The Leadership

AfricAid’s efforts in fulfilling its mission are made possible by its countless supporters and contributors, and by its dedicated Leadership Team of Staff and Board members, who devote enormous amounts of time and energy to the work of our organization. AfricAid is deeply grateful to all of those who have helped make a difference in the lives of so many young women in Africa.

Ashley is the founder of AfricAid. Since returning from a photographic safari to Tanzania in 1996, and forming AfricAid, she has worked tirelessly to support girls’ education there by supporting schools and students throughout Tanzania and East Africa. Ashley has traveled extensively throughout the world, and returns to Tanzania almost every year in conjunction with her work with AfricAid, including four months spent teaching at the Masaai Girls’ School, as well as several months conducting research on Tanzania’s system of national examinations, while also shooting footage for an ethnographic film about Tanzania’s Maasai tribe. Ashley graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University in 2008, with a degree in Social Studies, specializing in Third World Development. She is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa society. As AfricAid’s Executive Director, she is responsible for the development and oversight of all of AfricAid’s programs in the United States and Tanzania, as well as for overall management of its operations, and also serves as AfricAid’s spokesperson. Ashley has been a member of the AfricAid Board since 2003.  Read more about Ashley’s fascinating journey here.

Kelli Bee, AfricAid’s Tanzania Country Director, kelli@africaid.com

Kelli Bee has joined the AfricAid team as the Country Director in Tanzania. She will be the primary liason for AfricAid work in Tanzania, especially the new Kisa Project. Her last semester as an environmental biology student at University of Colorado, Boulder, evolved into a life changing year in Tanzania. She says that she went for the animals and landscape but stayed for the people. Since her return, she has worked to gain skills and tools in the education reform sector, including starting her own Tanzanian education initiative. With a background in and dedication to the service learning and experiential learning model, she is a masters student at S.I.T. Graduate Institute with a focus on Education in Sustainability.

Louis Gutierrez , AfricAid’s IT Project Manager, louis@africaid.com

Louis Gutierrez is a software developer with extensive experience living and working in East Africa. After graduating with a M.S. In Software Engineering, Louis left the Continental US to work as an Americorps Volunteer helping to develop an online distance platform to make GED resources available to students in rural Alaska. Almost immediately afterwards, Louis left to serve with the Peace Corps in Tanzania, East Africa as an Information Communications Technology Volunteer. It was there that he learned about the work of AfricAid. Currently Louis is working to develop a software platform in support of AfricAid’s new Kisa Project.

Amy Livingston, Development Officer

See biographical information below.

AfricAid’s Consultants

Stephanie Reedy, AfricAid Grant-Writing Consultant, stephanie@africaid.com

Stephanie Reedy, an attorney and former journalist, serves as a legal and writing consultant for AfricAid. She earned her undergraduate degree in Professional Writing from Carnegie Mellon University, and spent several years working as a reporter and editor for newspapers in the U.S. and overseas before moving to Denver to attend law school. Stephanie graduated at the top of her class at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and went on to clerk for a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit after graduation. After six years as a litigator in the Denver office of a large national law firm, she took a personal sabbatical and traveled to South Africa to work as a volunteer lawyer for the Legal Resources Centre. She lived in the Eastern Cape, one of the most impoverished provinces in the country, and worked to implement and protect a child’s right to education under the South African Constitution. During her time in Africa, Stephanie saw first-hand the need to improve education opportunities for all African children, and was thrilled to join the AfricAid team after returning home to Denver.

AfricAid’s Interns

Laura Gaudreau, AfricAid’s Development Intern, laura@africaid.com

Laura Gaudreau is originally from Golden, Colorado and is currently working towards her undergraduate degree at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania with a Political Science major and Religious Studies minor. She has traveled to Tanzania three times and is passionate about the development of East Africa, especially in regards to women’s education. Laura hopes to return to Tanzania in the near future, and also intends to pursue a graduate degree after graduation, possibly in the field of International Affairs. She strongly supports the vision of AfricAid and has loved interning with them while home in Denver this summer.

Erin Kesler, AfricAid’s Communications Intern, erin@africaid.com

Erin is originally from Knoxville, TN but recently moved to Denver to begin graduate school. She is enrolled at Denver University’s Josef Korbel School and will begin her graduate degree in International Development this fall. As a Christian Educational Ministries major at Taylor University during her undergraduate career, Erin had the opportunity to study abroad in southern Tanzania, near Iringa. In Tanzania, she witnessed first-hand the hardships women face in terms of education and became passionate about empowering Tanzanian women to succeed. She is excited about interning with AfricAid this summer and can’t wait to apply what she will learn with AfricAid to her upcoming graduate work.

Jerry Sinning, AfricAid’s Kisa Intern, jerry@africaid.com

Jerry Sinning recently earned a master of public administration degree from the University of Colorado – Denver, with a concentration in nonprofit management. Previously, he graduated with a bachelors degree from CU-Boulder in political science and economics. Jerry’s work in the nonprofit sector has focused primarily on youth-oriented causes – whether supporting enrichment programs for special needs kids or improving education for students in Colorado or abroad. Working with AfricAid has given him the opportunity to pair this passion for youth and education with his interest in global development and civil society issues. His work on the Kisa Project for his master’s capstone project inspired him to stay working with AfricAid while he considers his post-grad school options.

Claire Walsh, AfricAid’s Communications Intern, claire@africaid.com

Claire Walsh recently graduated from Vassar College with a degree in Anthropology and has returned home to Denver, CO to intern with AfricAid. After spending a semester abroad in Kampala, Uganda in 2008, Claire focused her studies on economic development, globalization, and cultural change in East Africa– writing her thesis on the second-hand clothing trade in Uganda and studying Kiswahili. She has worked for several non-profits in Denver and New York, and even spent one summer teaching English in China’s Sichuan Province. She hopes to begin graduate school in an International Affairs Program next fall.

AfricAid’s Board Members

Rocco Dodson is an attorney at Dodson and Associates, P.C., his firm in Golden, Colorado. Rocco is the Vice President and a member of the Board of Directors of Peruvian Hearts, a non-profit organization that helps improve the lives of orphans in Peru, by assisting them with their education and basic needs. He also is a member of the Governing Board of Directors of the Metro Volunteer Lawyers of the Colorado Bar Association. Metro Volunteer Lawyers provides free and low-fee legal services to individuals who could not otherwise afford a lawyer. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Colorado Nonprofit Loan Fund, and was its President and Chairman of the Board from 2001-2006. The Fund makes short-term bridge loans to non-profit organizations, to allow them to remain in business while awaiting grants and other permanent funding. Rocco is also an active member of the Evergreen, Colorado, Rotary Club. He has been an AfricAid Board member since 2006.

Mary Greenwood is a former health professional, and now a full-time homemaker and fitness instructor, with over 17 years in the Wellness/Health promotion area. Mary has a passion for Africa and has worked extensively over the last 20 years raising support for Selian Hospital and the Maasai Girls’ School in Tanzania. Mary has led many groups to Tanzania as fundraisers and to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, along with her husband, Mark. Her two daughters, Hannah and Kiah, share their parents’ passion for and involvement in the work of AfricAid and other African initiatives. Mary has served on the AfricAid Board since 2003.

Felicity Hannay is a retired natural resources lawyer. She was a partner with the Denver law firm Davis, Graham & Stubbs for much of her career, and then served six years as Colorado’s Deputy Attorney General for Natural Resources and Environment under then-Attorney General (now Senator) Ken Salazar, before retiring at the end of 2004. Felicity also serves on the board of directors of Friendship Bridge, an organization that provides microloans and eduation to Guatemalan women. Felicity and her family traveled to Tanzania in 2002, where they visited the Maasai Girls’ School in Monduli. Felicity and her book club and family have provided a full student scholarship to a Maasai Girls’ School student since 2001.  She has been an AfricAid Board member since 2003.

Betsy Hoke is completing her last year as Head of School at Montessori School of Evergreen. She joined the school in 1980 when it was a small preschool with 40 children and has led its growth to a program serving 315 students from preschool through 8th grade. Prior to that, she taught and administrated at two other Colorado Montessori schools. Having received her Montessori certification in London, England in the early seventies, she has long been interested in education for children worldwide. Her chief instructor in London spent half of each year opening and supporting Montessori schools in rural Kenya and Tanzania. Betsy teaches parenting classes, teacher workshops and shares her administrative and educational expertise through her own consulting business. She serves on the Board of Trustees of Colorado Rocky Mountain School and has been an active board member with Mountain Area Land Trust and Evergreen Scholarship/Bootstraps.

Karen Hutcherson has been working in graphic design since graduating from Michigan State in 1986. She previously co-owned and operated a boutique advertising agency and now co-owns and runs a national web-based menu planning service. Karen joined the AfricAid Board in 2003, after participating in that year’s Mt. Kilimanjaro Climb For Children fundraising trip to benefit AfricAid and Selian Hospital in Arusha, Tanzania. She volunteers with several organizations, including King-Murphy Elementary, The Evergreen Animal Protective League and The Clear Creek County School District. Karen and her husband James have two children, Jake and Hayden.

Bazi Kanani anchors Denver’s 9NEWS’ weekday newscasts at 9 p.m. and is also a reporter. She graduated from Pepperdine University and also studied literature and language in London and Paris. She began her news career in Las Vegas, Nevada as a writer/producer. She then spent time as an anchor/reporter in Lansing, Michigan and after that, in Buffalo, New York. Bazi received the Michigan Associated Press Award for Best Individual Reporting. In Colorado, Bazi has been honored as Broadcast Journalist of the Year by the Colorado Association of Black Journalists. In 2007, she brought back stories from her trip with her father to East Africa. For that work, she was honored with an Emmy and NABJ award. In 2008, she reported on what Coloradans are doing to help in Rwanda, a central African country recovering from a devastating genocide. Her “Reaching Rwanda” documentary won an Associated Press award and a regional Edward R. Murrow award. Bazi is often asked about the origin of her name. “Bazi” is actually short for Baz’imana which means “Ask God.” Bazi’s father is from Tanzania in East Africa. Her name is a traditional tribal name. Her mother is was born in Kansas and raised in Colorado. She enjoys reading, studying French, travel, theater, hiking, and bicycling, and lives near family in Aurora.

Amy Livingston, Development Officer

Ms. Livingston is the Associate Director, Career and Professional Development at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. Over the past 20 years, Amy has worked with non-profit organizations and political campaigns focusing on international development, global health, conservation and women’s reproductive rights. Amy received her MA, International Development and Certificate, Global Health Affairs from the Josef Korbel School and began consulting with non-profit organizations on strategic planning, grant writing and individual donor cultivation, event planning and list enhancement. During her studies, Amy completed internships with Partners In Health, The South African Red Cross Society in Cape Town and the Colorado Center for AIDS Research, which solidified her passion for improving access to health care and education for individuals and communities in sub-Saharan Africa. She joined the AfricAid Board in 2010.

Holly O’Connor spent a decade working in the broadcast business as an account executive for KOA/KOAQ and KMJI radio stations, before becoming a full time Mom to Emma and Annie. Since then she has focused on her family, and her passion for fitness and travel. Both of these led to her adventure in Africa, and climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. After falling in love with the African people and their needs, Holly joined the Board of AfricAid in 2003.

Kent Redding is president and co-owner of Denver-based Africa Adventure Consultants, a safari tour operator specializing in luxury and adventure safaris to East and Southern Africa. Kent first visited Africa in 1987 and lived in Tanzania from 1998-2001. During his tenure in East Africa, he guided trips through the continent’s premier parks and studied with knowledgeable naturalists. Kent has led private groups from all over the world and has also hosted special groups from US colleges and African park services. In addition to game trekking, he has summited Tanzania’s Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru, kayaked in Lake Malawi, dune-bashed in Namibia’s Skeleton Coast, and rafted down the Zambezi River below Victoria Falls. He has explored Botswana’s Okavango Delta, trekked through some of Egypt’s vast deserts, and mountain biked through African mountains and bush land. Leveraging his safari guiding and planning experience, today he enjoys helping AAC’s clients discover these impressive places. Kent is a Kenya Authorized Travel Specialist by the Kenya Tourist Board, and is a board member of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Association for the promotion of Tourism to Africa. In 2006 and 2007, he was named by Conde Nast Traveler as one of the top travel professionals in the United States. Africa Adventure Consultants donates $25 from every safari to one of its preferred African charities, including AfricAid.

Nina Shuyler, nina@africaid.com

Nina’s career includes managerial positions in the airline industry, working as a nurse and doing medical research at Baylor College of Medicine. She has been involved in AfricAid since its inception, supporting Ashley’s work and serving for many years, first, as its volunteer administrator, and then as its Executive Director from 2007 through mid-2009. She continues to manage most of AfricAid’s administrative duties, including donor relations, and helps coordinate its events, as well as working with AfricAid Kids’ Teams, AfricAid Clubs and adult groups. Nina is a founding member of the AfricAid Board.

Richard Shuyler, President, richard@africaid.com

Rick spent over 30 years in senior management positions in the airline industry, at Atlas Air, TWA and Continental Airlines, and now heads up his own consulting firm specializing in airline operational and financial advisory services. He most recently also served as a Senior Consultant with GCW Consulting, working particularly with Asian airline operators and startup companies. Rick has served as the President of the AfricAid Board of Directors since its formation, and is also responsible for the organization’s financial matters and accounting. He is a founding member of the AfricAid Board.

Krista Warnick is a Vice President at Bessemer Trust, and also owns and manages Vintage Fringe, an online clothing boutique. She previously served as a Principal in the Denver office of the investment banking firm of Headwaters MB, following 2 years as an associate in Merrill Lynch’s Mergers and Acquisitions Investment Banking group in New York. She previously worked as a senior tax consultant at Andersen for four years before leaving to do independent tax work for her former Andersen clients. She has an MBA from the University of Chicago and a Masters in Taxation from the University of Denver. Krista is a founding member of the AfricAid Board, and helped oversee its application for and receipt of its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status.

Mark Williams is the owner of Executive Intelligence, a consulting firm in Denver that specializes in very complex database analysis. Mark was one of the original supporters of Selian Hospital in Arusha, Tanzania, and has worked over the past 20 years in helping to fundraise for Selian and the Maasai Girls’ School. He and his wife, Mary, have led numerous groups on Mt. Kilimanjaro Climb fundraising trips to Tanzania. Mark was Ashley’s earliest mentor and was one of the founding members of the AfricAid Board of Directors; he continues to provide guidance today, especially with regard to the complexities of working within the framework of Tanzanian culture and governance.

AfricAid (Tanzania) Board Members

The Honorable Dr. Augustine Mahiga is the Tanzanian Ambassador to the United Nations. Dr. Mahiga received his PhD in International Relations from the University of Toronto in 1975. He has worked around the world as a representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and has served as the Tanzanian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2003. In 2005, Ambassador Mahiga served as a member of the United Nations Security Council. He holds a deep commitment to the empowerment of women in his country.

John Laiser is the AIDS Control Programme Coordinator at Selian Lutheran Hospital in Ngaramtoni, Tanzania. John has served Tanzanian schools for decades, including positions as a teacher, as a head of school, and as a school inspector. While working in the AIDS Control Programme Coordinator, John was introduced to the Maasai community of Losinoni, where AfricAid partners with the Losinoni Primary School. John has served as AfricAid’s primary liaison to that community since 2003, demonstrating continuous commitment to the students and people there. He is married with four children, and serves on several local school and church committees.

Susan Simonson has lived internationally almost all of her life. Although she is a Canadian citizen, she was born in Namibia, grew up in Ireland, and now calls Arusha, Tanzania home. With a nursing degree and Masters in Public Health, she has worked in Canada, Tanzania and Mozambique. After many years of being a homemaker and mother of 3 children, she obtained a Masters in Library and Information Studies and is now in the process of establishing and running a library in a local secondary school.

Advisors to the Board:

The Honorable Dr. Augustine Mahiga, Tanzanian Ambassador to the United Nations.

Danny Dodson received his B.A. in Economics from Bates College in 2005. He is currently working as a legal assistant at Dodson and Associates, P.C., and he is the Head Coach of the Men’s Junior Varsity and Middle School golf teams at Colorado Academy. Danny serves as Executive Director, Treasurer and Board Member of Peruvian Hearts, a nonprofit organization founded by his younger sister, Ana. Danny has worked to support AfricAid since its inception; in addition to the personal financial support he gives the organization, Danny has helped to organize several of AfricAid’s fundraising events, and he was a member of AfricAid’s 2004 Tanzania classroom-building trip to Usa River and Losinoni. Danny was a member of the AfricAid Board from 2007 through 2009.

Judi Dodson is an educational consultant and literacy specialist in private practice. She conducts literacy training for teachers and helps them develop interventions for struggling readers. In addition, she helped her daughter, Ana, found a nonprofit organization called Peruvian Hearts, which seeks to improve the lives of children in Peruvian orphanages. Judi was a founding member of the AfricAid Board, serving through 2009 before joining the Advisory Board.

Allyson Taylor moved to Denver from Texas in late 2003 to join Starz Entertainment as its manager of public relations, before being promoted to Director, Corporate Events. Her many years of prior experience in the business world include working with a Wall Street firm, Nomura Capital, and with Bush for President, Inc. during the former President’s 2000 campaign. Ashley and Allyson met during Ashley’s internship at Starz, at which point Allyson hopped on board to help with the AfricAid public relations efforts, and served on the AfricAid Board from 2006 through mid-2009, and now sits on its Advisory Board.

Dr. Frances Vavrus has been a faculty member in the Department of International and Transcultural Studies at the Teachers College at Columbia University since 2000, and a former Associate Director of the Teachers College Center for African Education (on leave 2008-2009). She is currently on the faculty at the University of Minnesota, Program in Comparative and International Development Education. Her research has focused on key issues in the fields of international education and international development, including AIDS and educational opportunity in Sub-Saharan Africa, gender relations in rural Tanzania, and poverty reduction policy and programs. In 2006, she received the Fulbright scholarship and spent a year with her family in Moshi, Tanzania, at Mwenge University College of Education, continuing her research and developing the Teaching In Action training program. Dr. Vavrus previously served for a brief period as a Board member of AfricAid, and has served as an advisor to the Board since 2006.