Scholars

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.

​Divya Chhabra is an AIF Fellow working with SAFA India, based in Hyderabad, Telangana. She is focused on developing local employment opportunities by incubating micro-entrepreneurs and creating an ecosystem for micro startups. She holds an integrated degree in BCom LLB from Tamil Nadu National Law University, Tiruchirappalli. During her academic pursuits, Divya gained valuable experience interning with various organizations, including the People’s Union of Civil Liberties in Jaipur, Majlis Legal Centre in Mumbai, and Jagori Rural Charitable Trust in Dharamshala. Through these internships, she gained knowledge about litigation and violence investigation while developing her passion for the development sector. Divya believes in effective communication with communities to understand their needs and bring positive change. She is determined to use her Fellowship as a stepping stone toward starting her own social enterprise or NGO. When she is not working, Divya enjoys reading and traveling.

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.”

Lydiah Salome is a finance professional with 12 years of experience in accounting. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Finance from Kenyatta University and is a Certified Public Accountant (Kenya). Currently serving as the Senior Finance Manager for Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) in Nairobi, Kenya, Lydiah has played a pivotal role in ensuring compliance and operational efficiency within the organization. Lydiah’s responsibilities encompass various aspects of financial management, including cash management, financial reporting, donor financial reports, payroll processing, compliance, and internal controls review and improvements. She is recognized as a reliable and supportive team member, who has earned trust from stakeholders and increased funding for SHOFCO through her diligent work. Lydiah is driven by her passion for teamwork, cohesiveness, and the empowerment of those living below the poverty line. Her ultimate professional goal is to influence operational decisions across functions and contribute to resource redistribution for the betterment of disadvantaged communities.

Narovana Radavidrason has three years of experience in the nonprofit sector and earned a Master’s degree in Economics and Management with a focus in Macroeconomics and Public Economy from the Catholic University of Madagascar. As the Alliance 3.0 Project Coordinator for the Alliances Françaises in Madagascar, Narovana is responsible for the project management, financial management, and reporting. She establishes the action plan, does the monitoring, and supports the Alliance Françaises through missions and training. She volunteered at Lemur Conservation Network as the Regional Coordinator of the World Lemur Festival in Madagascar in 2020, where she sensitized and helped NGOs in celebrating the World Lemur Day. Previously, she worked for WWF Madagascar as a Finance Assistant for two years. She was the portfolio manager responsible for the Explore project, which supports the volunteers of WWF Madagascar. Making budget, following-up the expenses, and doing the forecast and the financial reporting were her main roles. Through these experiences, she gained skills in project coordination, in the financial management of a project, and in group facilitation techniques and methods. Narovana’s main area of particular interest is the conservation of the environment.

Susan Silika is committed to supporting young women in Malawi to achieve economic independence and build their leadership potential. Susan joined CAMFED Malawi as a Finance Manager and later became the Head of Finance. After gaining a deep understanding of CAMFED’s programs, Susan transitioned to Operations and was promoted to Operations Director shortly before assuming her current role as a National Director in 2022. Susan oversees CAMFED’s holistic interventions that serve the education of the most marginalized girls and young women. She works closely with the Ministry of Education – including on academic catch-up programs in the wake of the COVID -19 pandemic – and with CAMFED’s Association of Women Leaders on its governance structures, supporting the network’s activities, and creating an ecosystem in which young women can thrive and become independent and influential. Susan holds a Chartered Management Accounting Qualification from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in the UK. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from at the University of Malawi, Polytechnic, and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Eastern and Southern Africa Institute of Management (ESAMI).

Vassia Papachristou lives in Athens, Greece. She studied Finance and Accounting at Athens University of Economics and Business and later on she earned a Master’s degree in Charity Marketing and Fundraising (City University London). She works as Head of Finance for METAdrasi, a Greek NGO with the mission of facilitating the reception and integration of refugees and migrants in Greece. She started working for METAdrasi as Finance manager at the beginning of the refugee emergency in Europe. In her capacity as Finance Manager, she had to adapt to work with projects more than tripled the annual budget while at the same time trying to find ways to cope with this increase to create and adapt systems better suited to monitoring and controlling the activities. Prior to that, Vassia worked for the Hellenic Cardiac Society, a scientific organization that provided scholarships to young Greek doctors in top universities around the world. She is devoted to a career in the nonprofit sector and passionate about the protection of human rights, especially children and minority groups.