: English, Swahili and Spanish
Cedric Mubikayi
Country of Residence: USA
Expertise: Cedric holds a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a Masters degree in Public Health as well as a Graduate Certificate in Global Planning and International Development from Virginia Tech, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Public Health (Epidemiology) from Kent State University. He has worked on health projects, especially related to sexually transmitted diseases and youth pregnancy both in the DRC and the United States. In addition, his current research involves African refugee populations living in the United States.
Country of Experience: DRC and USA.
Experience with donors:
Languages: English and French
Weston K. Msowoya
Country of Residence: Malawi
Expertise: Acting National Coordinator for Malawi Human Rights Youth Network (MHRYN) a local network of about 46 local NGOs working on human rights, governance and gender being hosted by CCYD Malawi as National Secretariat and National Coordinator for Girls Not Brides Malawi, an official national partnership of now 93 local NGOs working on ending child marriage across Malawi established in 2012 as part of the global partnership to end child marriage, The Girls Not Brides Global being hosted by CCYD Malawi as National Secretariat.
Country of Experience: Malawi.
Experience with donors:
Languages: English
Nang’andu J. H. Kamwale
Country of Residence: Zambia
Expertise: Nang’andu has 17 years of managing and leading multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural teams, complex Civil Society and International Non-Governmental Organizations within Zambia. In previous roles, she provided strategic and technical oversight on social enterprise development, resource mobilization, service provision and capacity development initiatives to advance Sexual Reproductive Health & Rights, family planning, HIV prevention, care, treatment and support services; Gender-Based Violence, Comprehensive Sexuality Education, Campaigns to end Child Marriages, Reproductive, Maternal New Born and Child Health Services, donor reporting, budgeting and grant administration. Additionally, she has demonstrable experience in governance, organizational strategic development, managing development programs, human resource, OVC, Supply Chain Systems, eLearning as well as scaling up digital solutions for public health data management in Health in low resource settings. She chairs the Country Advisory Committee for SAT Zambia. She is certified trainer of trainers for IT/MIS Data systems, logistics and supply chain management systems. Nang’andu has good knowledge of applicable national, international labor laws, policies and regulations.
Country of Experience: Zambia.
Experience with donors: USAID, CDC, UN, DFID, Global Affairs Canada (GAC), SIDA, Global Fund, Master Card Foundation, Japanese Government, Gates Foundation, IPPF
Languages: English
Calvin Okello
Country of Residence: Canada
Expertise: A certified Project Management Professional with over 15 years experience in the design and implementation of international development programs monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning (MEAL) systems focusing on Maternal, Newborn and child health, adolescent and adult sexual, reproductive health, and rights (ASHR/SRHR) and Gender mainstreaming. Calvin has extensive experience in IT systems management and executive data science, and is passionate about effective stakeholder engagements, ensuring sustainability of programs through quality and continuous process improvements and using Results Based Management.
Country of Experience: Kenya, Rwanda, Malawi, Ghana, USA, and Canada.
Experience with donors: Global Affairs Canada (GAC), UNFPA
Languages: English, Swahili
Helen Young
Country of Residence: United Kingdom
Expertise: A graduate and international development professional, I have worked in resource mobilization for international NGOs for 30 years, mostly in reproductive health. I have a proven track record in securing multi-million dollar funding from government donors, UN agencies, and private philanthropic foundations. Latterly, I have focussed on building capacity within local NGOs, helping to develop successful business models and SMART fundraising strategies. A skilled communicator, I have outstanding written, oral, and presentation skills with exceptional attention to detail. I am experienced in all aspects of donor relations and stewardship: from writing high-quality, persuasive funding proposals and promotional materials to engaging donors and forging long-term relationships. A strong organizer, I like juggling projects and working to tight deadlines. Being a naturally collaborative team player, I am good at listening to and respecting different points of view, building trust, and gaining consensus. I am happy working at all levels, and believe that ownership is key to building capacity and effecting real, sustainable change.
Country of Experience: Various African countries.
Experience with donors: EU, DFID, governments of Sweden, Denmark, Australia, Switzerland, Finland, and New Zealand.
Languages: English and French
Carol Okul Odingo
Country of Residence: Kenya
Expertise: With over 18 years, Carol is an expert in governance, advocacy, research, protection, rights and gender. She is trained in international economics and environmental law, public policy, governance capacity building and development training, policy research and analysis, gender, conflict management; social science research methods, among others. Carol has extensive experience working in fragile and complex contexts managing humanitarian and development programs.
Country of Experience: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan.
Experience with donors: UN agencies (UNDP, UNICEF and UN Women), Global Fund, World Bank, USAID, EU, FCDO, Government of Canada (GAC), Government of Germany, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Japan, Government of Finland, Caritas Internationalis.
Languages: English, Swahili, and elementary German & French