CREATE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Driver and Field Assistant
As CREATE!'s driver, Abdou Ba ensures the safe transportation of staff and materials to each of CREATE!'s program sites. As Field Assistant, he assists with installing solar pumping systems and maintains the solar panels.
Abdou loves his work with CREATE! and gives his job his all. He appreciates each of CREATE!'s sectors and has used skills and knowledge he learned through CREATE!'s trainings to cultivate a year-round vegetable garden and build an improved cookstove for cooking household meals at his home in Kaolock. He says, "With CREATE!, I have learned to fly with my own wings."
In his free time Abdou loves to play soccer, spend time with his daughter, listen to the music of Youssou N'Dour, and watch the Senegal National Team play soccer.
Amadou Diouf trains community members in year-round, sustainable crop cultivation and improved cookstove construction. He appreciates working for a nonprofit organization that provides rural populations with skills and knowledge that will help them meet their needs and improve their lives.
Amadou holds a professional certificate in Horticulture from the Professional Horticulture Training Center in Camberene, Senegal. He was inspired to follow this career because of his life-long love of plants and animals, and he learned during his training that rural populations really needed the kind of help he would be able to provide. He says, "With CREATE!, I am now doing the work I have always wanted to do!"
Joyce Leader is an Africa Specialist and retired diplomat who capped her career in the United States Foreign Service as Ambassador to the Republic of Guinea in West Africa. She was Deputy Director of the Office of West African Affairs and served in Burkina Faso and Nigeria. She was Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. embassy in Rwanda when the genocide broke out in 1994. A decade later, she represented the U.S. in multiple attempts to resolve recurring threats to peace and human rights in the Great Lakes regions of Africa. Since retiring from the Foreign Service in 2003, Ambassador Leader has directed a graduate seminar on Development in Africa for Syracuse University, been a consultant to the Brookings Institution's Project on Internal Displacement, and is a Senior Associate at the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University.
Barry Wheeler, Founder and Director Emeritus of CREATE!, spent the past 25 years working to alleviate suffering and provide basic human needs for poor rural villagers, displaced persons and refugees in several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. CREATE! is the culmination of his life's work and an opportunity to share with others what he learned about building the capacity of people to solve their own problems.
Originally from the lower Casamance area, Charlotte Odille Diedhiou joined CREATE!'s team as an agricultural technician in 2018. She works to supervise three different sites and train cooperative members in the use of appropriate technology, sustainable agriculture techniques, building improved cookstoves, and financial literacy. What Charlotte likes the most about her work is the collaboration between the technicians and the beneficiaries, as well as the solidarity that the field team has in their daily lives together.
Charlotte received a BA and Horticulture Training from the Professional Horticulture Training Center (CFPH) in Camberene, Dakar, Senegal, and a BTS in Driving and Farm Management at the Agricultural Technician College in the Emile Badiane Bignona Training Center, Ziguinchor. "Agriculture has always been a passion for me," says Charlotte. During the weekends or in her free time, Charlotte does household work with her mom in Dakar, or stays in Gossas with her colleagues, who, she says, are like a second family.
As an Agricultural Technician, Codou trains community members in sustainable vegetable and tree cultivation, and crop management. She also teaches women to construct improved cookstoves and assists with Voluntary Savings and Lending Association meetings.
After three years of training, Codou received her diploma in Horticulture from the Professional Horticulture Training Center in Camberene, Senegal. She was inspired to follow her career by her father who is an agriculture engineer.
She loves her work and says, "With CREATE!, I have learned that you can fight back against poverty and food insecurity. My objectives are to fight poverty by helping others and to create employment opportunities for young people." In her leisure time, Codou likes to cook and spend time with her husband.
Delanson Hopkins is a retired healthcare administrative professional with executive experiences as President of Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, RI and Director of Hospital Operations at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA. Delanson is self-described as an administrator with a particular understanding of clinical delivery organizations acquired from "bottom-up" experience as an inpatient hospital orderly while completing his BA in Psychology at The University of Virginia and subsequent inpatient unit coordinator responsibilities at MGH.
An MBA in Health Care Administration from George Washington University complemented this formative clinical exposure. Prior to retiring, Delanson branched out from hospitals and was the Director of a large university student health service in Boston. He has pursued environmental and international interests through membership in Savannah organizations Coastal Conservation Association and Council of World Affairs. He is a past member of the National Advisory Board of Nurse Education, DHHS, and past Fellow, American College of Healthcare Administrators.
Dr. Susan Briggs is a General and Trauma Surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Briggs completed her surgical training at MGH and her Masters in International Health at the Harvard School of Public Health. In 2017, she was selected as the inaugural incumbent of the Carmella R. and Steven C. Kletjian Endowed Chair in Global Surgery at the MGH. Dr. Briggs has been active nationally and internationally in trauma and disaster relief activities with the United States Government and non-governmental agencies such as Project Hope and the American Refugee Committee. Currently, she is Director of the International Trauma and Disaster Institute at MGH, as well as the Supervising Medical Officer of the Department of Health and Human Services Specialty Medical Teams, including the Medical Surgical Response Teams.
Fred Raley is the former chairman of SpawGlass, a 100 percent employee-owned construction company headquartered in Texas. Before stepping into an executive leadership role, Fred worked in the construction field as a superintendent and project manager, supervising and managing large construction projects. Fred participates actively in construction industry and community organizations, serving as a loaned executive for United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County in 2011 and 2012, past president of the Associated Builders and Contractors South Texas Chapter, past chair of the North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and past president of the Construction Industry Advisory Council (CIAC) at Texas A&M University. Fred graduated from the University of Houston in 1972 and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University in 2000.
Job Titles:
- Mancabo - Horticulture Technician
As a horticulture technician, Georges leads trainings and supervises beneficieries in CREATE!‘s programs. He earned a Horticulture Technician (BTH) at the Center of Professional Horticulture Training of Camberéne in Dakar. Georges grew up in the southern Ziguinchor region of Senegal. "Since my childhood, my father and I worked on agriculture projects. It has always been my ambition."
During the weekends Georges likes to spend time with his family, read books, go to the beach, and play soccer.
Job Titles:
- President of the Cooperative in Fass Koffe
Louise Ruhr, Executive Director Emerita, has had the honor of being part of CREATE! since the organization's beginning. Louise built many long-standing relationships with foundations and supporters and was a valued mentor to both the team in Senegal and in the U.S.
Job Titles:
- Senegal Program Administrator
Mame manages CREATE!'s financial transactions in Senegal: getting money from the bank; managing the safe; paying salaries and taxes; preparing monthly financial reports; and maintaining relationships with vendors and banks. He is also responsible for purchasing materials; managing materials going in and out of the stockroom; and supervising household staff and guards.
He likes working for a nonprofit organization that focuses on preserving the environment and helping people improve their lives. He says, "I appreciate the team spirit among CREATE! staff, and I find the direct contact I have with participating community members especially motivating."
Mame holds a diploma as a Senior Technician in Management Science as well as a Specialized Diploma in Computer Science. In his leisure time, Mame follows European soccer and basketball teams, and enjoys listening to his favorite musician, Youssou N'Dour.
Mary-Kay Miller's initial interest in Senegal was literary and cultural; she studied in Senegal and was especially drawn to Senegalese women authors, Aminata Sow Fall and Mariam Ba. During a visit to CREATE!'s field sites in Senegal in 2012 with fellow Board member, Dr. Susan Briggs, Mary-Kay was deeply impressed by CREATE!'s work in rural villages and noted: "When given access to appropriate training, Senegalese women from rural villages make ground-breaking advances in local, sustainable food production." As a result, Mary-Kay is delighted by the opportunity to join the CREATE! Board and contribute to the ground-breaking work that CREATE! is doing in Senegal. Mary-Kay has been a French language, writing, and literature instructor at several Universities since 1987 and is currently teaching French and Continental European Literature at Salem State University in Salem, Massachusetts. She has a BA in French Literature from Mt. Holyoke College, and an MA and PhD in French Literature from Yale. In her free time, Mary-Kay enjoys traveling with family and friends, reading French literature, and gardening.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Member of the Board of Directors
Michael is a non-profit executive who has devoted his career to social and economic development. Michael's technical assistance and strategic advice as an executive and consultant has helped transformed small businesses, community-led health clinics and schools, and agriculture enterprises in conflict settings and emerging economies. Under Michael's leadership in Senegal, Africare transformed its development program by spearheading Africare's successful return to the Casamance region, which was recovering from a twenty-five years old civil war, by starting agriculture, natural resource management and health initiatives.
Michael has a certificate in nonprofit management from Stanford University's Social Innovation Review, and a mid-career Master's Degree in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Job Titles:
- Communications Coordinator
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Digital Media Consultant
As Communications Coordinator, Natalie develops and implements local and online outreach, as well as manages CREATE!‘s social media presence and website. She produces CREATE!‘s blog posts, monthly newsletters, and publications.
Natalie earned her B.S. in advertising from the School of Journalism & Communication at the University of Oregon. Upon graduation, Natalie traveled the world solo for one year. This gave her first-hand experience with the diverse challenges some rural communities are facing and solidified her desire to work on sustainable solutions and community empowerment. Natalie is interested in the power of storytelling as a catalyst for education and social change to create a sustainable and equitable future.
As Communications Assistant, Ndeye Fatou Sow's job is to collect monthly interviews from beneficiaries in each of CREATE!'s partner communities, as well as to take photos, and translate communications between French, Wolof, and English. CREATE! is the first NGO that Fatou has worked at, but she has found great fulfillment from being involved in work that helps rural communities become independent and self sufficient through the use of appropriate technologies.
Fatou is educated in English at the Cheik Anta Diop University of Dakar, received training in logistics transport for two years, and was previously a communications consultant for Tigo, Senegal's telephone company. During her weekends, she enjoys cooking, watching TV, reading, and surfing the internet. Originally from Dakar, Fatou has found it eye-opening to learn about life in rural communities. "I have become more and more motivated since I joined CREATE!," she says.
Job Titles:
- Communications Assistant
- Communications Coordinator
As CREATE!'s Communications Assistant, Ndeye Fatou Thiam conducts monthly interviews with men and women in each of our partner communities. Fatou also documents CREATE!'s programs through photography and film. Fatou also serves as a translator for English-speaking visitors.
Fatou, who is from Dakar, enjoys working with rural communities to help residents meet their needs and build self-sufficiency. She says, "I've always wanted to help people in need. Working with CREATE! gives me the opportunity and means to do so." Fatou also appreciates the additional knowledge that she has gained by working with CREATE!. She says, "For me, CREATE! is like a school. I'm always learning new skills from my colleagues."
Fatou earned a BA in English from Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar. She also holds an Advanced English Level from the Dakar-based English Resource Center. In her free time, Fatou enjoys reading books in English to practice her language skills.
Job Titles:
- Country Director
- Member of the Board of Directors
As Country Director for CREATE!'s Senegal program, Seck oversees and manages CREATE!'s in-country operations and program activities in all sectors. He is responsible for the training, supervision, and coordination of CREATE!'s staff to implement programming in water acquisition, community gardens, Voluntary Savings and Lending Associations, and fuel-efficient cookstove construction. Seck also works with community members to identify and respond to felt needs at the community level.
The social value and moral dimensions of work are very important to Seck. In his work with CREATE!, he says, "I appreciate and enjoy working for a nonprofit, non-governmental organization that uses appropriate technologies to help rural populations improve their lives."
A love of plants and geography inspired Ousmane to study agriculture in Bignona, Senegal, where he received his diploma in Leadership and Management of Agricultural Operations.
Ousmane likes working as a team and connecting with community members. He appreciates CREATE!'s use of appropriate technologies and says, "CREATE! came along at just the right time. Rural communities and the environment need the programs offered by CREATE!." He hopes that CREATE! can continue to expand to other communities in rural Senegal.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Development Associate
- Member of the Board of Directors
Paulomi joined the CREATE! team as its Development Associate, a position which allows her to use her love for research in the best possible manner. Her responsibilities include researching new fund sources, applying for grants and reporting on successful grant applications.
Paulomi has an MA in Economics from JNU, India and an MA in International Affairs from George Washington University, Washington D.C. She has worked as an Adjunct Instructor at the University of Oregon, teaching Economics to Undergraduates and as a Manager of Planning and research at the EXIM Bank of India. In her spare time, Paulomi loves to cook Indian food and spend time with her kids.
Ron describes himself as a "structural engineer with an MBA, building contractor, business owner, entrepreneur, Canadian." Having retired from a 35+ year career in the construction business, he was looking for an opportunity to use his ideas, energy, effort and experiences to help make a better life for some very poor people, somewhere in the world. In CREATE! Ron has found just such an opportunity. He has spread the word among colleagues, family, and friends and has inspired them and us with his enthusiasm and generosity. Ron has traveled to Rwanda and Senegal to see firsthand what is possible when appropriate technologies are applied in a participatory fashion through sensitization, mobilization, training, and teamwork among the poorest of the poor, and in the most challenging of environments. This experience has made him a believer in CREATE! and one of our most ardent supporters.
Born and raised in Senegal Oriental, one of the most rural and culturally diverse areas in eastern Senegal, Samba grew up in the late fifties, farming and fishing in a lash green and fertile region where agriculture and fishing were the main activities. Without radio, newspapers, or Tv, his only view of himself and of the world came from oral stories told by his grandmother and his village elders. After primary French education in his village, he moved to the city of Saint-Louis, to attend secondary school (1966-1974). After completing his high school degree, he gained a BA and a Master's in French and African literature at the University of Dakar (currently Universite Cheikh Anta Diop). Following a two-year experience teaching French at the high school level at Lycee Limamou Laye, Samba Gadjigo attended the University of Illinois, at Urbabana -Champaign where he earned a Ph. D. in Francophone literature in 1986. Since 1986, he has been teaching French and Francophone literature at Mount Holyoke College.
During his many visits back to Senegal Samba has witnessed first hand the frequent droughts that affected Senegal and the Sahel region, accompanied by progressive deforestation and degradation of farmlands and waterways with the dire consequence of regular famine, declining quality of life, and forced migrations to the cities and abroad. It was in that context that Samba discovered the important work that Creates has already accomplished during its ten-year work on agriculture, renewable energy, education, and the empowerment of women in more than 18 villages in Senegal. With his expertise as an educator, a film director(storyteller), and writer with deep connections to his native country, Samba hopes to bring to Create a unique perspective that will foster a better understanding of the cultures and needs of the people that it serves.