MISSION STATEMENT
The Liwalo na Liwe Foundation's purpose is to provide exposure to the problem of abandoned and vulnerable children in Iringa, Tanzania. In creating an interactive space to examine this issue, our hope is to develop practical solutions that inhibit the increasing number of children living on the streets. We commit ourselves to developing policies that can positively impact these children's lives.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
Michael Stewart
Founder
michael.stewart@liwalo.org
Michael Stewart is a researcher and educator with strong Pan-Africanist roots. Born in Jamaica, raised in the United States and as a wanderlust with a passion for education and Africa, his ultimate life objective is to build connections between both theory and practice and Africa and its diaspora. While in Tanzania conducting research on African American women expatriates in Africa, Michael became aware of the problem of street children and is now committed to its exposure and the discovery of solutions. He is currently developing a curriculum for student-based/individualized learning institutions using a synthesis of formal and non-formal educational approaches. These institutions are global, focused on poor youths, and perpetuate a strong African identity and commitment to community and human development.
Dylan Hall
Writer / Technology Coordinator
dylan.hall@liwalo.org
Dylan Hall is a high school mathematics teacher at ACT Charter High School in Chicago. He authored a memoir This Life Ain't Gravy about a teenager he mentored in Champaign, IL. He also edited of the documentary Watoto wa Mitaani, and he maintains the foundation's website.
Maaya Sundaram
Director
maaya.sundaram@liwalo.org
Maaya Sundaram recently completed a Master in Public Administration focusing on international development from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Working with the Liwalo na Liwe Foundation, she hopes to effect positive change helping marginalized children acquire the skills needed to survive while also identifying and beginning to rectify the causes of the street children problem. Maaya's other interests include business development and public health initiatives particularly in East Africa.
Chibueze Mbachu
Marketing Director
chi.mbachu@liwalo.org
Chibueze Mbachu has worked in the corporate sector for over ten years in Marketing and Logistics capacities. Upon completing his BA in Marketing Communications at Columbia College in Chicago, he worked as a Market Development Manager at Coca Cola Enterprises, Inc. for four years. The following years at Federal Express and Grainger Inc. saw him in Supply Chain and Logistics capacities, during which he donated a bulk of his free time mentoring inner city high school students on marketing strategies and techniques that will prove instrumental during their college careers. Mr. Mbachu also provided the students with internship opportunities to help give them hands-on practical experience to supplement their post-high school field of concentration in Marketing Communications. His passion for the development and betterment of vulnerable and at risk kids has driven him to be an integral and proud member of the Liwalo na Liwe Foundation and its mission.
Yaa Opare Cuguano
Public Relations
yaacugs@liwalo.org
Currently a student at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign pursuing a masters degree in African Studies, Yaa is mainly interested in issues concerning Primary and Secondary school educaton/reform in West Africa.
Nicholas Pelafas
Director of Development for Pan-African Initiatives
nick.pelafas@liwalo.org
Nicholas Pelafas recently completed his M.A. in African Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, speciallizing in Pan-African models of change and various African Languages, including Lingala, Kikongo, and Wolof. His experience includes, among many other things, art education, community project coordination, youth resource development, radio programming and production, and dancing. His philosophy is peace, love and work, and that positive global change must come about through the education and empowerment of our children and youth. He is currently based out of West Africa where he is developping initiatives with Pan-African Peoples and Liwalo na Liwe for the creation of new visions for humanity.
Lesley Gool
Legal Adviser
lesley.gool@liwalo.org
Lesley Gool is employed by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. She received her Juris Doctor from The John Marshall Law School in May 2007. Currently, Lesley is obtaining an LLM degree in Intellectual Property and she is the Vice-President of the DuSable Museum Auxiliary Board. Lesley dedicates her time to charitable causes whose objective promotes fundamental change which impacts and improves the quality of human life – both in the present and the future.
Jennifer Moss
Public Relations
jennifer.moss@liwalo.org
Jennifer Moss is a clinical psychology doctoral candidate at the Illinois School of Professional Psychology/Argosy University- Chicago Campus. For the past 10 years she has worked with adults, children, adolescents and their respective families who have been involved with the social welfare and criminal justice systems. Her current research interests include the investigation of biofeedback with inner city youth who have symptoms of PTSD as a result of community violence and HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention within the African Diaspora. As a member of the organization, she hopes to develop culturally sensitive therapeutic interventions for the children of the Liwalo community.
