Abigael is currently, a Program aAssistant and helps with the implementation of the Global Give Back Circle – Girls of Vision program in West Pokot, Kenya, where over 500 girls have been rescued from forced early marriage and FGM. Abigael works closely with the program managers in charge of, St Elizabeth Secondary School, Kibera Girls Soccer Academy, Asumbi Girls and The Kenya Community Development Foundation.  Her role is to help foster a good relationship between mentors and mentees and provide an update on the different programs.  She passionate about women empowerment and working towards achieving equality. She graduated from Mount Kenya University, where she earned a Diploma in Business Administration.

Lydia has been the program school coordinator for Kisaruni Girl’s High school since 2018. Her role as the coordinator entails ensuring Mentor-Mentee relationships are well nurtured at a very critical stage in a mentorship journey. She tracks and monitors the communication and provides monthly reports to the program ensuring it is seamless to enable jumpstart a long-lasting mentorship relationship. Lydia is also very instrumental in coordinating the monthly workshops taking place at the school facilitated by the Global Give Back Circle. Lydia is currently undertaking a master’s degree in Kiswahili and communication studies at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology.

Lydia is passionate about girl child education and empowerment. As a teacher and her role as the coordinator for the student leadership programs at We school Kisaruni campus, she has continually encouraged girls to be the best versions of themselves and empowered them into young Leaders. She is delighted to witness, girls breaking free to occupy more leadership roles.

“I am looking forward to the day when Kenya will have a Woman president,” She says.

Faith Robina holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from the Technical University of Kenya. She joined the Global Give Back Circle in 2018 as an Intern in the Girls of Vision Program in West Pokot County where she worked to oversee the implementation of the 21st Century skills program on the ground. She is currently working as a Program Assistant – Girls Guiding Government Program. Where she works every day to nurture future leaders through facilitating workshops and facilitating the mentorship of the girls in the program. She is very passionate about International development and empowerment of women and girls. Through The Global Give Back Circle she has been able to work in empowering young girls.

Elizabeth is currently a Program Manager overseeing the implementation of the mentorship program in Starehe Girls Centre and Kisaruni Girls Secondary school. Her role involves coordination with the school coordinators in implementing the program at the school and facilitating monthly workshops.

Elizabeth graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Human Resource and Management and her experience as an intern with Standard Chartered Bank Kenya for two and a half years has equipped her with leadership skills and work ethic. She brings to the team a rich client management experience and values of honesty, accountability and paying keen attention to details. She is driven by her passion for girl child empowerment and strives to empower the girls that she interacts with into accomplished and capable future leaders.

Rose is a Programming Specialist for the Global Give Back Circle – Kenya. She started out as an intern in 2016, helping with workshop creation and facilitation then later became a program management consultant in the program. Three years with the Global Give Back Circle, and Rose has worked with nearly all the programs. In 2017, she spent six months in West Pokot working with the Girls of vision program and overseeing the implementation of the 21st century ICT skills program. She has worked with the Girls guiding Government as a program assistant and is currently in charge of Kibera girls Soccer academy and Asumbi High school mentorship programs. Rose enjoys problem-solving and working out solutions to difficult and challenging situations.

Rose studied Informatics (Information and statistics) at the University of Eldoret where she graduated with first class honors. She has worked as an ICT specialist with various organizations before and at the Global Give Back circle she has discovered her love for community development and girl child empowerment.

Lynda has had fifteen years’ worth of experience in sales and marketing in the pharmaceutical industry before she became a stay at home mother of three children. During this time Lynda was active in organizations in Baltimore to improve the lives of poor women and their children such as the Baltimore Women’s Giving Circle, Baltimore Public Schools, Baltimore Catholic Schools and her neighborhood association. Lynda has a BA in Biochemistry from Rutgers University and an MBA from the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University.

In early 2017 Lynda began sponsoring and mentoring Leah Chepkech from West Pokot. In October 2017 Lynda joined the Global Give Back Circle trip to Kenya in October 2017. This trip allowed her to meet Monica and Margaret, Starehe girls’ High School graduates, who she decided to add on to her mentees. Lynda has since then taken on four more girls, Rebecca, Scholastica, Scolar and Sheila, who she is currently sponsoring through their tertiary education. She has been actively looking for mentors for girls in the Global Give Back Circle and has been able to find four mentors who also are sponsoring the education for four at-risk girls. In June 2018 Lynda returned to Kenya with her 22-year-old daughter, Annie, who had just graduated from university and took nine of the girls to Lake Nakuru to see the animals and do a workshop on the importance of integrity. Lynda is still actively recruiting new sponsors and mentors for GGBC girls. She has grown to love her girls and is very passionate about empowerment and education for girls.

Heidi is a Senior Content PM on the Microsoft’s Bing Editorial Team, where she coordinates the “Moments in Time” program, international trending news, and the Bing-MSN content partnership. She is also a volunteer for the Global Give Back Circle where she gives her time, by contributing to and editing the monthly newsletters and Mentor Monologues. Heidi graduated with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from Iowa State University, and has been writing and editing her entire career. Along the way she has worked as a features writer, magazine editor, book editor, and freelance travel writer, which took her to dozens of countries, from Russia to Cyprus, South Africa to Brazil. She is a mentor to a university student in the program, and she looks forward to the day she can add Kenya to her list of destinations, where she can meet her mentee and see firsthand all the wonderful transformational Global Give Back Circle programs she reads about each month.

Angela is a Technical Business Program Manager at Microsoft Corporation. She has been with the company for over 13 years. She is also a Commissioner for the Port of Edmonds in Washington state – an elected public office.

As an active volunteer, Angela has advocated on behalf of the disabled community – a cause that holds a special place in her heart due to her experience with her son, who was born with Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome. She has volunteered on the Parent Advisory Committee for the Deaf/Blind Project at the Washington State Sensory Disability Services, in the Life Skills Program at a local high school, and worked special projects for Specially Designed Education Services. She has also worked to promote domestic violence education for women in her community, by volunteering at the Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County as a Volunteer Legal Advocate. Additionally, Angela has been a Global Give Back Circle mentor for over 7 years and has helped recruit dozens of mentors for the program.

Wanjira has over twenty-one years of experience in the ICT sector with exposure to the utilization of Information Technology in managing businesses efficiently and profitably. She is passionate about the utilization of technology to change and impact lives and has over five years of experience in the management and execution of end to end Corporate Social Responsibility programs at Microsoft. Wanjira is a graduate of the University of Nairobi in Kenya.

Rose Musau is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Preferred Personnel Africa, a leading Human Resource firm in Nairobi, Kenya. She’s a seasoned headhunter with over 17 years of experience in the industry, an Executive Coach and a passionate enthusiast for inspiring and empowering people to greater heights. Through her organization she has also been involved in Corporate Social Responsibility activities and have contributed towards various projects, such as supporting children displaced as a result of post election violence.

Ms. Musau also formed Preferred Guza Foundation, an initiative with an objective to enable under privileged children to gain access to financial support for their high school and university education. Rose is an avid golfer and sits on several boards.

Dr. Helen Gichohi serves as the Managing Director for the Equity Group Foundation, bringing extensive strategic leadership experience from the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), where she served as Director of the African Heartlands Program and Vice President for Program before being appointed President.

Dr. Gichohi was named a Catto Fellow by the Aspen Institute, is the recipient of many awards, including: the Charlotte Wyman Trust’s Women in Conservation Program, the Order of Great Warrior and the Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear awarded by the Kenyan President and recently the 2012 Giai Environmental Award for the WIFTs Foundation International Visionary Awards. She has been serving as a member of Equity Bank Board of Directors for several years, and until recently, served as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Kenya Wildlife Service. Dr. Gichohi holds a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Leicester, an MSc in Biology of Conservation and a BSc in Zoology from the University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University respectively.

Mary is a Clinton Scholar, who studied Business Finance at the American University in Dubai, a prestigious scholarship, which was awarded to her during the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting.

There, Mary represented the Global Give Back Circle in the Opening Plenary Session with a choral poem on ‘Giving Back.’

As the former President of the Student Body at AUD — the first African women to ever hold this position – she is proof-positive that investing in girls pays off.

She was an invited speaker at the Women2Women Conference in Boston and was one of 100 young leaders (out of 6,000 applicants) selected to receive a full scholarship to attend the Women Deliver Conference in Kuala Lumpur. Mary was appointed as an Ambassador for Women Deliver’s World Contraception Day Ambassador’s Project and completed a Master’s degree in Business Administration on a full scholarship at the AUD in 2016.

Today, Mary is speaking all over the world on girls’ education issues. Most recently, she was in Copenhagen for the 2016 Women Deliver conference focused on the health, rights and well-being of girls and women, and in Lebanon conducting focus groups and interviews with girls at refugee camps across the country.

Erin strives to live a give back life. A 2010 accounting graduate of the University of Washington, Erin’s numerous volunteer activities and summer internships landed her the position of Staffing Consultant on the University Recruiting Team at Microsoft, where she transversed the country recruiting future Microsoft employees. Erin also served as the Program Manager for the Microsoft High School Internship Program. She moved into industry staffing with the Microsoft Advertising team where she served as an internal consultant, recruiter, and college hire and development lead for her client groups. After time as an HR Manager, she moved into Security engineering recruiting, then executive level hiring, and eventually to Google doing leadership engineering recruiting. Her passion for improving young people’s lives was reflected in her leadership in recruiting Microsoft employees as mentors to girls in the Global Give Back Circle. Constantly meeting new people and pushing the limits in her ability to expand her impact within Microsoft, Google, and her global community, Erin brings youthful energy and personal and professional knowledge of what girls need to succeed from the West Coast of the U.S. to East Africa. She is married with a new baby boy and a big sweet puppy.

Fatma is the Managing Director of Zawadi Impact Ltd and the Director of Secretariat for AfricaWorking. She has 14 years of Corporate Management experience and over 8 years of experience in Social Development Program Implementation, Planning and Management. Her previous engagements include – Impact Engagement Director with Knod Foundation, Program Manager with Global Give Back Circle, and process design expert as the lead consultant on the mentorship model for Young African Leaders Initiation (YALI), a President Obama Initiative USAID funded program.

Fatma is an expert transformative trainer with extensive skills in Transformative Learning, Executive Coaching, Organizational Psychology and Team Dynamics. She has received training with Oxford College, London Chamber of Commerce, Academy of Executive Coaches, Deep Democracy Institute and Landmark Education. Fatma also has experience of worked with international companies such as UPS, Standard Charted Bank, Safaricom Ltd, Rwanda Revenue Authority, British American Insurance, AIG Insurance, ILO and UNHCR, among others. She brings practical industry experience across a variety of fields, including: business strategy, organizational transformation, leadership development, culture change and change management.

Hope is the Chief Executive Office of ZEP-RE, a Regional Reinsurance Company headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, with offices across Africa. Hope is passionate about girls education as a sure way to empowerment and supports vulnerable girls in Kenya and Rwanda. She is a Global Give Back Circle mentor and a supporter of Gashora Girls in Rwanda. She herself grew up in Uganda as a refugee. Hope is a Lawyer and holds an MBA from IMD International, Switzerland. Her career in Insurance/Reinsurance Management spans over two decades.

Wilkista is the Business Development Coordinator at SolarGen Technologies Limited. Among other leadership roles, Wilkista also serves as the Starehe Girls’ Centre Alumni Coordinator and the co-founder & coordinator for the Kakenya Centre for Excellence (KCE) Mentorship Program.

As one of the longest-serving beneficiaries in the program, and former Program Manager, Wilkista brought her knowledge to the implementation of the Global Give Back Circle – Girls Guiding Government – in Kenya and Rwanda, in partnership with the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Women in Public Service Project.    She also spearheaded the implementation of a sustainable energy project at her former high school – Starehe Girls’ Centre, which won the 9th Zayed Future Energy Prize, in the Global high schools’ category.

As an Ambassador to the program, Wilkista has also represented the ‘Circle’ at several international conferences, including the International Women2Women conference in Boston, Massachusetts, which brought together girls from around the globe in an initiative to foster harmony and peace in the world, and the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, Turkey, where she delivered a special statement on the solidarity of women and girls displaced by conflict.

Wilkista has an undergraduate degree in Meteorology from the University of Nairobi and a master’s degree in Energy from the University of Auckland, Summa Cum Laude. She has also previously worked with African Solar Designs Ltd with projects in Eastern and Southern Africa, and is currently an active member of the Association of Energy Professionals in Eastern Africa (AEPEA). Wilkista is passionate about renewable energy, which she demonstrates in her studies, work and Give Back Commitments.

Marjorie has been a champion of girls’ and women’s leadership for the last decade. As COO of Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW), an association that develops women leaders, Margie created events, programs and resources attracting nearly 2,000 young professional women to the organization. From CEW Margie went on to lead Marketing for the Girl Scouts USA. In addition to managing Greylock Associates, an LLC focused on corporate partnerships, Margie oversees all mentoring activities in the Circle. She is a graduate of Williams College and Kellogg School of Management.

In 2006, Edna was among the first ten beneficiaries and pioneers of the Global Give Back Circle. Today, Edna has over five years of experience working in international development across Eastern and Southern Africa and Indian Ocean region (UN, USAID, EU/ECHO).

Edna has worked with the ‘Circle’ as the Partnership and Relationships Coordinator for Private Sector in Kenya. She was instrumental in the organization of the Educate ‘HER’ Parade in Kenya, which brought together over 2,000 participants and raised scholarships for 327 rescue girls to go to university. She also worked as a consultant in the design and implementation of the Mentorship program for the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) Regional Leadership Center – East Africa, where she is also an alumnus. In 2018, she was a consultant in ideation and proposal for the winner of ‘Youth Power-Young Women Transform Prize’ in Kenya – ‘Mashinani Hub’.

Her passion for women’s education and empowerment saw her register a Give Back Commitment for Reproductive Health and run it for two years while at university. Presently, Edna is a mentor in the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Community Platform Mentoring Program, at Kakenya Centre of excellence, and at Starehe Girls Centre. Edna is keen to utilize her competencies, networks and platforms to promote giving back and the empowerment of women and girls.

Edna completed her Master’s degree in Cooperation and Development from the University of Pavia, Italy, and earned her Bachelor’s degree from Kenyatta University in Kenya.

Ashley Chapman has been a proud mentor and fundraiser for Global Give Back Circle for over four years. Her background includes more than 15 years of experience leading global communications campaigns in the public and private sectors, and serving as a speechwriter for leaders in government, business and NGOs. She is particularly passionate about women’s empowerment issues globally, whether it’s through creating communications and development strategies for Women’s Refugee Commission, writing speeches about economic empowerment issues for former Avon CEO Andrea Jung, or climbing Mt Kilimanjaro to raise money to help women in the Democratic Republic of Congo receive critical medical care. Most recently she oversaw employee engagement, volunteering and corporate social responsibility programs at Ralph Lauren. She has written for publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Christian Science Monitor, and has a Master’s degree in Journalism from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s degree in French and English literature from Colgate University.

Lidemta is a Programming Specialist overseeing the implementation of the Global Give Back Circle – Girls Guiding Government Program – in Kenya and Rwanda in partnership with the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Women in Public Service Project. She’s also spearheading the implementation of the Global Give Back Circle-Mastercard Foundation Scholar’s Platform in partnership with Arizona State University.

In 2006, she was selected as one of the first ten beneficiaries of the Global Give Back Circle program. Lidemta went on to serve in several leadership roles and was later elected as the first President of the program’s Governing Council.

Her previous work experience as an agronomist at Amiran Kenya Ltd, and as an intern at Danziger Ltd (Israel), the African Wildlife Foundation and the Kenya Community Development Foundation helped her further her leadership skills.

Lidemta holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Land Resource Planning and Management from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), and a post-graduate diploma certificate from AgroStudies (Israel). She is passionate about poverty eradication, women, and youth empowerment. When she is not working, Lidemta loves to travel and network.

Rosemary is a graduate of Karatina University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Statistics with Computing. Today, she oversees the implementation of the Global Give Back Circle – Girls of Vision program in West Pokot, Kenya, where over 300 girls have been rescued from forced early marriage and FGM. There, Rosemary enjoys working closely with St. Elizabeth Girls’ Secondary School, the Circle’s implementation partner, World Vision Kenya, and working with the girls and witnessing their transformation. Her passion to give back to the society, to make an impact in the lives of young girls, and to ensure that no girl has to go through the same challenges she faced inspires her every day.

For nearly a decade, Rahul has worked to find innovative ways to educate some of the most vulnerable children in the world, both internationally and in the United States. Currently, he is the Director of Development at Change For Kids, a New York-based nonprofit that partners with underserved public elementary schools to help ensure that 4,000 young students have positive early experiences in education.  Formerly Founding Executive Director of Magic Bus USA, he led the strategy and execution in raising more than $5m in value for education and livelihood programs for 400,000 children and youth in India.  He completed the Indicorps Fellowship in 2009, an immersive service fellowship in grassroots development dedicated to holistic community development in rural and urban slum India.

Prior to moving into the social sector, Rahul worked as a chemical engineer, posted throughout the United States, China, Hong Kong, India, and Mexico. Rahul serves on the Advisory Board for the George Mason University Center for Sport Management and the Global Advisory Council of ThinkChange Consulting, a professional services firm providing advisory support to organizations working on social development initiatives.

Zainab is a Programming Specialist for the Global Give Back Circle – Kenya. She started out as a workshop assistant with Global Give Back Circle – Kenya, and then later became a program management consultant in the program, where she oversaw the girls’ mentorship and workshop development. In 2016, Zainab spent 6 months in India as part of the team that implemented the Global Give Back Circle India program with adolescent girls in several parts of India. Back in Kenya, Zainab now acts as the Communication Manager in the program. She is responsible for creating content for the Circle’s Mentoring Tips and Newsletters, coordinating the Mentor Monologues, workshop development, social media management, and is in charge of mentor recruitment in Kenya.

Zainab studied Biotechnology and was the Chief Editor of the Student Journalism Association at university. She also studied Photography at Versatile School of Photography. She has been a guest writer with the weekend magazine for The Star Newspaper. As one of the first beneficiaries of the Global Give Back Circle, and currently a benefactor, Zainab fulsomely recognizes how mentorship, higher education and acquiring life skills can transform the lives of girls for the better.

Asmahan graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology. During university, she interned as an Assistant Project Manager at Mindgem Concept, an IT company. She was also part of the environment-conservation team, ‘A Deeper Look into the Eco-System (ADE)’. After she graduated from the University of Nairobi, Asmahan was employed as a Program Assistant with the Global Give Back Circle in Kenya. She then worked as a consultant with Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) in East Africa; her duties were to design, plan, organize and manage the Mentorship and Advisory Program currently implemented by the initiative. At present, Asmahan is leading the Global Give Back Circle team in India as a Programming Specialist, where she is implementing the mentorship program in partnership with the Magic Bus India Foundation.

Adriana is a passionate volunteer, who brings several years of social work education and experience to the Global Give Back Circle. She has lived in Kenya for the past 10 years and is currently involved in a number of organizations, including Heshima Kenya, where she is a board member. In addition, Adriana has helped establish the KPMG Family for Literacy programme in East Africa, where she is in the process of helping roll out mobile libraries to serve disadvantaged children. She is an avid marathon runner.

Rupesh is a part of the Sustainability team at Magic Bus India. He manages international partnerships at Magic Bus and provides support to the organisation’s offices in the US, UK and Singapore. He is responsible for ensuring effective liaison and communication with international offices & partners, and manages their program implementation and reporting. Rupesh has nine years of experience in operations, research, project design & formulation, and has conceptualized and implemented projects across different sectors, such as water & sanitation, livelihoods, education, life skills, healthcare and disaster relief & rehabilitation. He holds a Master’s degree in Environment & International Development from University of East Anglia, UK.

Catherine coordinates Governance activities of the Board of Directors and Organization Development function at the Secretariat. She is also the officer in charge of the Education scholarship and Girl Child programme at KCDF.

Catherine holds a Master’s Degree in Human Resource Management from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, a BA Degree in Business Studies from Kenyatta University and a higher Diploma in Human Resource. She has been with KCDF since its inception.

In 2006, Naom was among the first ten beneficiaries and pioneers of the Global Give Back Circle.

Today, her unique qualifications and advanced IT knowledge make her an excellent leader and team member.

Naom has held several leadership roles, both within the organization and in university, including Secretary General for the Environmental Health Students’ Association, Contributor and Editor for the Circle’s Mentoring Tips Newsletter, and Chief Editor for Moi University’s magazine. She served as a Deputy Principal at a mid-level college before joining the Global Give Back Circle team.

Since 2008, Naom has had personal commitments geared towards enhancing the health status of youth and those in low-income communities, and is the Founder of Kweza Health Initiative, a community-based organization that seeks to promote the health of people in her community, particularly those living in abject poverty.

Her commitment has educated hundreds of people on health issues and treated hundreds of jigger-infested persons. In 2013, Naom was awarded a scholarship to pursue a field practicum and intensive research program with Boston University for her efforts.

Naom holds a Bachelor’s degree from Moi University, School of Public Health.

25 years of entrepreneurial experience, on a global basis, in change management and business development, and a desire to give back to society, enables Linda to transfer commercially successful applications from the private sector to bring structure and sustainability to a critical social intervention; the empowerment of the world’s disadvantaged girls so that they can gain employment, live independent lives and give back too. Linda has a BS from Drexel University and an MBA from the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University.

Diane is the Program Manager overseeing the implementation team on the ground, communication management, and mentor base management for the Global Give Back Circle Programs.   Prior to joining the Global Give Back Circle, Diane spent over 25 years in the private sector.  She held progressive leadership roles in Sales, Marketing, Product Management, Program Management and Program Development within leading IT organizations.  Diane has been a mentor to girls in West Pokot since 2014, where she was introduced to the mentorship program through a business relationship with Margo Day, VP US Education at Microsoft.

Diane has a passion for bringing hope to those impacted by poverty and other life challenges. She volunteers with Hope of Life International, mentoring and providing humanitarian aid in Guatemala and is also a volunteer coach with Hope for the Family, assisting families in her community who are dealing with the addictive behaviors of a loved one.  Diane is passionate about bringing hope, education and empowerment to the next generation of girls and young women through the Global Give Back Circle.

Judy has served as the School Coordinator at Starehe Girls’ Centre in Kenya since 2011. As a teacher at Starehe Girls’ Centre, she is passionate about education, particularly the empowerment of the girl child. Judy empowers girls through her role as a teacher and as Assitant Coordinator for the President’s Award Scheme, which brings together youth in Kenya and develops and delivers quality experiential activities that impart positive life skills. Through the program, youth participate in activities like hiking and voluntary activities at hospitals and children’s homes under her guidance. Judy holds a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management from the University of Nairobi and a Bachelor’s degree in Education from Kenyatta University. As the School Coordinator at Starehe Girls’ Centre, she ensures communication between mentors and mentees runs smoothly. She is responsible for facilitating letter exchanges between mentor and mentee, keeping a log of all letters, and provides monthly reports to the Global Give Back Circle. She ensures the privacy of beneficiaries and mentors is upheld at all times and helps with the coordination of weekend workshops too.

Marie serves as the School Coordinator at Gashora Girls Academy. In this role, she ensures communication between mentors and mentees runs smoothly. Marie is responsible for facilitating letter exchanges between mentor and mentee, keeping a log of all letters, and for providing monthly reports to the Global Give Back Circle. She ensures the privacy of beneficiaries and mentors is upheld at all times and helps with the coordination of weekend workshops too. Marie is currently a student at the University of Rwanda, where she is earning her degree in Public Health. She enjoys giving back and has served as a UN volunteer under the Ministry of Youth and ICT, as well as a Peace Corp volunteer. She loves children and likes seeing them succeed.

Rita is a seasoned business analyst having worked for the Big 4 and financial services firms where she’s guided the development & implementation of large-scale global technology initiatives. Born & raised in the New York City area, she attended Maria Regina High School (MRHS) and Iona College. At MRHS, an all-girls Catholic high school, students are taught in a holistic environment to foster intellectual potential and inspire lifelong community involvement. Appreciating how this approach benefitted herself & her fellow alumni, it was a natural fit to become involved with the Global Give Back Circle (GGBC).

Rita became involved with GGBC in 2014 when she signed on to become a mentor. She went to Kenya in 2015 to meet her mentee, participate in the first Educate Her Parade in Nairobi, and attend a GGBC graduation ceremony. The experience of seeing first-hand how these hundreds of girls were benefitting from their mentoring relationships inspired her to become more involved by recruiting new mentors & providing support to the leadership team. Rita is also an avid volunteer in her local community and is a passionate supporter of the St. Bernard Project (SBP), an award-winning disaster-recovery organization, where she’s collaborated with them on skills-based & hands-on volunteering opportunities.

Rose is Citibank’s Operations Head for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Rose joined Citi in 1985 and has since worked in various positions within the company. In 2007, she was appointed Senior Country Operations Officer, Kenya, and Head of Operations and Technology for the East Africa sub-cluster. In this role, Rose was responsible for comprising planning and execution of the Operations & Technology Strategy, as well as leading Product Operations and Infrastructure support. She managed a team of 140 staff across four countries.

Prior to Citi, Rose served as the Senior Country Operations Officer in Johannesburg, South Africa. Earlier in her career, she held positions such as SBOO-South Africa,‪ SCOO – Uganda & Senegal and other various roles in Product Operations.

Rose received a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) degree from the University of Nairobi in 1985.

John is a Philadelphia-based retired Ernst & Young Partner with over 38 years of leadership, people management, strategy and planning and client service. During his career, John served as the Leader for the Mid-Atlantic Advisory Services group, Mid-Atlantic Area Managing Partner of Assurance Advisory Business Services, Mid-Atlantic Area Leader of the Real Estate Group, Advisory People Leader for Ernst & Young’s East Central Region, in addition to serving in the National Office in a business development capacity.

For more than 20 years, John served as coordinating partner for numerous clients in a wide range of industries in both the private and public sector.

He started his career as an Intern with Ernst & Ernst in 1975 and was admitted to the Ernst & Young partnership in 1989. In June 2013, John retired. John is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Philadelphia Sports Congress and also on the Accounting Advisory Board for The Pennsylvania State University.

Christina Sass is Co-founder and COO of Andela. Prior to Andela, Christina built education and employment programs in China, Gaza and the West Bank, Kenya, and Nigeria. Christina also directed the Program department of the Clinton Global Initiative and advised the President and CEO of The Mastercard Foundation, a 9 Billion dollar global foundation working to advance youth learning and financial inclusion for youth in Africa.

Christina also serves on the Advisory Council of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights and as education topic expert for the Clinton Global Initiative University annual meeting. Christina’s work has been mentioned by Forbes, CNN, The New Yorker, NBC, and WIRED. She was named as a 2014 New York Business Journal “Women of Influence”, a 2015 Business Insider “23 most innovative and inspiring women in New York City Tech” and a 2015 University of Georgia “40 Under 40” Alumni.

Christina has a BA in Ancient Philosophy from the University of Georgia (Go Dawgs) and a MA in International Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School from Tufts University.

Barbara is a retired insurance industry executive. She dedicates her time to full time charity work and brings sales, organizational and administrative skills to the Circle. Her duties include marketing, accounting and mentor recruitment. Barbara also oversees the management of the database.

Robert is the CEO and Founder of Resorts Online, an Internet-based company that specializes in the marketing of luxury resorts all over the world. Prior to launching Resorts Online in 1995, he was CEO of a NYC-based real estate business. His duties for the Global Give Back Circle include financial account management and fundraising. Robert is a graduate of New York University.

Elizabeth Cafferty is the founding Head of UN Women’s Washington D.C. Liaison Office, where she is responsible for advocacy, policy work, and partnership building with the U.S. Government and Washington, D.C. based foreign policy community. UN Women is the UN entity charged with promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment through work on political participation, good governance, economic empowerment, combatting violence against women, women, peace, and security, and humanitarian action. Elizabeth was previously seconded by UN Women to the UN World Humanitarian Summit, where she was Gender Advisor, overseeing the agreement of a groundbreaking package of commitments to women and girls in humanitarian settings. Immediately prior to joining the UN, Elizabeth directed UN advocacy for the Women’s Refugee Commission in New York, working closely with the Security Council to increase its engagement on the protection and empowerment of displaced women and girls, and before that managed an international research study on sex trafficking from a health and human rights perspective at Massachusetts General Hospital. Elizabeth also spent eight years working in London on international development, refugee, and women’s empowerment issues, including as founding director of Women for Women International’s U.K. office. Elizabeth holds a MSc in Women Studies and International Development from the University of York, U.K. and a BA in Political Science from the College of the Holy Cross. She is on the MacDowell Colony’s Young Friends Steering Committee.

Margo is Vice President of U.S. Education for Microsoft Corp. She is responsible for the U.S. Education strategy and sales to K–12 and higher education customers across the U.S. Through partnerships, programs and technology, Microsoft plays a significant role in helping institutions and educators transform learning that makes a real impact on educational outcomes and helps students realize their full potential.

Margo has more than 31 years of experience in high-technology, and has held a number of exec roles at Microsoft over the past 14 years. She was a 2014 Circle of Excellence, Platinum Club Founders award winner, 2006 Microsoft Most Inspirational Woman award winner, and in 2012 was nominated for the Anita Borg Women of Vision Social Impact Award.

Making a difference in people’s lives is important to Margo. She has been deeply involved in funding the building of secondary schools for vulnerable girls in Kenya. She took a one-year leave of absence from Microsoft to focus her energies on raising funds and awareness for World Vision’s Kenya Child Protection and Education Project. This project is positively affecting 17,000 children in four areas across the Rift Valley.

Margo is the former national co-chair for the World Vision National Leadership Council for Child Protection, Board of Advisors President for the Renton/Skyway Boys & Girls Club and past founding board member of SeeYourImpact.org.

Sophie has served as the Project Officer at St. Elizabeth Secondary School in West Pokot, Kenya since 2014. Under her leadership, she has helped the Global Give Back Circle – Girls of Vision program grow from 42 girls to over 400 girls in four years. Today, Sophie is involved in the daily management and implementation of the Girls of Vision program, she is also responsible for organizing workshops, guidance and counseling, recruitment of beneficiaries, and involved in the grantmaking process.

Sophie is passionate about Girl Child Education, women’s empowerment, protection of children’s rights, and is at the forefront in the fight against forced early marriage and FGM in West Pokot County. She holds a Diploma in Education from Maasai Mara University and is currently pursuing a degree in Education from Mt. Kenya University.

Claris has served at Kibera Girls’ Soccer Academy as a senior teacher and counselor since 2008. She is very passionate about changing the life of the girl child through education and hands-on training. She holds a degree in Bachelor of Education and Counseling from Kenya Methodist University. As the school coordinator at Kibera Girls’ Soccer Academy, she ensures communication between mentors and mentees runs smoothly. She is responsible for facilitating letter exchanges between mentors and mentees, keeping a log of letters, helping in organizing the monthly workshops in school for the girls, and providing monthly report to the Global Give Back Circle.