Governance

Chair

Board members of G.R.A.C.E. Africa

Has a bachelor of Clinical Biochemistry from Makerere University, Kampala
and was a Post Graduate Research Fellow in Enzymology in the same
university.
He has over 30 years experience working in Africa both as a Biochemist
conducting research, attending and speaking at conferences worldwide on
AIDS/HIV, Diabetes, Malaria and in management roles.

 

Secretary

Board members of G.R.A.C.E. Africa

Edward Waiguru Muya has a Bachelor of Education from Kenyatta University and a Masters of
Arts degree from Loughborough University in the UK. He has over 20 years
experience as a university lecturer at Kenyatta University. Edward has also done
numerous consultancies and published many research publications.

 

Treasurer

Board members of G.R.A.C.E. Africa

Sjoerd Visser has a Master's degree in International Management and Entrepreneurship with 15 years working experience in Africa, Middle East and Asia.

 

Director

Board members of G.R.A.C.E. Africa

Charity Kabutha is a Gender and Participatory Development Consultant with over two decades of research and advocacy experience in education, agriculture, environment and health. Worked with diverse organizations - Ministries of Agriculture, Environment, UNICEF and Winrock International. Charity has managed large program portfolios for UNICEF and Winrock International in Kenya and East Africa respectively, assisting partners to develop and engender institutional systems and programs using Project Cycle Management (PCM) process.

 

Student Representative

Board members of G.R.A.C.E. Africa

Martin Okello has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Media Stuides with specialization in Development Communication from the University of Nairobi.

 

Director

Board members of G.R.A.C.E. Africa

Rupert William Milvain Watson has a Bachelor of law degree from Dundee, Scotland, specialising in English law and economics. He has over 30 years experience in law practice in Kenya and the United Kingdom.

 

Founder

Board members of G.R.A.C.E. Africa

Ms. Martin has 20 years of scientific research experience in the areas of genetics, endocrinology, and immunology, as well as extensive experience in interdisciplinary project management in HIV-related clinical research. Her experience in paediatric AIDS Research dates back to the earliest days of the epidemic, as she pioneered some of the earliest laboratory methods that were used for the discovery of HIV/AIDS in infants and children. Read more

 

C.E.O

Board Members of G.R.A.C.E. Africa

Pascal Masila Mailu is a Sociologist with thirteen years' experience in development work in Kenya. Before joining G.R.A.C.E in 2009, Pascal worked for the Kenyan chapter of the African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN), leaving as a Program Coordinator (1999 – 2003). After that he served as a Program Manager in CARE International in Kenya (2004 – 2009).

In the course of his career, Pascal designed and managed the successful implementation of numerous regional and national programs focusing mostly on Orphans and Vulnerable Children, Economic Empowerment, Child Protection, promoting the rights of the Urban Poor and HIV Prevention, He has broad experience in the design and management of programs related to HIV and AIDS; Human Rights; Economic Empowerment and Early Childhood Development (ECD). Pascal was a member of the team that pioneered the development of the 5 by 5 model of Early Childhood Development (ECD), which has now been adopted by numerous international organizations in promoting ECD programming. He was also in the team that pioneered the introduction of structured Internal Savings and Lending Associations in Kenya as an alternative pro-poor economic empowerment model.

Since joining G.R.A.C.E in 2009, Pascal has worked very closely with the founder and former Chief Executive Officer Natasha Martin in successfully implementing a USAID funded program aimed at improving the welfare of Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) and their households and HIV Prevention in Kenya's Nyanza, Eastern and Central provinces. As a result, the program significantly exceeded its targets, and realized highly positive outcomes. He has also been instrumental in the mobilization of funds from the Open Society Institute and Co2balance for promoting human rights in Kibera and expanding environmental protection in the Mount Kenya region respectively.

 

Chair

USA Board of Directors

Leslie Robertson lives in San Francisco Bay Area and works in cyber security research and development. She has been involved with G.R.A.C.E. for more than ten years, first as a donor, and then as a board member. She currently serves as a chair of the G.R.A.C.E. USA board.

 

Secretary

USA Board of Directors

Sasha Rabsey is the founder and director of the HOW Fund, which supports international mentorship programs for girls. HOW Fund grantees range from an anti sex trafficking program in Vietnam, to a mentorship program for adolescent girls in Nairobi, to a training program committed to ending Female Genital Cutting in Burkina Faso. In addition to providing program grants, Sasha established the HOW Fellowship in 2011. The Fellowship recognizes grassroots leaders working with young women on issues of education, social justice and reproductive health. Fellows are awarded a professional development grant and participation in the prestigious Opportunity Collaboration in Ixtapa, Mexico. Sasha speaks, writes and consults on effective philanthropic engagement with grassroots organizations as well as on girls' and women's issues internationally.

 

Treasurer

USA Board of Directors

Mathew Messner is currently involved in operation and management of 7 apartment complexes he co-owns in California, Oregon and Idaho. He has also been involved in design and renovation of several large houses in San Francisco, Ashland, Palm Springs and Puerto Vallarta.

In addition to G.R.A.C.E., Matt is a supporter of the Southern Oregon Humane Society where he was a board member for six years, the spay-neuter programs of PEACE mexico, La Clinica del Valle and KS Wild in Southern Oregon, and Temple Emek Shalom in Ashland, OR. Previously Matt was administrator of pediatrics programs at the University of California San Francisco Medical center. He has a BS in Biology from Stanford University and an MBA and MPH in healthcare administration from the University of California, Berkeley.

Matt dIvides his time between his homes in Ashland, Oregon, and Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico.

 

Director

USA Board of Directors

Susan Herhold has been involved with G.R.A.C.E. for the last 5 years. Her daughter, Abby, worked for G.R.A.C.E. in Kenya; since then, Susan and her family have participated in various events to raise funds for G.R.A.C.E. She has been a board member for the last 2 years and recently travelled to Kenya to accompany Natasha Martin on G.R.A.C.E. site visits. Susan is a school guidance counselor and presently resides on the big island of Hawaii.

 

Director

USA Board of Directors
 
Dr. Lankford is an USA trained Urologist who has been working with G.R.A.C.E. since 2000.
As a junior in college at the University of California at Berkeley Dawud traveled to Kenya to
volunteer in various HIV/AIDS related community based organizations supported by G.R.A.C.E. 

It is in this setting that Dawud developed his personal commitment to Health and Human Rights. 
 
Dr. Lankford happily joined the G.R.A.C.E.USA board in 2010 so that he might achieve his goal of helping to enhance health care delivery in sub-Saharan Africa.

 

Director

USA Board of Directors

Mr. Nelson is a businessman who owns a retail store (Toque Blanche) and a wholesale import business (Chamba Imports) in Half Moon Bay, California. His prior career included several executive positions in technology companies in Silicon Valley. There he specialized in International Sales Management and co-founded Metric Equipment Sales with headquarters in Hayward, California.

Mr. Nelson has been a board member of several non-profit organizations in Half Moon Bay, including the Rotary Club (President), Chamber of Commerce (Vice-Chair) and Downtown Business Association (Chair).

He first became aware of G.R.A.C.E. in 2001 and began supporting the organization, first through the Rotary Club and later through personal donations. In 2006 he visited G.R.A.C.E. in Kenya and saw its work first hand. He later made several subsequent visits to the country. At the end of 2006 he joined the board and served as a director and later as president. After a year off the board in 2011, he re-joined in 2012.

Mr. Nelson is a board member of and donor to G.R.A.C.E. because he knows how G.R.A.C.E. has improved the lives of thousands of people in East Africa, leveraging a small budget to achieve spectacular results.

 

Founder

Founder

USA Board of Directors

Ms. Martin has 20 years of scientific research experience in the areas of genetics, endocrinology, and immunology, as well as extensive experience in interdisciplinary project management in HIV-related clinical research. Her experience in paediatric AIDS Research dates back to the earliest days of the epidemic, as she pioneered some of the earliest laboratory methods that were used for the discovery of HIV/AIDS in infants and children.