US Team
“Ripple Effect’s work is truly done in partnership with those that we serve in Africa. Seeing their work first-hand in Kenya helped me to see how passionate and caring our field staff are about walking alongside farmers, increasing their knowledge, their crop yields, their income and their ability to thrive in rural Africa. It truly is life-sustaining work that is making an incredible difference in the world, and I am so honored to support it.”
Robyn Davis Sekula
Chair
Board of Directors
Robyn Davis Sekula
In her working life, Robyn Davis Sekula is Vice President of Communications and Marketing for the Presbyterian Foundation in the Louisville, KY area. She oversees strategic communications from the Foundation to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s two million members. She has worked as a communications and marketing consultant for non-profit organizations and businesses and also as a journalist and writer.
She joined the US Board of Trustees in 2015, visiting farmers in western Kenya in 2017 and Rwanda in 2019.
Elzadia Washington
Elzadia Washington is a retired Senior Foreign Service Officer who served for more than thirty years with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). She has hands-on experience and knowledge of sustainable development. Ms. Washington is currently the owner and operator of the Vera Heritage Farm, LLC producing naturally-grown vegetables in rural Arkansas.
Amy Gopp
The Reverend Amy C. Gopp serves as the first female senior pastor in the history of the Kent United Church of Christ in Kent, Ohio. Prior to joining the Kent UCC, Amy served as a global activist and peacemaker. A passionate activist for gender justice and girls and women’s education and empowerment, Gopp is one of the key founding leaders of the interfaith We Will Speak Out U.S. coalition and campaign to end sexual and gender-based violence.
McGrath Thomas
McGrath Thomas has more than 30 years of experience in international development and providing transformational leadership to international organisations. As U.S Peace Corps Country Director in three Africa countries, she managed the country program supporting health and HIV/AIDS, educations, economic development, water and sanitation and youth development.
Paul Stuart
Paul qualified as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Young before spending over 20 years in international business. During this time he developed partnerships in a number of different countries whilst leading an international publisher. He lived and volunteered with an international NGO in Mozambique for a year and joined Ripple Effect in 2013. Paul is also a Trustee of Development Initiatives.
Andre Nsengiyumva
Andre has more than 15 years of experience in international development with NGOs, working both in humanitarian response and in the development sectors. Andre is not new to the Ripple Effect family, having been the Country Director in Rwanda and Burundi before joining his family in Canada. Currently, he is completing a Career Bridging course on Leadership and Management program at Collège Boréal, Canada.
Amal Murgian
Amal Murgian was born in Kenya and educated in the UK and the US. After a career in management consulting and finance, Amal has shifted her focus to improving the lives of women and girls is East Africa.
Her primary interests are improving the livelihoods of disadvantaged women through improving access to justice, healthcare and economic opportunities, specifically in agribusiness.
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