Board of Directors
Farah Stockman, Founder
Farah Stockman is an award-winning foreign policy reporter with the Boston Globe based in Washington D.C. She lived in Kenya and Tanzania from 1997 to 2000, working first as a full-time teacher at the Katoloni Rehabilitation Centre for street children in Machakos, Kenya, and then as a freelance journalist. Farah founded Jitegemee with support from the local community in Kenya. Her previous non-profit experience includes directing the Mission Hill Summer Program with Harvard’s Phillips Brooks House in 1996.
Helena Halperin
Helena Halperin is a lecturer at Roxbury Community College and the author of I Laugh so I Won’t Cry: Kenya’s Women Tell the Stories of Their Lives (Africa World Press, 2005). Helena spent 14 months in Western Kenya, living with a family of subsistence farmers and teaching in a village school, and has traveled extensively throughout the country conducting research for her book. She holds a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and Masters degrees from Rutgers University and Simmons College. She is married to Bertrand Halperin, a professor of physics at Harvard, and lives in Arlington, Mass., when she’s not in Kenya.
Catherine Mosca, Secretary-Treasurer
Catherine Mosca works as an Online Editor for the Tom Peters Company. Prior to her current position, Cathy’s career revolved around children and family issues, first during 16 years with the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services in Florida and then for seven years as a full-time childcare worker. She currently serves as Jitegemee’s Secretary-Treasurer and lives in Arlington, Mass.
Allyson Black-Foley, Board Chair
Allyson Black-Foley is a recent graduate of the University of Vermont with a B.A. in Environmental Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies. She spent her junior year in Uganda, and she returned in her senior year to carry out research for a thesis on women entrepreneurs. Her thesis was titled Imposed Adjustment: A Case Study of the Impact of Structural Adjustment Policies on Rural Women Farmers in Eastern Uganda from 1975-Present.
Michelle Brooks
Michelle Brooks is a managing principal with Arlon Capital Partners, the direct private investment arm of theContinental Grain Company. Prior to joining Arlon, Michelle was a principal with Weston Presidio, a private equity investment fund, and Editorial Director for Experience, Inc. Michelle received her A.B. in Government from Harvard College and her M.B.A. with distinction from Harvard Business School. Michelle lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and children.
Shulamit Kahn
By profession and by disposition, Shulamit “Shu” Kahn is an economist. She is a tenured professor at Boston University School of Management, teaching courses in economics and statistics. Her present research is about compliance with labor laws, particularly minimum wage and overtime regulations. She is also tracking the status of women in academia, both in her research and for a Boston University faculty committee on diversity. Over the years, she has been on boards and in leadership positions at her synagogue and her children’s schools, dealing with budgets, hiring, oversight, and numerous special projects. Shu lives in Boston with her husband.
Clarence Wardell III
Clarence Wardell III is a Research Analyst with the Safety and Security division at CNA, a government think tank in Washington, D.C. At CNA, Clarence works on disaster preparedness and response issues at the federal, State, and local levels of government. Prior to joining CNA, Clarence completed his Ph.D. at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Industrial and Systems Engineering. His desire to better understand the dynamic between donors and non-profit organizations led to his dissertation work, titled “Signaling and Search in Humanitarian Giving: Models of Donor and Organization Behavior in the Humanitarian Space.” Clarence also holds a B.S.E. in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan.
Mary Kimani
Mary Kimani is a programme officer with the UN Office of the Special Adviser on Africa in New York and works onpeace and development issues in Africa. She previously worked in Tanzania and in Rwanda before joining the UN in New York. She holds two Masters Degrees. She mentors students from several educational institutions in Africa and is actively involved with helping young people identify how their skills, talents and aptitude match up with the job market and with Africa’s future aspirations. She has a keen interest in African education curricula and in particular the question of how curricula match up with real life job opportunities. She writes poetry, and is currently trying her hand on a collection of short stories.
Wairimu Mwaura
Wairimu Mwaura works as a marketing associate at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Ma. She previously worked for both Wells Fargo Bank and Wachovia Small Business Capital. Her non-profit experience includes fundraising for the Africa Cancer Foundation, founded in 2011 by the minister of medical services in Kenya.
