MASTERCARD FOUNDATION - Key Persons
Acacia Mall, 4 th Floor, Plot 14-18 Cooper (Off Acacia Avenue)
Job Titles:
- Director
- Executive Director
- Finance
- Member of the Executive Committee
Adesola Sotande-Peters is a seasoned professional with a proven track record in finance leadership across many markets, including the United Kingdom, Kenya, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Southern Africa, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates. She joined the Foundation from Godrej Consumer Products in Dubai, where she was CFO for Africa, the USA, and the Middle East. She has previously worked with the BBC, Unilever, and Diageo.
She drives sustainable growth, enhances governance and financial processes, and delivers exceptional results. She has served on several Boards, including those of LEAP Africa, Women on Boards (WIMBOARD) and Women in Manufacturing, Africa (WIMAFRICA), and she was the Chairperson at Women Empowered for Leadership Advancement and Development (WELEAD).
In addition to her Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and Economics, she holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Manchester and is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Nigeria and the UK.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Country Director, Uganda Programs
Adrian R. Mulindwa Bukenya has more than 20 years of global professional experience in energy, infrastructure, and financial services, 16 of which have been spent in operations across Africa in senior leadership roles. His experiences also include business development, government relations and regulatory affairs.
Prior to joining the Mastercard Foundation, Adrian worked as the country manager, providing advisory services to Baker Hughes and GE Businesses with respect to the legal and regulatory frameworks. Previously, Adrian worked with Tullow Uganda Operations as commercial and joint venture manager, Shell Oil Products Africa as lubricants and liquefied petroleum gas sales manager for Uganda, Macquarie Bank as strategic consultant, Black and Decker Corporation, Maryland, USA as Materials Engineer, and Purchasing Manager, and SUNOCO CHEMICALS, Philadelphia, PA, USA as Process and Environmental Engineer.
Adrian holds an MBA in Finance and Economics from the University of Oxford, Said Business School, Oxford, UK and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA and an International Baccalaureate Diploma from St. Mary's School, Nairobi, Kenya.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Master of University College, Oxford University and Former under - Secretary - General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator at the UN
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Non - Executive Director
- Senior Business Leader
Carole Wamuyu Wainaina is a senior business leader with 35 years of global experience across multiple sectors. She is currently the Senior Advisor to the CEO at Africa50, the Pan-African infrastructure investment platform capitalized by African countries and the African Development Bank. Before this role, she served four years as the COO, responsible for establishing Africa50 and leading a multi-disciplinary team including Strategy, Investor Relations & Fundraising, Communications, HR & Administration, and Environmental & Social Governance (ESG).
Carole is a non-executive director on the Boards of the Equatorial Coca-Cola Bottling Company (ECCBC), Helios Towers & OFI. In addition, she serves on the Impact(ed) Board of Directors and the Harvard Business School Africa Research Board. She is also an angel investor and mentor to several founders.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Social Sciences, Arizona State University
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Executive Director, Pan - African Programs
Daniel brings strong leadership, stakeholder relationships, and a global executive presence based on his broad array of experiences, ranging from his time as a Commissioned Officer in the U.S. Air Force to having a successful international career with the GE Company. He spent the first eight years of his career with GE based in Houston, Texas in progressively senior commercial roles before relocating to Nairobi, Kenya in 2011 where he was the first ever East Africa Regional Manager for GE's Oil & Gas business unit. While in Nairobi, Daniel was promoted to the role of Director, Localization and Sustainability/Organizational Transformation where he played a pivotal role in building out the business's operational footprint across the Sub-Sahara region. In 2016, Daniel moved back ‘home' to serve as Chief Executive Officer for GE in Ethiopia, responsible for leading operations across four GE business units active in the country.
A native of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Daniel grew up in the Bole area of the city until the age 10, when he and his family relocated to the United Kingdom, and then moved to the United States where he completed his secondary education. He went on to attend the University of Maryland in College Park to earn a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering. Later, while working, he completed his MBA at Oklahoma City University in Oklahoma.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Acting Country Director, Rwanda Programs
David joined the Foundation in August 2022 as the Country Program Head for Rwanda, at an exciting time when the Rwanda country office was co-creating programs under the new Young Africa Works country roadmap. Since joining the Foundation, he has worked closely with the integrated programs team in Rwanda and across the Foundation to implement a portfolio of programs.
David has been involved in the development sector since 2008, with a focus on project design and management in various sectors, including ICT, Education, Youth Development, Entrepreneurship, and Private Sector Engagement. Prior to joining the Foundation, David worked for USAID/Rwanda as the Education Deputy Office Director. In this role, he also served as the Mission's Youth Development Advisor and led the development of the Mission's first-ever Youth Development theory of change to guide the Mission in integrating Positive Youth Development into the Program Cycle.
David holds a master's degree in electrical engineering, with a focus on computer architecture, from Michigan State University, where he studied as a Fulbright Scholar.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Member of the Executive Committee
As the Foundation's Chief Financial Officer, Doug Kasambala is responsible for its finances and investments. He leads a global team of talented, diverse, and committed Finance, Risk Management, Assurance, and Technology professionals.
Before joining the Foundation, Doug served as the Group Finance Director of Illovo Sugar, Africa, at Associated British Food (ABF) - Sugar Division. At Illovo, the continent's top sugar producer, he completed the transformation of the Finance fu. a significant digital transformation, introducing a new Enterprise Resource Planning system, modernized applications, and a new IT operating model.
Previously, Doug was a Director at KPMG UK's Finance Transformation Advisory, advising global giants like BP, GSK, Diageo, ABF, and AstraZeneca. His career includes over ten years with Unilever, starting as a Corporate Auditor and later becoming the Finance Director of Transformation. He also worked at IBM UK as a Managing Consultant for Finance and Risk Management.
Job Titles:
- Retired Chief Human Resources Officer of Unilever
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Acting Country Director, Kenya Programs
- Senior Director of Policy
Hannah Tsadik has over 15 years of diverse, hands-on programming and policy experience in Africa. She joined the Mastercard Foundation in 2021 and is the Acting Country Director for Kenya. Hannah is leading the implementation of the Kenya Country Roadmap, providing collaborative leadership to the team, and working with partners to enable work opportunities for young Kenyan women and men.
Hannah is also the Senior Director of Policy and Thought Leadership at Mastercard Foundation. She leads the Foundation's overarching efforts to influence action with and for young people's access to dignified and fulfilling work. She has been particularly instrumental in ensuring that young people's perspectives are consistently centred in our thought leadership efforts - in convenings, critical policy dialogues and through direct support to Youth-Led Organizations.
Previously, Hannah served in leadership positions in institutions such as the Open Society Foundations in Kenya and the Life & Peace Institute in Ethiopia and Kenya, working on peacebuilding, inclusive governance, and development issues. Among her proudest contributions was spearheading a youth peace dialogue initiative with Life & Peace Institute with 35 young people in Ethiopia, which mobilized tens of thousands of university students across the country over a decade and subsequently spread to Sudan, Somalia, and Kenya. In her regional role with Life & Peace Institute, she led a coalition of diverse actors to design a regional policy framework to improve conditions for informal cross-border traders in the Horn of Africa, many of them young women, which was successfully adopted in 2018 by all member states in the sub-region.
She holds a BA in Political Science from North Park University, U.S.A. and an MA in Peace and Conflict Studies from Uppsala University, Sweden. For her contributions to global development, Hannah received the Swedish Annual Forum for Development Prize in 2017.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Chairman of Mastercard Foundation Asset Management
- Retired President and CEO of General Electric Africa
Jay Ireland has extensive leadership and advisory experience. Mr. Ireland was the President and CEO of GE Africa from 2011 until his retirement in 2018, where he led GE's operations across power generation, healthcare, transportation, oil & gas, and aviation. Prior to this, he was the CEO of GE Asset Management, a global investment firm, and was the President of NBC Universal Television Stations and Network Operations. Before joining NBC, he was the CFO of GE Plastics. Mr. Ireland started his career with General Electric in 1980 in its Financial Management Program after three years as a US Army Artillery Officer.
Mr. Ireland serves as the Chairman of Mastercard Foundation Asset Management. In addition, since 2018, Mr. Ireland has served on the Board of Directors at Gates Industrial Corporation. He is also on the US advisory council for IESE Business School and is a Trustee of Saint Lawrence University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree. Previously, he was the Chair of the US President's Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa. He was also Co-Chair of the US Africa Business Centre and was a member of the African Development Bank's special panel on accelerating the implementation of its 10-year strategy. He was also Executive Chairman of Milele Energy, a Pan-African energy developer, from 2021 until 2024.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Chief Digital and Information Officer
Jeniffer Ramnath has over 25 years of experience across various industries, many as senior leader, with a focus on IT Strategy, Business Management, Transformational Change and Execution, Operations, Business Development, Service Management and Divestitures. Prior to joining Mastercard Foundation, she led the team at Accenture as Managing Director for the Technology Strategy & Advisory practice in Africa. Her prior experiences stretch over seven years in the banking industry, where she held positions with Absa and Barclays Africa Group.
Jeniffer has a Master of Science in Management of Technology and Innovation from the Da Vinci Institute. She also holds a CRM diploma from Damelin College and a Six Sigma Black Belt from 2KO.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Senior Director, Canada Programs
Jennifer joined Mastercard Foundation in 2018 and serves as Senior Director, Canada Programs. She leads a dedicated team engaged in collaborative programming across Canada involving multiple sectors with Indigenous youth and their communities. As part of the Foundation's Senior Leadership team, she engages with peers across country teams throughout Africa in service of the Young Africa Works strategy and youth-led transformation.
Prior to joining the Foundation, Jennifer led key public policy negotiations on behalf of Indigenous Nations, advancing key issues, including education and land rights. As a strategic advisor and facilitator, she worked within and for Indigenous communities and organizations throughout Canada for 20 years. Jennifer served as Chief of Staff at the Assembly of First Nations and, prior to that as Director of Strategic Policy, serving all First Nation Governments and working across sectors to enable strategic advancements in fiscal relationships, legal and policy developments.
Jennifer brings a strong sense of the importance of community participation, consensus building and an overriding commitment to the affirmation and recognition of Indigenous rights and community-led direction. She serves as a Member of the Governing Council of the Royal Society of Canada and as a Board member of several Indigenous charities.
Jennifer holds Honours (Carleton University) and Master of Arts (University of Alberta) Degrees in Political Science.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Co - Founder and Leader of the Owl Capital Group
Jennifer Fonstad is a serial entrepreneur and veteran venture investor with over two decades of experience in early stage technology investing, including energy and digital health. Jennifer co-founded and leads the Owl Capital Group an early stage investment firm and earlier co-founded Aspect Ventures. She manages $450MM across these two firms. Jennifer also served as a Managing Director with Draper Fisher Jurvetson for 17 years where she helped grow the firm from $150M under management to over $3.5B. Jennifer's invested in 40 software and healthcare companies with 5 IPOs and 6 M&A exits including Athenahealth, Flurry, Nanostring. Sutro Bio, and the Real Real. She is also a co-founder of Broadway Angels, a San Francisco-based angel network with over 40 investments and 60 women members drawing from the VC and technology communities. Jennifer's success as an investor has landed her on the Forbes Midas List twice and in 2016 she was named Deloitte's "Venture Capitalist of the Year." In 2017, ‘Working Mother' named her one of "The 50 Most Powerful Moms." She is a graduate, Cum Laude, from Georgetown University and holds an MBA with Distinction from the Harvard Business School. Prior to venture investing, Jennifer was a consultant with Bain & Company and spent a year teaching math to high school students in sub-Sahara(n) Africa. She is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations and also serves on the HBS Dean's Advisory Board, the Edwards Lifesciences Digital Health Advisory Board, and the HBS West Research Center. Her favorite role is as a mother of four children.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Acting, Chief People and Culture Officer
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Canadian
- President and CEO of Hydro - Quebec
Mr. Michael Sabia is the President and CEO of Hydro-Quebec. He served as the Deputy Minister of the Department of Finance Canada from 2020-2023. He is the former Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto.
From March 2009 to January 2020, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), where he oversaw the strategic direction of CDPQ and the global growth of the organization.
Before joining CDPQ, Mr. Sabia held numerous senior positions with BCE, including President and Chief Executive Officer, Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Executive Officer of Bell Canada International. From 1993 to 1999, he occupied various roles with Canadian National Railway, including Chief Financial Officer. He spent the preceding decade working as a senior official in the Government of Canada, as the Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet and in senior positions in the Department of Finance.
Mr. Sabia obtained a Bachelor of Arts in economics and politics from the University of Toronto and holds graduate degrees in economics and politics from Yale University.
Mr. Sabia is a member of the Canadian government's Advisory Council on Economic Growth and Chair of the Canada Infrastructure Bank. He is a trustee of the Foreign Policy Association of New York and a member of the Canada-Mexico Leadership Group and the Asia Business Leaders Advisory Council.
He is committed to community involvement, including recently co-chairing the capital campaigns of Université de Montréal, Polytechnique Montréal and HEC Montréal.
Mr. Sabia is an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Job Titles:
- Chief
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Program Officer
Peter brings a strategic perspective to the Education and Learning and Youth Livelihoods teams at the Foundation. He has made major contributions to education in Africa. Before joining the Foundation, Peter was the Practice Manager for Education in West and Central Africa at the World Bank. He conceived the Africa Centres of Excellence initiative, which is advancing STEM education in multiple African universities across the continent. Peter also serves as the Chair of the Executive Committee of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa.
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Member of the Executive Committee
- President
- Learn More about President and CEO
- Member of the African Transformation Leadership Panel
- President and CEO of the Mastercard Foundation - One
Reeta Roy is President and CEO of the Mastercard Foundation-one of the largest private foundations in the world, with over $40 billion in assets. Its vision is a world where everyone has the opportunity to learn and prosper.
A thoughtful leader who is deeply committed to equity and inclusion, Reeta has worked tirelessly to build a foundation that is collaborative and known for bold action and transformative impact.
Under Reeta's leadership, the Foundation has focused its work on Africa since 2009; committed to a goal of ensuring 75% of its partners are African organizations; and based the majority of the Foundation's operations, staff, and leadership, including Reeta herself, in Africa. To date, as of April 30, 2024, the Foundation has committed/deployed more than US$12 billion through financial inclusion, education, and youth livelihood programs-and as part of their pandemic response. This includes a $1.3 billion[1] investment under the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, which is enabling nearly 40,000 talented but economically disadvantaged young leaders to pursue and complete their secondary and/or higher education. It also includes the Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative-a historic $1.5 billion partnership with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to roll out vaccination across Africa and safeguard the continent's long-term health security, which has inspired others to redouble their efforts to bridge inequities in vaccine access for Africa.
Reeta is a member of the African Transformation Leadership Panel and is regularly called upon by the United Nations, regional bodies in Africa such as the African Center for Economic Transformation, and global funders to advocate for solutions for youth employment. Reeta has represented these ideas on numerous stages, including at the African Transformation Forum, the Council of Foreign Relations, the United Nations, and the World Bank.
Job Titles:
- Country Director
- Director
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Country Director, Ghana Programs
Rica Rwigamba is the Country Director for the Mastercard Foundation in Ghana. Rica comes to the Foundation with deep expertise across multiple facets of the Rwandan tourism and hospitality industry. For more than ten years, she has been active across the tourism and hospitality sector as an independent consultant, a leader within non-profits, and an entrepreneur. Previously, Rica was the Head of Tourism and Conservation at the Rwanda Development Board where her responsibilities included tourism investment promotion, tourism marketing, and stakeholder coordination. She has served on multiple national and regional boards within the sector and has a deep network across Rwanda and the region.
At the core of it all, she is an entrepreneur at heart who combines a passion for leadership, entrepreneurship and social impact.
Rica holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences from Makerere University and an MBA from Oklahoma Christian University.
Job Titles:
- Certified Public Accountant
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Board of Directors of Alphabet, Inc
Robin L. Washington is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Alphabet, Inc., Honeywell International, Inc. and Salesforce.com, where she currently serves as chair of the audit committee. She is also a member of the Board of Visitors, Graziadio School of Business and Management, Pepperdine University; the Presidents Council & Ross Business School Advisory Board, University of Michigan; and the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland Board of Directors.
Ms. Washington served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Gilead Sciences, Inc., from May 2008 - November 2019 where she oversaw Global Finance, Facilities and Operations, Investor Relations, and the Information Technology organizations. Prior to Gilead, Ms. Washington was the Chief Financial Officer of Hyperion Solutions Inc. from 2005 - 2007. She also served as Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller of PeopleSoft along with several other senior financial roles at the company from 1996 - 2005. Prior to PeopleSoft, Ms. Washington was Director of Finance for Tandem Computers, an Accounting Analyst for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and a Senior Auditor for Deloitte & Touche.
Ms. Washington is a certified public accountant and holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Pepperdine University.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Executive Director, Country Programs
- Senior Leader
Rosemary Nduhiu provides strategic and leadership support as the Executive Director, Country Programs at the Mastercard Foundation.
Rosemary is a passionate senior leader with over 20 years of experience in strategic financial management across diverse industries in Africa and the Middle East, with a wealth of experience across the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods, Telecommunications, and Pay TV sectors.
Before joining the Mastercard Foundation, she was the Chief Financial Officer at MultiChoice Africa. She has also held senior leadership positions in several organizations, including Kenya Breweries, Airtel Africa, Dal Group, and Unilever Kenya.
Rosemary holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Accounting from the University of Bedfordshire, UK.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Leader
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Country Director, Nigeria Programs
Rosy Fynn is a distinguished change leader with a wealth of experience in International Development, Telecommunications, Financial Services, Consulting, and Insurance. She has over a decade's executive-level experience in transforming organizations across Africa, the United States, and the Caribbean. Rosy is currently the Ghana and Nigeria (Acting) Country Director at the Mastercard Foundation, overseeing the delivery of the Foundation's Young Africa Works strategy to enable upwards of three million young Ghanaian women and men to access dignified and fulfilling work by 2030.
Prior to joining the Mastercard Foundation, she was the Chief Executive Officer of BusyInternet. During her time at BusyInternet, Rosy was awarded the Outstanding Telecommunication CEO of the Year at the 2021 Entrepreneurs and Corporate Executive Awards.
She has held senior leadership positions in several organizations, including BusyInternet, Bharti Airtel, Surfline Communications and Millicom International Cellular (Tigo).
Rosy is passionate about unlocking the potential of African youth and women. She mentors young people across several organizations, including Sponsors for Education Opportunity (SEO) and Emerging Public Leaders. She is an advocate for women in STEM and was recognized as one of the Top 30 women in STEM by the STEM Woman Project.
Rosy holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA (honors) in Computer Science and Mathematics from Smith College, Massachusetts, USA. She is married with three children. In her spare time, Rosy runs (has completed four competitive half marathons), plays basketball, golf, and rides motorbikes.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Country Director, Ethiopia Programs
Since joining the Mastercard Foundation in 2015, Samuel has led the development of strategic interventions and programs that create access to quality and relevant secondary education for African young people under the Foundation's Innovation in Secondary Education Initiative.
Samuel has played a key role in the development of the Foundation's Young Africa Works strategy as well as its roll-out in Uganda. Samuel has over 20 years of experience in education, child rights advocacy, and public health with public, private and non-governmental organizations.
Samuel has served in the capacity of director, deputy director, technical advisor, program manager, and program officer in various large and multi-year projects in Ethiopia, Namibia, Canada, and Uganda.
Samuel is a qualified teacher with experience in teaching at secondary and tertiary levels. Samuel holds a Bachelor of Education and a Master of Arts from leading higher learning institutions in Ethiopia.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Chief Public Affairs and Communications Officer
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Country Director, West African Economic and Monetary Union ( WAEMU ) Programs
- Senior Business Leader
Serge-Auguste is a senior business leader with many years of international experience across multiple sectors including Financial Services, Information and Communications Technology, Digital economy, Agro-processing and Strategic consulting.
Prior to joining the Mastercard Foundation, he was the Director of Consumer Banking at Ecobank in charge of francophone West Africa where he led a diverse team to develop and implement the bank's consumer and digital financial services strategy leading to a profitable turn-around in that division of the bank. Prior to that, he worked as the Director of Orange Business in Cote d'Ivoire, leading a large integrated team to deliver strategic business outcomes.
Serge-Auguste is passionate about value creation and is keen on grooming the next generation of African entrepreneurs. In pursuit of this, he has over the years dedicated his time and expertise to voluntarily coaching start-ups and young entrepreneurs across the African continent. He believes this is his way of giving back.
He is an advocate and supporter of financial inclusion and digitalization as key enablers for people, businesses, and national development and he speaks on both regional and international platforms in this regard.
Serge-Auguste holds a Master's degree in E-business from ESCP Europe and an MBA from ESCA. He is married and a proud father of three.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Co - Founder & Chief Operating Officer of Gro Intelligence
- Technology Leader
Sewit Ahderom, Co-Founder and COO of Gro Intelligence, comes with a strong background in tech-driven solutions and has significantly influenced various sectors, including agriculture, climate action, and economy.
Sewit is a seasoned technology leader with extensive experience in developed and emerging markets. She co-founded Gro Intelligence in Nairobi, which went on to become a global leader in the use of AI for complex analysis in the agricultural ecosystem and enabling companies to hedge against climate risk. Her previous experience includes Vice President roles at Helios Investment Partners and Citigroup. She holds an MBA from Columbia University and is a member of two other Boards.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Executive Director, Education and Transitions
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Founding Partner and CEO at Satya Capital Limited
Tsega Gebreyes, Founding Partner of Satya Capital Limited, brings a wealth of experience in African investment and strategy, having played a key role in numerous growth and expansion initiatives across the continent.
Tsega has vast experience fostering long-term growth for businesses in Africa, including her last role as Chief of Strategy and Business Development Officer at Celtel International. Earlier, she was a founding partner of NAOF, a $120 million private equity fund managed by Zephyr Asset Management. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and sits on several other Boards.
"I am honoured to serve on the Board of Directors. The Mastercard Foundation's programs have played a crucial role in enabling young people across Africa to be catalysts of change, steering the economic transformation of their communities. I am excited to contribute to this critical work," said Sewit Ahderom, Co-Founder and COO of Gro Intelligence.
Job Titles:
- General Counsel
- Member of the Executive Committee