Uganda Roundtable Attendee Bios
Listed Alphabetically
Amelia Forrest Kaye – Learning and Projects Manager, Ashoka’s Changemakers
Amelia Forrest Kaye is a Learning and Projects Manager of Ashoka’s Changemakers, an online community that
open-sources innovative solutions to entrenched problems worldwide. As a Projects Manager, she works to
successfully develop, launch, and implement Changemakers products, which involves innovative project framing and
design, maintaining the highest levels of social impact, and ensuring quality and capturing knowledge to facilitate
constant evolution and innovation of processes and products. As a Learning Manager, she manages the creation of
constantly refreshed, rapid, usable series of private and public learning for investors and innovators to create a
better quality of life for themselves and their network.
Amelia’s past work experience includes program development at Global Policy Solutions, social policy research in
Chile, ecotourism analysis in Tunisia, environmental advocacy, presidential campaigning, and experiential education.
As a Congressional Hunger Fellow, Amelia developed a culturally-sensitive disaster-preparedness initiative in
Kaua'i, co-founded a Diversity Taskforce, and led a DC-based universal healthcare campaign. Originally from
Boston, Amelia graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from UNC-Chapel Hill in Political Science and
Spanish.
Ann Njogu – CREAW, Ashoka Fellow, Elected in 2009
Ann is a highly motivated, creative and versatile Executive with over 18 years of experience in Senior Management
in successful fast growing organizations. She is a Co-founder and the Chairperson of the Center for Rights,
Education and Awareness (CREAW) and also the Chief Executive Officer of Africa Community Development
Media (ACDM). Ann is a Lawyer, a Gender Expert and a Human Rights advocate with specific emphasis on
Women Rights. She obtained her Law Degree from the University of Nairobi, sat the Bar exams at the Kenya
School of Law and qualified as an advocate of the High Court of Kenya in 1990. She is also a qualified and
registered Certified Public Secretary (CPS) K as well as an Associate and Member of the Chartered Institute of
Arbitrators, London
In CREAW, she has been at the forefront in advocating for change in all spheres of society where women have
been discriminated. Ann has received an International Woman of Courage Award from the USA State Department
as a recognition of her contribution in advocacy for reforms in Kenya and an International Community Awareness
Award from Rainbow House in Chicago, USA as a recognition of her contribution towards seeking gender equity
in Kenya. She was a member of the steering committee of the National Civil Society Congress when Kenya faced
its huge crisis following the disputed Presidential election results in the 2007 general elections. Ann is also the
designated representative of the Citizens Coalition for Constitutional Change (4Cs) to the United Nations Offices
at Geneva, Switzerland.
Dr. Betty Kyaddondo – Population/Reproductive/Maternal Health Expert (Roundtable Facilitator)
Dr. Kyaddondo is a Population/Reproductive/Maternal Health expert having worked in the field for over 15 years.
She is the Partners’ Country Coordinator for the Partners in Population and Development (PPD) as well as the
Eastern Africa Reproductive Health Network (EARHN) in Uganda. She holds M.B.Ch.B. and MA. Demography
degrees from Makerere University in Uganda.
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Delyse Sylvester – Director of Marketing, Ashoka’s Changemakers
At university, Delyse began volunteering with local groups focused on international deforestation and First Nation
treaty processes. She later joined Canadian Crossroads International in India where she volunteered at a shelter
for women survivors of domestic abuse. After returning to Canada she worked in the fair trade movement and
became Co-Chair of the BC Council for International Corporation and Board member of Inter Pares.
Delyse worked for six years at CUSO, Canada’s oldest and largest NGO preparing Canadians for placements
oversees and then as the Western Canada fundraiser. After 8 years as the Executive Director of Advancement and
Development at Selkirk College, Delyse now leads Ashoka’s Changemakers Community Team creating compelling
campaigns and messages that invite millions of changemakers to care and to act. She brings the lessons of
successful fundraising and social marketing to inspire individuals, corporate leaders, media mavens, community
organizers and enthusiasts to make a personal commitment for themselves and their loved ones as active members
of the Ashoka community.
Deo Onyango – GE Foundation
Bio coming soon
James Winfield Nitze, Roundtable Videographer
James Nitze is currently finishing up his second year as an undergraduate student at Harvard College. A film
enthusiast since a young age, he has committed himself in the last several years to a life of film production,
historical study, and criticism in a number of capacities. He has worked for the Washington, D.C. Environmental
Film Festival, volunteered biweekly as an IFE Fellow for the Center for International Education, and was selected as
an intern for Tribeca Productions, the production and feature management branch of the Tribeca Film Festival.
Currently Nitze is continuing his studies at Harvard College as an avowed Film Production Concentrator. After a
trip to Uganda this summer, he is slated to begin work at Pictures in a Row, a small film production company
based out of Los Angeles. For the time being, however, he is pleased to be accompanying his mother and a consort
of like-minded individuals on what is sure to be an immersive and educative trip. He hopes to get it all on camera.
Joe Kilonzo (attending on behalf of Ashoka Fellow Stella Amojong Omunga)
Joe Kilonzo worked with the mainstream media for over 5 years before joining the civil society. He has
volunteered for GEMINI for the last 3 years, where he has been facilitating communication, developing IEC
materials and handling public relations. He has trained in Conflict Management, studied Business Management and
currently manages a Production house that produces music/videos & documentaries for non-governmental
organizations
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Kai Thomenius – GE Foundation
Kai E. Thomenius is a Chief Technologist in the Imaging Technologies Organization at General Electric's Global
Research facility in Niskayuna, NY, USA. His focus is on Ultrasound and Biomedical Engineering. Previously, he has
held senior R&D roles at ATL Ultrasound Inc., Interspec Inc., Elscint Inc., as well as several other ultrasound
companies. In addition, he is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering
Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where he teaches a course in general imaging. Dr.
Thomenius' degrees are in electrical engineering and in physiology; all of his degrees are from Rutgers University.
His long-term interests have been in ultrasound beam formation and miniaturization of ultrasound scanners,
propagation of acoustic waves in inhomogeneous media, and determination of physiological information from the
echoes that arise from such beams. He has some 20 issued US patents and approximately 50 academic
publications. Dr. Thomenius is a Fellow of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine and a Coolidge
Fellow, a recognition from GE Global Research for significant technical contributions in and out of the General
Electric Company.
Krista Bauer- Director of Global Programs, General Electric
Krista is Director of Global Programs for GE, leading signature programs to address Health and Environment
needs for underserved communities around the world, through product-based donation, financial support and
employee engagement. She also manages GE’s disaster response efforts and GE Foundation’s International grants
portfolio.
Krista has a background in Six Sigma, product/process design and marketing, and earned a BS and MS in Chemical
Engineering from Case Western Reserve University, and MBA from the Kellogg School of Management,
Northwestern University.
Lisa Nitze – Senior Advisor, Ashoka
Lisa Nitze is a Senior Advisor to Ashoka. She spent more than a dozen years as a consultant, often developing
public-private partnerships. As Executive Director of the New Jersey Governor’s Commission on the Preservation
and Use of Ellis Island, she developed a restoration and reuse plan for the island. Ms. Nitze also created Prosperity
New Jersey, a statewide economic development initiative.
As Executive Director of the World Trade Center Baltimore and World Trade Center Institute in Maryland, she
attracted foreign investments to the state. She worked as a teacher in Lebanon during its civil war and wrote for a
business magazine while living in Thailand. Ms. Nitze is on the board of directors of the American University of
Cairo. She has received a specialist grant from the U.S. State Department to speak on public/private partnerships
throughout India and a grant from Inter-American Development Bank to conduct a workshop for its Latin
American managers on partnering with ‘socially inclusive’ businesses. She is a member of the Committee
Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy’s Excellence in Corporate Philanthropy Awards Selection Committee and
speaks regularly on why supporting social entrepreneurship is good business for business. She holds an M.B.A.
from Stanford University and a B.A. from Harvard University.
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Nassir Katuramu- Venture and Fellowship Manager, Ashoka East Africa
Nassir is the Venture & Fellowship Manager for Ashoka in East Africa. Previously, he co-founded and was managing
Future Link Technologies, a Ugandan based software solutions provider that is providing financial information
management solutions to microfinance institutions in East Africa. He has also previously been involved in the
establishment of several business and social development ventures including; Mobile Magic, a wireless applications
service provider, Icon Partners and Associates which provides capacity building, organizational support and
development services for civil sector organizations and Icon Women and Young People’s Leadership Academy, a
non-profit organization that runs leadership development programs for children, youth and women. As a university
student, he was the National President for AIESEC in Uganda in 2003/2004 and spearheaded the expansion of
AIESEC Uganda from one to four universities.
Nassir graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from Makerere
University Kampala in 2004. His current affiliations include: Alumni, AIESEC Uganda; Board member, AIESEC
Kampala International University; Board member, Answers Solutions Knowledge Project of AIESEC, Makerere
University; Chairman, Board of Directors, Future Link Technologies; Vice Chairperson, Icon Women and Young
People’s Leadership Academy; Member, Rotary Club of Kampala South.”
Nick Pearson – Founder, Jacaranda Health
Nick Pearson is founder of Jacaranda Health, a new venture working to provide affordable, high-quality maternity
care to low-income women in urban Kenya. Before launching Jacaranda Health, Nick was working with the
Acumen Fund in Nairobi, an organization investing in business that serve low-income populations. A year ago,
Nick’s partner Megan, an ob-gyn from UCSF working on HIV programs in Kisumu, described her friend’s death
during childbirth. At about the same time a colleague at the Acumen Fund who sits on the board of India’s fastest
growing chain of maternity hospitals was wondering how they could apply Acumen’s leanings about sustainable
maternity systems in India to this region.
Nick is from the United States but spend most of his childhood in other countries. In the last few years, he has
also worked with PATH on market-based solutions for water treatment in the slums of Mumbai and on drug
supply chains in Vietnam. He holds a BA in Environmental Sciences from Carleton College and MBA from UC
Berkeley.
Okecha Nancy – Advocacy Officer, Joyce Fertility Support Center
Okecha Nancy is an Advocacy Officer in Joyce fertility Support Centre. As a social worker, she advocates for and
educates communities, families, adolescent school girls, and institutions about reproductive health.
Okecha offers counseling to people with reproductive health problems and couples going through infertility. She
facilitates sessions on causes, treatments and preventative measures around infertility. She also works with Voices
for Health Rights, a coalition focused on improving the health and rights of patients. At VHR, Okecha is working to
improve maternal health through advocacy and awareness programs
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Rex Widmer – GE Healthcare’s Rural Health R&D Initiative
Rex Widmer is a passionate advocate for pro-poor business innovation at GE Healthcare. As leader of GE
Healthcare’s Rural Health R&D Initiative, Rex is responsible for the design, development, and deployment of
medical devices uniquely suited for low-resource rural settings of the developing world. Originally from Guyana,
Rex joined GE in 2000 after graduating from Beloit College with a BA in Economics and is currently pursuing a
Master's in Public Health at Johns Hopkins.
Rita Sembuya – Joyce Fertility Support Center, Ashoka Fellow, Elected in 2003
Rita Sembuya Namusisi founded the Joyce Fertility Support Centre Uganda in 1998 to raise the voices of patients
going through infertility in a community where infertility is regarded as a taboo subject. In 2001 she broke the
silence about infertility, connected with the media and hundreds of other couples going through the same situation
joined with her. It was this mobilization that paved way to the start of IVF treatment in Uganda in 2003.
In 2002 she participated in the WHO meeting in Geneva on family planning including an infertility strategic plan
2004 – 2009. In this meeting priority ranking for infertility was reached. Her activities have earned her a great deal
of admiration in civil society, the medical community and the country at large. Rita has worn various recognitions.
In 2003, she became an Ashoka Fellow for her entrepreneurial social initiative “The Joyce Fertility Support
Centre”. In 2007 her organization was recognized by Ashoka’s Changemakers community as a finalist in “Health
for All”, an online competition organized by Changemakers. In 2007 She was awarded the Global Patient Leader’s
Award of iCSi 2007 in Lyon in recognition of her outstanding contribution as an advocate in Uganda and
internationally.
Robert L. Corcoran – President and Chairman, GE Foundation
Bob Corcoran is Vice President of Corporate Citizenship, where he leads the CSR function globally for GE as
well as serving as President and Chairman of the GE Foundation. Bob leads GE’s engagement process with
subject matter experts and external thought leaders on global issues, works to embed planning and actions to
address relevant issues impacting GE, and integrates accountability through GE’s Corporate Citizenship Report.
GE Foundation invests more than $100 million annually in Developing Health Globally to improve access to
quality healthcare for underserved populations and developing countries, and in Developing Futures in Education,
which funds US School District change through quality of curriculum, teaching, assessment and collaboration.
Prior to his current role, Bob ran GE’s Management Development Institute at Crotonville as Chief Learning
Officer, before that was Vice President of Human Resources for the Global GE Healthcare business. In his 31year career with GE, Bob has held other key HR leadership roles in GE’s Medical, Aircraft, Lighting and
Aerospace businesses.
As executive member of the Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights (BLIHR), he helped establish standards
for human rights practices in business and industry and create GE’s Principles on Human Rights to guide the
Company’s operations and supply chain. Bob is a Trustee of Sacred Heart University and is on the Board of
Directors of Business for Social Responsibility (BSR). GE’s Board of Directors elected him a Corporate Officer in
2000.
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Robina Biteyi – National Coordinator, White Ribbon Alliance
Robina Biteyi is a Public Health Nurse with a Masters Degree in Community Health from the School of Tropical
Medicine, Liverpool. United Kingdom. She has over 25 years experience in maternal and child health, adolescent
cent sexual and reproductive health and HIV and AIDS in both Uganda and Kenya.
Over the last 15 years she has worked with African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) an international
health non-governmental organization (where she developed and managed health projects and programs. Currently
Robina Biteyi is the national coordinator of White Ribbon Alliance, Uganda.
Sharona Shuster – Discovery Toolkit Researcher, Ashoka
Sharona Shuster works for Ashoka’s Changemakers as the researcher for the Discovery Toolkit on Maternal and
Infant Health. Previously, she worked for several years in international women’s rights advocacy, focusing on
strengthening U.S. policy on gender integration of international development programs and the elimination of
domestic and international gender based violence. In 2004, Ms. Shuster conducted research on women’s global
health, educational and political status for Save the Children’s “State of the World’s Mothers” report on child
marriage and adolescent pregnancy. She has also worked as a clinical educator with at-risk youth, a director of a
girls’ violence prevention peer-leadership program, and a program manager of community-based health and
education programs.
Ms. Shuster has a Master’s degree in Education, with a concentration in violence prevention, from Harvard
University’s Graduate School of Education and a Bachelor’s degree in Social Psychology and Philosophy from the
University of California, Santa Cruz. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband and two year old daughter.
Victoria Nyakundi – Local Roundtable Event Coordinator, Ashoka
Victoria Nyakundi, originally Kenyan born, has been living, studying and working in Uganda for the past five years.
She is currently schooling at Makerere University pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in Actuarial Science which
generally deals with risk management and insurance and will be finishing up in May 2010. Victoria is hardworker
who likes to take up challenges that will contribute to her development both professionally and personally. She has
worked with Ashoka once before and she is happy to work with them again.
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