Scholars

Alena Kondiurina has more than seven years of professional experience in the field of business and financial analysis. Alena holds a Master’s degree in World Economy and a Bachelor’s degree in Financial Management from the Higher School of Economics. Currently, she works as a manager at the international consulting and audit company KPMG AO and focuses on financial analysis of various businesses. She has volunteered with multiple NGOs around the world such as microfinance companies in India and community organizations in Kenya, Uganda, and Cambodia. The core focus of Alena’s volunteer work is women empowerment and helping them improve their financial literacy and entrepreneurship skills. She organized financial literacy courses in several communities in Kenya and worked alongside NGOs in entrepreneurship projects for women in India, Uganda, and Greece. In 2020, she completed a fundraising strategy development project for Russian NGOs. Through her volunteer work and primary job she acquired skills such as management and coordination skills and financial acumen which are all essential for any organization. Through her participation in the Virtual Leadership Institute, Alena wants to develop a plan to bring forward financial literacy initiatives in rural and urban areas in Russia.

Amanda Creary completed her graduate studies at Mercer University, gaining her Master of Public Health degree. She has been working for Training Programs in Epidemiology and Public Health Interventions Network (TEPHINET), a program at The Task Force for Global Health, a non-profit subsidiary of Emory University. She previously worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention supporting grants, proposals, contracts, and the Office of Budget Services. At TEPHINET, Amanda provides project management, logistical and programmatic support for multiple projects and special initiatives. Most recently, she has worked with Polio Eradication efforts in Pakistan and supports the in-country Field Epidemiology Laboratory Training Program. She has a passion for healthcare, humanitarianism, and servitude and excitement to use knowledge, skills, and mentorship to continue a career in global health. During Amanda’s free time, she volunteers as a patient advocate, helping low-income families and individuals with medical debt forgiveness, which has also influenced her career in the public health sector.

Ando Razafiaritsara is a public servant with nine years of experience in the Ministry of Economy and Finance. She held many positions in different departments within the ministry, such as being a financial auditor, research analyst, and executive assistant. She also leads a non-profit organization, African Leaders for Africa, which contributes to community improvement related to the environment, education, health and hygiene, youth empowerment, and entrepreneurship. She studied Business Administration at INSCAE, Private Law at CNTEMAD, and Public Procurements at ENAM. In 2017, she participated in the Young African Leadership Initiative at the Regional Learning Center in South Africa within the Public Management track. Two years later, she founded ALFA with friends she met during the YALI program with the desire to bring positive change while applying skills and methods learned during their training. Ando is passionate about country development, social change, and team working. Her first volunteering experience was as a volunteer teacher for underprivileged children on the streets. After this first engagement, she decided to bring her contribution to sustainable development in Madagascar to the African continent. She enjoys focusing on the topics of youth empowerment, education, and the environment.

Ahmidu Barrie has over ten years of experience in non-profit administration, logistics, and management. Ahmidu earned his first degree in Peace and Conflict Studies at Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone in 2010 and later pursued his post-graduate degree in public administration at the Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM). His drive to help his country comes from seeing his parents work very hard to take care of their family, as well as his experience of being abducted and forced to be a child soldier during his country’s civil war. After working with Wellbody Alliance, a local NGO that helped care for amputees and others with war wounds, he knew his life’s work was to help the poorest of the poor. He established the Community Health Worker Program, which brought care to the doorsteps of people living with HIV and TB across Kono District. When Ebola came to Sierra Leone in 2014, Partners In Health began working with Wellbody, and they eventually merged. During this time, as lead Logistician, Ahmidu was tasked with creating Ebola care and treatment centers across two districts. Currently, as Chief Operating Officer for Partners In Health Sierra Leone, Ahmidu is helping shepherd the development of the Maternal Center of Excellence, which aims to improve health outcomes for women in a country with one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world. Ahmidu is eager to learn from the experiences of his colleagues and hopes that sharing his experience in health systems strengthening in low-resource settings will be of use to others. The skills and training that he hopes to acquire will enable him to improve his capacities as a leader and be an even stronger advocate of social justice, health equity, and education.

Chloe Alexander graduated from Bentley University in 2016, where she combined her Business degree in Accounting with Liberal Studies in ethics and social responsibility. She was recognized for her civic leadership, was an active leader in the Bentley Microfinance Group, and continues to volunteer as a business competition judge each year. For three years, Chloe provided internal audit consulting, managed business services, and provided business process improvement services to banking and technology clients. After an opportunity to visit a refugee camp and meet with asylum seekers in Jordan, she decided to take the leap to pivot her career into the public and social sectors. In 2019, Chloe joined the Peace Corps as a Community Economic Development Volunteer in Ukraine, where she completed language, cultural, and technical training to successfully partner with local organizations seeking to build their capacity for social impact. Chloe hosted English-speaking clubs, assisted with grant development activities, and facilitated organizational capacity assessments to identify training opportunities. All Peace Corps volunteers globally were evacuated due to the global Coronavirus pandemic, which led to a new opportunity for Chloe to further develop grant management skills at a government agency and reconnect to her hometown of Prince George, Virginia, USA. Chloe is passionate and extremely curious about many facets of international development, including activating the private sector to bridge resource gaps between the needs of vulnerable groups and limited public and nonprofit capacity, social entrepreneurship as a tool for economic development, and the interconnectedness of religion, gender, and economic development.

Esther Mutani is currently working as an Assistant Director of Finance for Heifer International Tanzania since June 2019. In this role she is responsible for coordinating operational planning and budgeting, preparing organizational financial reports, and assisting and maintaining strong internal financial controls. Prior to this, she served as the Senior Finance and Administration Officer for South West Cluster and North East Zone in Heifer Tanzania since January 2008. Thereafter, she worked as a Senior Accountant through May 2019 in the country program’s head office. While serving in various positions, Esther acquired vast experience in working with various donors, such as American Red Cross, Starbucks Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, EU, MasterCard Foundation, VSF Belgium, and Winrock International. Esther is very passionate about accounting and financial management, and trained and supported the Heifer Tanzania Finance team in this area, especially on the ERP Accounting System. While working with Heifer International, she participated in the co-mentoring program and provided capacity building on the internal review and planning exercises. She also supported the current ERP accounting system with Heifer Uganda, Heifer Kenya, Heifer Zambia, Heifer Malawi, and Heifer Zimbabwe, on-site and remotely. Esther is a strong believer in Heifer International’s mission, which is “to work with communities to end world hunger and poverty and to care for the Earth.”

Fenohaja Ravoniarison has one year of experience in the nonprofit sector. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting Sciences from the National Institute of Accounting Sciences and Business Administration in Madagascar, as well as a Master’s degree in Accounting, Control, and Audit from the University of Poitiers in France. With her three years of experience as a Consultant, she is currently responsible for the supervision and coordination of the accounting team and ensures proper accounting records for a mining company based in Madagascar. Previously, she interned for a retirement fund and health organization, where she worked in the accounting department to handle membership fees, registration, and follow-up of cash flow and sales transactions. Fenohaja volunteered in a Biodiversity Tool Kit Project to collect and constitute endemic fauna and flora database in Madagascar. Through this experience, she developed her data treatment abilities and improved her relational and analytical skills on how to prevent and halt the loss of biodiversity. Fenohaja works actively on education, women’s entrepreneurship promotion, and is passionate about environment conservation.