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 Matt Mitro & Friends
Matt continues to push forward Indego Africa's founding vision of using the power of social enterprise to transform the lives of economically-vulnerable but highly-skilled artisans in Africa. Matt has a longstanding interest in African development, stemming from his six years living in Nigeria and his personal experience with African women - those who support families and survive in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Matt is currently a Fellow of the Wittenberg Center for Global Ethics and the StartingBloc Institute for Social Innovation, where he focuses on social entrepreneurship in Africa. Matt has spoken about Indego Africa's innovative model to a variety of groups, from the World Affairs Council and Center for Unconventional Security Affairs to the African Social Enterprise Forum and Boston University. Matt's professional training includes three years spent as a practicing attorney in the United States coordinating the legal aspects of financing large-scale infrastructure projects in developing countries such as Bolivia, Morocco and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Matt also has spent time working in the U.S. Department of State and Department of Justice on international legal issues. He has conducted published legal research on the topic of combatting exploitative child labor through the global trading system (click here) and is conversational in French & German. Matt graduated magna cum laude from American University's Washington College of Law in 2003 and holds a bachelor's degree in economics and history from Washington University in St. Louis. Visit Matt's LinkedIn and Facebook pages and follow him on Twitter.
 Tom Mitro
Tom has spent about one-third of his 32-year career as a financial manager living and working in Africa, notably in Angola and Nigeria. As the head of Mitro Consulting, Tom provides high-level financial and personnel advice to African government organizations with respect to major natural resource development projects. He is an expert in fiscal and tax policy in several countries, including Angola and Nigeria, and presentations at seminars in the U.K., Nigeria, Angola, Papua New Guinea and the U.S. Tom has acquired considerable experience negotiating various financial and commercial issues with national governments, banks, oil companies, multilaterial institutions and non-profit organizations in Africa. He was formerly responsible for corporate policymaking and strategic planning for African subsidiaries of Chevron, a Fortune 100 natural resource company. In this role, he helped lead Chevron’s effort to establish a joint project with the US Agency for International Development to provide development banking to under-served communities in Angola and represented Chevron in its community outreach and development programs. As a community leader, Tom has served as chairman of the board for international schools in Africa and as a board member for a project to provide mosquito nets to communities in Luanda, Angola. Read a feature article about Tom and visit his Facebook page.  Ben Stone
Ben Stone, a native of Raymond, Maine, graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 2000 with a B.A. in English Literature and Photography. After a year editing manuscripts at The Astrophysical Journal at the University of Chicago Press, Ben went on to complete his law degree at New York University in 2004. Ben then practiced law in New York City for four years, focusing on complex commercial litigation at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. In September 2008, after a year of providing pro bono counsel to Indego Africa (and with Orrick's unprecedended support), Ben moved to Indego Africa full-time as Senior VP & General Counsel. Ben has spoken about leadership, Africa, the law, Indego Africa, and social enterprise at various conferences and academic institutions, and hopes to convey the promise of Rwanda through his photos of the women partnering with Indego Africa. Visit Ben's LinkedIn and Facebook pages and follow him on Twitter. Ben is also the editor of (and contributor to) Indego Africa's blog, Social Enterprising. Ben currently lives in New York City.
Victoria Burr: Deputy General Counsel
Vicki graduated from University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in 2004 with a B.A. in Biology and a B.A. in French. After graduation, Vicki spent a year teaching English in Shenzhen, China and traveling around Asia. After spending the summer of 2008 as a Summer Associate at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe in New York where she worked primarily in the Global Finance and Corporate groups, Vicki completed her law degree from New York University in 2009. In September 2009, Vicki joined Indego Africa as an Orrick Fellow. Visit Vicki's Facebook or LinkedIn pages. Amity Weiss: In-Country Coordinator Amity Weiss started working in Africa through Princeton University’s summer fellowship program. Her first placement was working as an assistant caseworker and administrator for central African refugees at Bonne Esperance Refugee Center in Cape Town, South Africa. She then worked with the International Rescue Committee in Uganda and completed thesis research on participatory government in Malawi. She came to Rwanda in 2007 to work as the children’s rights and youth program coordinator for Plan-Rwanda, where she gained experience in designing and implementing training programs. Experience in traditional development led her to seek out business driven models as a sustainable path to economic growth. She worked as the marketing director of Masaka Farms Dairy and manager of Papyrus restaurant in Kigali until May of 2009. She is now the in country coordinator of Indego Africa, where her main goal is to strengthen the training program and local market accessibility. She lives in Kigali with her german shepherd, Tiger, and is a volunteer English trainer for Orphans of Rwanda. Jean de Dieu Niyomugabo ("Jadot"): Hand Up Program Coordinator Born in Gisenyi, Rwanda, Jadot is a 2008 graduate of the Faculty of Law at the National University of Rwanda. Prior to coming to work at Indego Africa, Jadot participated in Mobilizing for Life with World Relief: Rwanda. Other work experience includes working as a teacher in Gacuba II/A Primary School in 2003, which he himself attended from 1989-1996, and working as the research partner of a Fulbright Scholarship candidate from 2006-2007. Sarah Dunigan: Chief Development Officer
Armed with an MBA in Sustainable Management and years of experience in commercial real estate and financial analysis, Sarah has been an invaluable resource to Indego Africa in Rwanda and the U.S. In Rwanda, Sarah has evaluated various Rwandan microfinance banks, conducted in-depth interviews with the artisans, spearheaded technology upgrades at the Kigali Indego Africa office, developed new product initiatives, and helped the women engage the local markets. In the U.S., Sarah is involved with all aspects of Indego Africa. ADDITIONAL MEMBERS OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS  Byron Townsend  Lyse Hunger  Karol Boudreaux Mr. Reichel is a trial attorney for the United States Department of Justice, working in the National Criminal Enforcement Section of the Antitrust Division in Washington DC. Before joining DOJ, he was in private practice, focusing on antitrust and complex civil litigation matters. He earned his J.D. in 2003 from the University of Virginia, where he was named to Order of the Coif, was a member of the Virginia Law Review, and served as the managing editor of the Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law. Mr. Reichel earned his A.B. cum laude in government from Harvard College in 1998. Prior to commencing his legal career, he taught high school government and world history in Peachtree City, Georgia. REGIONAL BOARDSRyan Lester is an attorney in the New York office of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, where he represents domestic and international clients in complex litigations and arbitrations involving a range of legal matters, including product liability, commercial disputes, and governmental and regulatory affairs. Before joining Orrick as an associate, Ryan worked with several international governmental organizations devoted to international lawmaking, governance and enforcement. In 2001, Ryan interned as a legal advisor to the United Nations Liaison Office of CARE International in New York. In 1998, Ryan was a research fellow at the Center for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) in New Delhi; later that year he was seconded by the U.S. State Department to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna, where he served as an assistant to the OSCE's Coordinator of Economic and Environmental Affairs. In 1997, Ryan interned as an Economic Section officer at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan. Ryan received a B.A. with highest honors in Political Science and Film at Vassar College in 1997; an M.A. in International Affairs at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs in 2001; and a J.D. at Stanford Law School in 2002, where he served on the Executive Board of the Stanford Journal of International Law.
Jake Beinecke | Aaron Bourke | Becca Brennan | Victoria Burr | Rishona Fleishman | Mike Foresta | Colleen Galbraith | Diana Gauvin | Ali Grant | Omar Haroun | Dan Hennes | Rachael Honowitz | Richard Jacobsen | Viraj Kamdar | John Kansfield | Tracy Klein | Zain Koita | Roni Laserson | Ryan Lester | David Levin | Diana Maislen | Marni Merksamer | Lyndsay Marie Nester | Beth Packman | Melissa Persky | Keren Raz | Joseph Rubagumya | Paul Sayegh | Hillary Shankman | Zack Shankman | Anouk Soufer | Renee Soufer | Lee Stasiulis | Morgan Steele | Naomi Sugar | Brian Tilker | Jason Walls | Danielle “Dani” Weinstein | Michelle Witten | Sonia Yeo Daniel Sacks graduated McGill University with a B.A. (Hons) in Political Science. He spent two years as a research associate at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, studying economic development policy in Africa. He conducted fieldwork in Nambia, Kenya and Malawi, studying issues of wildlife conservation and agricultural development. Daniel has published papers on a variety of development issues, with a focus on enterprise-based solutions to poverty. A native of Vancouver, BC, Daniel has traveled to six continents and still has not picked a favorite. Areaya Abebe | Rachel Askarinam | Brian Athey | Kristin A. Bennett | Amy Mitro Briley | Vadim Brusser | Ashley Cahill | Nathan Cherry | Charles "Chuck" Cummins | Rajeev Darolia | Andrew Donor | Laura Donahoe | Mike Englert | Kriten Farrell | Jorie Feldman | John Gardner | Steve Grothouse | Vanessa Harbin | Laura Herring | Julianna Hutchins | Greg Jacob | Lauen Janosy | "Jean-Pierre" Yohani Kayinamura | Peter Lallas | Amy Martin | Jackson Mvunganyi | Ambica Prakash | Janet Rabin | Renuka Rayasam | Daniel Sacks | Andrew Satter | Marc Schloss | Rachel Shachter | Dominique Strickland | Nora von Ingersleben | Erin Yeagley Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Josh Lebowitz learned the value of helping others very early in life. Through community service with his family, school, and synagogue Josh came to appreciate and look forward to contributing to communities of peers and strangers alike. During his early adulthood, Josh was fortunate enough to travel through Western Europe and the Pacific Rim, which opened his eyes to foreign cultures and peoples and intensified his desire to give back. Josh attended Washington University in St. Louis (B.A. Psychology, Business minor) with Matt Mitro and Ben Stone. After college introduced Josh to the Midwest, he made Chicago his home and has resided there ever since, pursuing a career in creative marketing. Having fueled consumerism for some six years, Josh now enjoys using his marketing skills to spread awareness and drive support for the women of Indego Africa. In January 2009, after being an Indego Africa enthusiast for some time, Matt and Ben asked Josh to chair the Chicago board. He now looks forward to pushing Indego Africa onwards and upwards for years to come. In his spare time Josh enjoys biking, traveling, reading and photography. Jon Floss | Colleen Fahey | Kate Arnold | Jackie Schubert | Alexis Worley | Ariana Vargas | Casey Brazeal | Emily Fiffer | Gabe Greenbaum | Galen Graham | Guy Lakonishok | Joey Shapiro | Josh Gad-Harf | Kristen McCullough | Lauren Haefner | Michelle Weed | Robert Holst | Robin Murphy | Sarah Belleau | Smith Schwartz  DC Regional Board at Ibirori 2009 MAJOR VOLUNTEERS
Ambica Prakash, born in New Delhi, India, holds a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, and Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees from both the Herron School of Art in Indianapolis, Indiana and the College of Arts in New Delhi, India. She has taught a variety of graphic design courses at University of Wisconsin-Stout and American University, including Introduction to Graphic Design, Branding, Typography, Publication Design, Senior Capstone, as well as Art & Design Perspectives to Northern India, an international study abroad course. Ambica’s design work has won many coveted awards. Her project with the Center of Sustainable Living in Bloomington, Indiana won the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) Design Show Award in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She also received the Indiana Campus Compact Award and a Faculty Research Initiative Grant, which funded her research into the intersection of civic responsibility and graphic design. Ambica has presented her ideas about socially-responsible graphic design in speeches and on panels at various conferences. Her innovative professional and student work has also been covered by the media, such as CNN’s “Be The Change,” and published in books and magazines. Ambica is currently a Graphic Designer in Washington, D.C. with a focus on socially-responsible design. She is writing a chapter on Graphic Design for an Interior Design book to be published by Wiley Higher Education in 2009, and will soon be publishing a book entitled, “So Far, So Good,” which documents her students’ experiences during their study abroad in India.
Mr. Grandy has a strong history of IT management and software development. His three years of technology consulting provided experience in solving technology problems using a wide variety of solutions. As a high school physics teacher he led technology training sessions for colleagues and experimented with new technologies in the classroom. Ten years of software development experience enable him to design custom solutions for any problems that arise unique to Indego Africa. But with a strong interest in open source technologies and deep current knowledge of open source tools, he can leverage the value of publicly-available software. His formal training includes coursework at the undergraduate level and a masters degree (in progress) in computer science from Oxford University.
Viraj Kamdar graduated from Washington University in 2000 with a degree in English Literature, Psychology and Philosophy. He went on to pursue a Interdisciplinary Masters in 20th Century American Literature and Continental Philosophy at NYU's John W. Draper Program in the Humanities and Social Sciences; writing his thesis on Deconstruction and the Semiotics of Presence in Faulkner. In 2003 he was accepted into the New York City Teaching Fellows Program and began teaching High School English for emotionally disturbed adolescents in the Lower East Side of Manhattan while pursuing his second Masters in Education at Brooklyn College. In 2006 he became an Academic Intervention Coordinator developing literacy, after school and honors programs for at-risk teens. In 2009 he developed an Adult Literacy Program for Indego Africa in cooperation with UNESCO, The Ministry of Education in Rwanda (MINEDUC) and The National Center for Curriculum Development (NCDC). Viraj is a proud resident of Brooklyn, New York.
Ms. Mitro has lived in Africa for over 11 years and been affiliated with innumerable community projects in Angola and Nigeria, including orphanages, churches, senior citizens’ homes, prisons, hospitals, small businesses and womens’ groups. She served on the board of directors for a project to provide mosquito nets to communities in Luanda, Angola. Ms. Mitro has been a tireless advocate of economic development and a source of support to those struggling to lead a more prosperous life. For 12 years, she worked as a full-time elementary school teacher and has taught English classes to young children in Angola. Ms. Mitro currently serves as a volunteer at the MD Anderson Cancer Hospital in Houston.
Mr. Brusser is an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of New York and the District of Columbia. He is currently an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of the law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. His primary practice areas are mergers and acquisitions and litigation. Prior to joining Weil, he was an attorney with the Federal Trade Commission, where he litigated violations of federal antitrust laws. In 2003 he received his JD from of the American University, Washington College of Law.
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