Abdallah Mohammed, East Africa, Regional Director, abdallah@thinkimpact.org
Abdallah, born and raised in Kenya, has been involved in several organizations that have helped him develop his passion for serving his community. He has always been motivated by how significantly people’s lives can be changed from being given the opportunity to make a difference. He served as a program officer for the Muthaa Community Development Foundation, a Kenyan organization that works to promote programs that affect positive change in developing communities. Abdallah graduated with Second Class Honors from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in 2008 with a B.S. in Food Science and Nutrition. He also received his Certified Public Accountant (CPA) from the Visions Institute of Professionals in 2007.
Patrick Keane, Program Manager, patrick@thinkimpact.org
Born in Kenya, Patrick has also lived in Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Thailand, Uganda, the US and Nepal. He has seen, firsthand, the prospects for the future of community leadership in developing countries. Patrick is a firm believer that social enterprise can drive local communities to collaboratively design and implement strategies for sustained development. Patrick interned with ThinkImpact’s DC office in 2010 before joining the team as Program Manager in March 2011. As a StartingBloc Fellow, he is an active member of the social entrepreneurship community. Patrick hopes to grow and learn from the ThinkImpact family in order to bond with those who share his goals and feel the spark of our collective creativity. Patrick believes that young leaders can break free of the status quo to nurture innovation, and is delighted to work with you on that process. He earned his B.A. in Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication with a minor in Philosophy from James Madison University in Virginia.
Kate Loose, Country Manager, kate@thinkimpact.org
Kate first became involved with ThinkImpact as a Global Development Intern (now called “Scholar”) in South Africa in 2010. She worked with four local entrepreneurs to start a women-run cooperative business with the aim to create a space for women in the community to meet, share ideas, and learn about business practices while also earning some much-needed income and fostering feelings of pride and dignity. Kate then returned to ThinkImpact as the Manager of Logistics in South Africa for the 2011 Innovation Institute and joined the team as the Country Manager in fall 2011. Kate believes strongly in the power of social enterprise to empower local community members to work collectively to find innovative solutions to complex problems and is excited to work with the next generation of social entrepreneurs in pursuit of that goal. Kate received her B.A. in economics and government from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.
Jessica Morse, Community Manager, jessica@thinkimpact.org
Jessica joined the ThinkImpact team in the summer of 2010 as an Intern. A San Francisco native, Jessica received a B.A. from University of California, Davis in International Relations. Since graduating in 2009 Jessica has worked as a research associate at Next Endeavor, LLC where she supported start-up nonprofit organizations. International experiences include an immersion trip to South America where she honed her Spanish language skills and working as an activities director on board the Crystal Serenity in the Mediterranean. She is currently pursuing a Masters in International Education at the George Washington University, researching innovative alternatives to traditional study abroad. Jessica has also worked with Professor Ryan Watkins at George Washington University to build a database of aid projects, chronicling the use of Performance Improvement on the project and organizational level. She just recently returned from a summer in Kenya, where she was working as an Advisor on the 2011 Innovation Institute.
Stacy Klingbeil, Assistant to the CEO, stacy@thinkimpact.org
Stacy joined the team in December 2011 as Assistant to the CEO and received her BS in Engineering Management from Miami University in 2011 where she was involved in Miami’s Center for Social Entrepreneurship and their student social enterprise, EDUN Live On Campus. She believes that building cross-cultural relationships, being resourceful, and having an open mind are the most important aspects of social entrepreneurship, and experienced this firsthand interning in Guatemala with Social Entrepreneur Corps in the summer of 2010. There, she helped local entrepreneurs thrive through the MicroConsignment Model, and helped spread environmental awareness at a rural afterschool program where her life was permanently changed. She believes in the generous, caring nature of human kind and is excited to continue her path of making a social impact with ThinkImpact through the development of on-the-ground travel experiences and inspiring new ways of thinking.
Noel Ntabanganyimana, Rwanda, Country Coordinator, noel@thinkimpact.org
Noel is originally from Rwanda and joined ThinkImpact in January 2012. He has always been focused on empowering rural communities and is interested in ways people can drive their own development regardless of their education level. Noel has been involved with many different companies and organizations that work in rural community development, including serving as district supervisor of biomass consumption in the Northern and Southern provinces of Rwanda for Africa Energy Services Group. He is currently a Generation Rwanda scholar completing his Bachelor’s degree in Estate Management and Valuation at the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). Noel believes that entrepreneurship comes after innovation, and that the development of social enterprise is key to unleashing the many resources and assets present in rural communities. He sees many opportunities to develop his profession, his country and his people by being a member of the ThinkImpact family and he is excited to develop and grow ThinkImpact’s presence in Rwanda.
