Class 43

Lorna Kanyuga is a development professional with five years of experience in the social sector, holding a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Nairobi. She recently served as the Kenya Philanthropies Lead at Microsoft, where she coordinated digital skills and entrepreneurship training programs. Previously, she worked at Yusudi Limited, where she led the development, testing and launch of Jijali, an online learning program that uses blended learning techniques to provide personalized entrepreneurship and career training to over 1,400 young people. She was also a Life Skills Trainer at the same company, where she developed and delivered career preparation training to over 200 unemployed college graduates and young professionals. Prior to that, she managed the Social Projects Department at the AIESEC office in Kenya, where she led the development and implementation of strategies to grow the international volunteer program. Through these experiences, she has gained skills in project/program management, training, and youth development. In her spare time, Lorna volunteers at schools in informal settlements in Nairobi, where she supports schools in providing life skills training to students and fundraises for learning materials. She is passionate about skills development for youth from disadvantaged backgrounds, youth development and the use of technology in education.

Host Organization: Luminate

Role at Host Organization: At Luminate, Lorna will serve as Project Management Fellow. She will help track and implement all of Partner Support’s major projects by collecting data and impact and by providing project management / implementation assistance. She will gain exposure to work across six regions (Southeast Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, Latin America, and the United States), as well as multiple impact areas.

Yery M García has been working as a researcher and practitioner in communication, development and social change for more than five years. She holds an M.A. in Media Practice for Development and Social Change from the University of Sussex in the UK and a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Havana. She has worked as a communications consultant in several international cooperation agencies such as UNICEF, WFP and Oxfam. Since 2014 she has been working as a journalist in Cuban and international media outlets covering issues related to transparency, participation and accountability. She is also a non-formal educator and has been a member of several citizen capacity building projects using new information and communication technologies.

Host Organization: Transparency & Accountability Initiative

Role at Host Organization: At the Transparency & Accountability Initiative, Yery will serve as a Communications & Knowledge Sharing Fellow. She will focus on developing and implementing strategic and digital communications for TAI, managing all of its social media platforms, growing its digital presence, and providing innovative ways to communicate TAI’s unique role as a thought leader and knowledge resource for practitioners leading change around the transparency, civic participation, and accountability field.

Antsa Razafimbelo is a specialist in project management and has worked with national and international organizations and institutions in many sectors. He has managed and carried out several large-scale projects (climate change, agribusiness, environment, renewable energy). He has expertise in financial analysis, budget management, management of agreements and contracts, cash flow, mechanisms and procedures of entities such as private investment funds, government programs, working with private multinationals and international funds such as GCF, GEF, IFAD, Adaptation Fund. He has worked for private companies such as Nordex Group, Quaero Capital, Energie Team, and for international organizations and multilateral banks such as AfDB, ADB, World Bank, UNDP, UNEP, FAO, GCF, GEF, IFAD, IFOAM – Organics International in many countries: Mali, Niger, Vietnam, Somalia and Sudan, Benin, Cameroon, DRC, Chad, Madagascar, Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso, Sao Tomé & Principe, France, UK, Germany.

Host Organization: Collaborating for Resilience

Role at Host Organization: At Collaborating for Resilience, Antsa will be serving as Program Management Fellow. He will manage partner collaborations and undertake action research in one or more program areas, and contribute to program development, marketing and communications initiatives. He will help build the organization at a critical moment in its growth by: working to solidify partnerships in Asia, Africa and/or Latin America; delivering action research that builds the capacity of civil society partners to drive governance innovations; and expanding the base of support from philanthropic and international development agencies.

Mehdi is currently a Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Accountability professional with more than ten years of experience, including five in Monitoring and Evaluation in both the development/humanitarian and impact investing sectors at Oxfam and Yunus Social Business. Passionate about multidisciplinary knowledge and learning, Mehdi has always been an autodidact. He holds a Master’s degree in Accounting Sciences from IHEC Carthage. During his career, he earned multiple certificates related to his domain of expertise. Mehdi has spent the last three years working mainly with marginalized communities on tackling economic and gender inequalities, topics he has a strong passion about besides humanitarian work. His contribution covers many aspects and includes in particular: assessments; impact measurement; evidence-based learning; strategy design and interventions framing; designing monitoring and evaluation processes and developing tools (IT); capacity building; and empowering people and organizations. Mehdi is recognized for his problem-solving skills, his strategic thinking abilities, and his innovative and creative thinking.

Host Organization: Transparency & Accountability Initiative

Role at Host Organization: At the Transparency & Accountability Initiative, Mehdi will serve as the Monitoring, Evaluation, & Learning Fellow. He will help implement TAI’s internal MEL system and practices. He will also support TAI’s learning initiatives, including staff internal reflection sessions, funder member-facing events and/or written products, and research around TPA-related topics.