Team
Boris Bulayev
President
A 2007 alumni of Amherst College, Boris has been working with Eric Glustrom on Educate! since the beginning of his sophomore year of college in October 2004. During the summer of 2007, he spearheaded the development of Educate!’s new leadership program and made connections with countless individuals in the government, non-governmental organizations, and schools. After spending the first two years post-college working on Educate! in his free time, Boris jumped back into the organization full time in November 2009 and, in his role as President, manages fundraising and general operations in the U.S..
Boris was born in Latvia, and lived there until the age of 7, when he moved to San Francisco. He is currently based in New York, but also spends time in Uganda and San Francisco. Before coming back to Educate!, he worked at startup incubator Loeb Enterprises.
Contact Boris: boris@experienceeducate.org
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Maya Ellman
Director of Communications/ Development Associate
Maya graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communications. Before joining Educate!, Maya worked as a journalist and then as an account executive at a public relations agency in Southern California. Maya helps Educate! spread the word through newspapers, magazines, the radio, TV and the online social media community (Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and more) about our work to empower the next generation of socially responsible leaders in Africa.
She also coordinates fundraising and events, grant proposals, the Educate! Newsletter and mailings and plays an active role in the Frontrange Educate! Club.
Maya was born and raised in Boulder, Colo. and resides in Denver where she is pursuing a Masters in International Relations from the University of Denver. She has travelled all over the world- including Uganda where she spent part of the summer!
Contact Maya: maya@experienceeducate.org
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Eric Glustrom
Executive Director
Eric started Educate! in 2002 after traveling to Kyangwali Refugee Settlement in Uganda to create a film about the life of refugees. There he met Benson Olivier, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo. One evening, sitting in Benson’s home, Benson told Eric how he lost his parents in the brutal Congolese war, fled on his own to Kyangwali, and fought to survive as a refugee. Eric asked what he could do to help. Benson asked only for an education so he could solve the challenges faced by his community and homeland. From his insightful words, Educate! was born with a mission to educate and empower the next generation of socially responsible leaders in Africa.
Eric graduated from Amherst College in 2007 with a degree in biochemistry. He likes skiing of all kinds, discussing social change, and is reportedly very good at catching food in his mouth.
Contact Eric: eric@experienceeducate.org
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Emily Lutyens
Country Director
Emily, who graduated from Brown University, was educated all over the world. In her words: “What drew me to Educate! was not just [the] mission, but a belief in its method. Having grown up moving from country to country, my own education has been a jumbled product of the Japanese, British, French and American educational systems. Each system had its strengths and limitations, and I have come away with a deep conviction that education should go beyond memorizing textbooks and practicing standardized tests. It should be a time to ask ‘what is my potential?’ instead of ‘what is the exam like?’” Emily’s experience growing up in different educational systems embodies Educate!’s work in Uganda: empowering individuals through education to reach their potential both for themselves and their community.
Emily is working to develop Educate!’s relationships with 25 partner schools around Uganda and to hire the mentors who will teach the socially responsible leadership course. Emily, a former management consultant, brings to Educate! her sense of organization, drive, and experience building the necessary structures and feedback systems that will best lead to the success of Educate!’s programs.
Read more from Emily on our blog
Contact Emily: emily@experienceeducate.org
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Angelica Towne
Program Director
Angelica, who graduated from Middlebury College, brings a creativity and passion to Educate! that is being expressed in the curriculum she is designing for the socially responsible leadership course. Her experience designing curricula in Jamaica and the US gave her a foundation. Now, by synthesizing resources and advice from our partner organizations and contacts in Uganda and elsewhere Angelica is putting together an innovative, trend setting course that changes the face, and enhances the purpose, of the Ugandan education system.
In her words: “I know firsthand what it means to be literally saved by nonprofit organizations that embody creative solutions to society’s opportunity gaps. At Kyangwali Refugee Camp, Benson Wereje, Bahati and I swapped stories of how we all received “sponsorship” or scholarships to attend university and how it changed our lives forever. I felt such a beautiful solidarity with our students and reaffirmation of the necessity of work.” Needless to say, after Angelica’s first weekend in Kyangwali, the Educate! students developed a strong sense of connectedness with her and were excited to have her on the team.
Read more from Angelica on our blog
Contact Angelica: angelica@experienceeducate.org
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Educate!’s Mentors
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Volunteers
Sarah Tracy
Director of Clubs
Sarah, who recently graduated from Amherst College where she was a long-time, devoted member of the Educate! club, is organizing, supporting, and encouraging Educate!’s student clubs at high schools and colleges. The student clubs raise support, develop awareness among students for the situation in Uganda, and build connections with the Educate! students that provide meaningful cross-cultural, student-to-student relationships. Sarah is also working to start new student clubs in the US and Canada.
Contact Sarah: sarah@experienceeducate.org
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Andy Segoshi
Graphics Guru
Andy Segoshi who has an incredible talent for graphics design has generously volunteered his expertise to Educate! for everything from the logo, to varied club fundraiser posters, to Educate!’s newsletter. He graduated from Amherst College in 2008, and now works with Boris at Loeb Enterprises in New York City.
Contact Andy: andy@experienceeducate.org
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Interns
Lindsey Block (US) – PR
Kristina Getty (US) – Individual and foundation support
Joe Quaderer (Uganda) – Uganda Business Coordinator
Rachel Santos (Uganda) - Program Coordinator
Maggie Sheahan (Uganda) – Uganda Program Coordinator
Claire Walsh (US) – Student clubs and social investment council
And coming soon to Uganda… a fundraising coordinator
…Not to mention, many volunteers, student club leaders, and student club members across the world without whom everything Educate! has done would not be possible.