MASTERCARD FOUNDATION SCHOLARS PROGRAM - Key Persons

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Adrian Bukenya

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.

Baroness Valerie Amos

Job Titles:

Member of the Board of Directors
Member of the Leadership Team

Craig Calhoun

Job Titles:

Member of the Board
Member of the Leadership Team
Professor of Social Sciences

Craig Calhoun is Professor of Social Sciences, Arizona State University. Previously, he was Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), President of the Berggruen Institute, and President of the Social Science Research Council. He taught at the University of North Carolina, Columbia University, and New York University where he founded the Institute for Public Knowledge. Mr. Calhoun's publications address politics, economics, the impact of technology, and social change. His books include: Neither Gods Nor Emperors: Students and the Struggle for Democracy in China, Nations Matter, The Roots of Radicalism, and Does Capitalism Have a Future? Mr. Calhoun studied social anthropology at USC, Columbia and Manchester and has a DPhil in politics, sociology, and modern social and economic history from Oxford.

Daniel Hailu

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.

David Bagenda

Job Titles:

Director
Member of the Executive Committee
Country Director, Kenya Programs
Senior Business Leader

David Bagenda is a senior business leader with over 20 years' experience leading finance and strategy in several multinational corporations. David joined Mastercard Foundation at the beginning of 2022; and has been 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. He has been instrumental in among other key priorities, streamlining co-creation with different Foundation's partners, while championing the Foundation's values towards achieving impact at scale. Prior to joining the Mastercard Foundation, David was Diageo's Strategic Projects Director for Africa, based in Kenya, where he managed multi-billion Pounds turnover for the multinational drinks company. He is also credited with orchestrating accelerated growth in trading profit across ten markets in Africa for Diageo. David's career started in Finance at British American Tobacco where he spent 16 years growing to the level of CFO. He then joined Diageo for 7 years where he held various CFO roles before switching to Strategy, first for East Africa, then for Africa. He has been accountable for various markets across Africa, Middle East and Caucuses. David holds a Bachelor of Statistics and Applied Economics, with first-class Honours, from the Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. He is also a graduate of the Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC) Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching.

David Rurangirwa

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.

Douglas Baillie

Job Titles:

Member of the Board
Member of the Leadership Team

Doug Baillie was Chief Human Resources Officer of Unilever. Mr. Baillie started his career with Unilever in 1978 in South Africa, which has seen him taking various sales and marketing appointments and serving in a number of leadership roles around the world. He has served as the Managing Director for Lever Pond in South Africa in 1997 and became the National Manager for Unilever South Africa in May 2000. Mr. Baillie was appointed as Group Vice President of Africa, Middle East and Turkey in 2004 and moved to India in March 2006 as CEO for Hindustan Unilever Limited and Group Vice President South Asia. Mr. Baillie also served as the President of Western Europe, joining the Unilever Executive Board in 2008. Mr. Baillie is a member of the Leverhulme Trust Board, one of the largest all-subject providers of research funding in the UK and serves as a Non-Executive Director of the Huhtamaki Group. Mr. Baillie graduated from the University of Natal in South Africa with majors in business finance, marketing, and business administration.

Jay Ireland

Job Titles:

Member of the Board

Jay Ireland is the former President and CEO of GE Africa (appointed in 2011) located in Nairobi, Kenya where he led GE's operations on the sub-continent across power generation, healthcare, transportation, oil & gas, and aviation. He was a GE Officer and a member of GE's Corporate Executive Council. Prior to his GE Africa appointment, Mr. Ireland led GE Asset Management (GEAM), a global investment firm with about US$120 billion in assets under management. Before heading GEAM, Mr. Ireland was President of NBC Universal Television Stations and Network Operations where he had overall executive responsibility for NBC Universal's 10 television stations, the Telemundo network and its 16 Spanish language television stations. Prior to joining NBC in 1999, he had been the CFO of GE Plastics. He started his career with General Electric in 1980 in its Financial Management Program after three years as a US Army Officer. Mr. Ireland is the Chair of President Obama's Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa. He is also Co-Chair of the US Africa Business Centre - launched in 2015 to lead the U.S. business community's engagement with Africa's regional economic communities, the private sector, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Mr. Ireland is a member of the African Development Bank's special panel on accelerating the implementation of its 10-year strategy. He is also a member of the Board of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation and a Trustee of St. Lawrence University where he received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1977. A frequent public speaker, Mr. Ireland won the Africa investor Magazine's ‘International Business Leader of the Year' award in 2012 and 2013.

Jennifer Brennan

Job Titles:

Director
Member of the Executive Committee
Director, Canada Programs

Jennifer joined Mastercard Foundation in 2018 and serves as 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 twenty 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 Masters of Arts (University of Alberta) Degrees in Political Science.

Jennifer Fonstad

Job Titles:

Member of the Board
Member of the Leadership Team

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.

Julie Gichuru

Job Titles:

Communications Officer
Member of the Executive Committee
Chief Public Affairs and Communications Officer

Julie is the Chief Public Affairs and Communications Officer at the Mastercard Foundation overseeing corporate, programmatic, policy & thought leadership communications, and a team spanning Africa and Canada. Prior to her role at the Foundation, Julie had a two decade career in the fields of broadcast, print, digital media and development communications. At the start of her career Julie pioneered investigative news television and programming. She conceptualized and launched numerous top news and current affairs shows and developed the pan-African television show, Africa Leadership Dialogues. Following the 2007 elections, Julie's peace specials resonated with viewers. As a result of her calls for non-violent action in 2008 she was awarded the Martin Luther King Salute to Greatness. Following this pivotal period, determined to contribute towards a more informed and responsible generation, Julie established the Great Debaters Contest, a high school debate platform focused on teaching students that differences need not result in conflict and violence. Her career focus then shifted to curating impactful engagements and driving conversations focused on African leadership, growth, and development. Over the past decade Julie has worked with key institutions, including the World Bank Group, the African Development Bank, various UN agencies, and the World Economic Forum. Julie is part of a number of Fellowships, including the Tutu Fellowship, the Aspen Global Leadership Network/Africa Leadership Initiative and is an alumni of the Young Global Leaders under the World Economic Forum. Julie has received numerous awards and recognitions. Avance Media listed her as one of the 100 Most Influential African Women of 2019, and New African listed her as one of the 100 Most Influential Africans of 2019. Julie was born in Nairobi, Kenya. She attended university in the United Kingdom where she earned her LLB Law and MBA from Cardiff University's Law and Business Schools respectively. Julie is a dedicated wife and mother and a passionate afro-optimist.

Mr. Michael Sabia

Job Titles:

Member of the Board
Member of the Leadership Team
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.

Peter Materu

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.

Reeta Roy - CEO, President

Job Titles:

CEO
Member of the Executive Committee
Member of the Leadership Team
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 approximately $40 billion in assets. Its vision is a world where everyone has the opportunity to learn and prosper. A thoughtful leader who is deeply committed to equity and inclusion, Reeta has worked tirelessly to build a foundation that is collaborative and known for bold action and transformative impact. Under Reeta's leadership, the Foundation has focused its work on Africa since 2009; committed to a goal of ensuring 75% of its partners are African organizations; and based the majority of the Foundation's operations, staff, and leadership, including Reeta herself, in Africa. To date, the Foundation has committed/deployed more than US$ 5.7 billion through financial inclusion, education, and youth livelihood programs-and as part of their pandemic response. This includes a $1.3 billion 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 $1.3 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.

Rica Rwigamba

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.

Robin L. Washington

Job Titles:

Certified Public Accountant
Member of the Board
Member of the Leadership Team
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.

Rosy Fynn

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.

Samuel Yalew Adela

Job Titles:

Member of the Leadership Team
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.

Serge-Auguste Kouakou

Job Titles:

Director
Member of the Executive Committee
Country Director, Senegal 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.