Richard Olupot Ogaino
Head of People Operations, East Africa
Richard’s experience as a Graduate teacher of Economics and Geography, and the drive to see teachers adopt an experience based approach to classroom teaching and management inspired him to sign up for his first role as Teacher Support Coordinator with Educate!.
Richard is a Certified Chartered Human Resource Business Partner and a Fellow with the American Academy of Project Management; holds a Masters in Management/HRM from Trisakti University, Jakarta, Indonesia, and is a Registered Teacher with the MOE&S, Uganda.
Richard is inspired by and feels privileged to work with a talented & high performing team that is deeply invested in education outcomes. “During my training at University as a teacher, hundreds or even thousands of teacher trainees were exposed to the serious gaps in our education system. Working with people providing real solutions to real problems is humbling to me.”
During his free time, Richard enjoys running, traveling, translating documents from Bahasa Indonesia to English, and engaging in Christian Ministry.
Richard has been with Educate! since 2011.
Hannah Ornas
Chief of Staff
As Chief of Staff, Hannah works with Educate!’s teams across geographies to advance strategic initiatives and strengthen organizational capacity to support Educate! in achieving its growth and impact goals.
Hannah is a global development professional with diverse experience spanning public administration, strategic communications, and business development.
Prior to joining Educate!, Hannah worked with the International Rescue Committee, where she supported refugee resettlement programming for arriving families and youth in the U.S. She is passionate about expanding opportunity for young people and promoting equitable and inclusive approaches to tackling inequality and development challenges.
Hannah studied with the School for International Training in Tanzania and graduated with distinction from the University of Colorado Boulder with a B.A in Sociology and Public Health. She holds a Master of Public Administration and International Policy from Cornell University’s Brooks School of Public Policy.
Hannah has been with Educate! since 2018.
Shauna Davidson
Institutional Partnerships Lead
As Institutional Partnerships Lead, Shauna tackles the research and strategy behind Educate!'s approach to business development through institutional funding channels.
Shauna has over a decade of experience in non-profit fundraising and project management, including grant writing and reporting, grant compliance, financial reporting, and relationship management. Prior to Educate!, she was the Grants Manager for a shelter for homeless youth in Boulder, Colorado.
Shauna has an MSc in Anthropology and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a B.A. in Anthropology and Studio Art, with a focus on oil painting. She also studied at the School of International Training in Senegal.
Originally from the US, Shauna has made Uganda her second home. When she's not working at Educate! you can find her supporting the operations of the two primary schools she co-founded in Northern Uganda.
Shauna has been with Educate! since 2015.
Marit Blaak
Principal Product Strategist
Marit offers leadership over the design and training function across Educate!'s product portfolio. With her team, she ensures Educate! designers and trainers are fully equipped to continuously build game-changing education products for in- and out-of-school youth. Passionate about fostering equity, Marit leads the gender equity product strategy while also supporting the education system and school solutions strategy.
Marit holds a PhD in organizational learning and has previously held research, learning and design roles with various education organizations including Innovations for Poverty Action, VVOB - education for development and the University of Groningen. She's energized by Educate!'s commitment to measurable impact on young people.
Marit has been with Educate! since 2013.
Rogers Kamugisha Patrick
Principal Product Strategist
Rogers oversees a dynamic, high-performing team that implements our Exchange Program in the 30 districts of Rwanda. Part of his role is to oversee program reporting, making sure that reports are prompt, regular, and contain useful and accurate information that can be validated and put into action. He is also influential in developing systems and structures that enable the Programs team to respond rapidly and efficiently to opportunities to scale.
Rogers has a master's degree in business administration with a focus in marketing. He is an educator and an economist with over 10 years of experience working in the Rwandan education system. Rogers successfully supported the launching of Educate! In Rwanda in 2016. As a former National Program Manager, he helped Educate! develop and manage key relationships in government.
Rogers loves working young people, and opening their eyes to new experiences. He believes that if the youths are given the right support and mentorship, the economy would have unique entrepreneurs and leaders.
Rogers has been with Educate! since 2015.
Ngibuini 'Gibbs' Mwaura
Principal Strategist
Ngibuini is based in Nairobi, Kenya. He has 7+ years of experience building, implementing, and scaling skill training programs for the African market with an emphasis on Entrepreneurship and EdTech.
He previously worked with EdTech unicorn Andela where he developed and implemented multiple skill development programs that enabled thousands of African youth (in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Nigeria) to acquire gainful employment in local and global tech companies.
He has built and managed large high capacity teams in multiple African countries and developed learning solutions for both for-profits (Andela: VC-funded, billion-dollar valued tech startup) and non-profits (Educate!: largest, evidence-based, youth development nonprofit in East Africa) contexts.
He also serves as a director for Inuka Leadership Africa, a Kenya-based consultancy and foundation delivering diverse solutions for young professionals since 2015.
He is deeply passionate about understanding how communities change and become more equitable; collaboratively developing solutions to Africa’s most pressing problems in the area of work; and, more than anything, identifying better models for education reform and business/labor market interventions that lead to improved livelihoods, meaningful work, and dignity for Africa’s poorest.
Ngibuini has been with Educate! since 2021.
Simon Mtabazi
Policy and Partnership Strategist
Simon works on Educate!’s Education System Solutions expansion in Tanzania, experimentation to validate product ideas and co-designing of product learning systems with governments. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, is an Ashoka Visionary Program and AIESEC Alumnus as well as a WEF Global Shaper Hub and Catalyst 2030 member in Dar es Salaam.
Simon Mtabazi is a social innovation practitioner with over five years of experience designing and implementing innovation programs in East Africa. Simon’s expertise includes project management, strategy implementation and innovations design. Simon joined Educate! because of his passion for improving access to quality education, livelihood, and economic opportunities in Africa. In his free time, Simon enjoys cooking, cycling and being outdoors.
Simon has been with Educate! since 2023.
Diana Mwai
Group Strategist, Policy and Partnerships
Diana is passionate about and highly active in youth entrepreneurship, child protection, and livelihoods for vulnerable groups in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda.
Diana joined Educate! in February 2013 as a Senior Program Manager. She has helped manage Educate!'s team to successfully deliver the program at scale in 250 schools in Uganda’s Central and Eastern regions of Uganda.
She graduated from the University of Nairobi with an Economics degree. She received her Master’s in Public Management from the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. After graduating, she worked as a National Program Coordinator at the African Network for the Prevention and Protection Against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN).
Diana is passionate about working with young people and believes they are the solution to Africa’s poverty-related challenges.
Diana has been with Educate! since 2013.
Siler Bryan
Group Strategist, Out-of-School Youth
Siler is based in Nairobi, Kenya. Prior to joining Educate!, Siler launched a Social Enterprise called Better Minds Education in Western Kenya, with a mission of providing high quality digital learning experiences to youth in rural areas. Siler previously lived in Uganda for 4 years, where he lead the New Country Expansion department for One Acre Fund, launching new operations in Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Myanmar, India and Nigeria. He has also served as a secondary school teacher at the Abaarso School of Science and Technology in Somaliland, where he taught 11th grade writing and critical reading skills.
Siler originally hails from North Carolina, and received his Bachelor's from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia where he studied International Relations and Modern Middle East Studies. Siler enjoys cycling, running, playing basketball, tennis, and ultimate frisbee, and can usually be observed reading a good book in his hammock.
Siler has been with Educate! since 2020.
Sarah Ndinya
Group Strategist, Education System Solutions
Sarah specializes in designing impactful youth employability learning programs that can leverage technology for scale and which target underserved communities.
She holds a BEd. from Kenyatta University and an MSc. in Education for Sustainability from London South Bank University, UK. She is passionate about increasing educational and professional opportunities for youth, developing curriculum addressing today’s business and technical skills for the digital economy. She has harnessed a wealth of experiences from working in the academic, NGO and tech sectors where each context has presented a variety of competencies young people need to enhance their employability skills and opportunities.
Sarah was drawn to Educate! because of its unwavering focus on the youth. She strongly believes that the key to addressing youth unemployment lies in tapping into their potential early during their formative years in school, and exposing them to opportunities that can help them identify and nurture their potential for leadership and entrepreneurship.
Sarah has been with Educate! since 2019.