Mr. Twesigye J. Kaguri, Founder and Executive Director

Mr. Kaguri was born and raised in Uganda in the small village of Nyakagyezi. In 2001, Kaguri founded The Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project in response to the devastating effects of AIDS in his hometown.  Since founding the project, Kaguri has also become an author. In “A School for My Village” he shares how he came to build the first school and the struggles he faced during the first few years. Kaguri’s Full Biography

Robert Auld

Rob Auld has over 30 years experience in the finance, investment management and banking industries working with Fidelity Investments, Bankers Trust Company, Bank of America and the U.S. Export Import Bank. He has extensive international experience, having lived over 10 years in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. Mr. Auld served in the US Army from 1968-1970 as an instructor at the Army Engineer School at Ft. Belvoir, VA.  He grew up in Charleston, WV and now lives in Aspen, CO with his wife, Carol, and 2 dogs.

Chris Lowe has worked in and around the nonprofit industry in various capacities for the past 17 years. He has worked in managerial and instructional roles at 3 leading fundraising software companies, 2 consulting firms, and 3 nonprofit organizations. He is dedicated to the Nyaka cause and had the grand opportunity to attend the inaugural graduation at Nyaka in 2008...simply put, "Life-changing".

Nancy Colier

Nancy Colier is a psychotherapist in private practice. She is also the author of the book, "Getting Out of Your Own Way: Unlocking Your True Performance Potential," as well as many articles and essays. She is also a peak performance consultant, a public speaker, and a certified Focusing trainer. She is an interfaith minister. Nancy feels strongly that an education is a basic human right, and a fundamental component in watering the seeds of the human spirit. Nancy lives in Manhattan with her husband and daughters.

Jennifer Thomson

Since earning her Master of International Affairs (MIA) from the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University in 1997, Jennifer has worked in the field of microfinance and domestic community development finance. Her domestic work focuses on community development credit unions, having held positions at the Lower East Side People's Federal Credit Union and consulted with the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions.

Due to her keen interest in Africa, Jennifer managed a loan fund of over $1 million in eight African countries while serving as the Senior Program Officer for the Africa Region of the Hunger Project. Her interest in microfinance began as an undergraduate student while living in Senegal, West Africa, working with African Environment and Development (ENDA) in Dakar.

Jude Mugerwa, M.D. FACC - Director

Dr. Mugerwa is a native of Uganda, East Africa. He is a board-certified physician in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Medicine, and Nuclear Cardiology. Having graduated from medical school at Makerere University in Uganda, Dr. Mugerwa moved to Cleveland, USA where he successfully completed his residency training in Internal Medicine at University Hospitals of Cleveland - Case Western Reserve University. He then successfully completed his fellowship in Cardiovascular Medicine at Metrohealth Medical Center - Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

He is currently in private practice as an Invasive Non-Interventional Cardiologist in Pennsylvania, USA.  Dr. Mugerwa is married and has a son.

Emma Mugisha

Emma Mugisha is currently the Chair of the Board of Advisors. She is proud to be volunteering for Nyaka. She grew up in a home where she met the HIV/AIDS challenge early in life when several of her uncles and aunts passed away from the disease. Her parents had 5 children of their own but have brought up more than 15 children as a result. Learning to share the available living space and resources, and seeing her parents' sacrifice inspired her to contribute and help ease the suffering of many children in Uganda affected by the scourge of HIV/AIDS.

Emma currently works with Barclays Bank.

Frank Byamugisha

Frank Byamugisha, a Ugandan citizen, is married with 3 children. Since joining the World Bank in Washington DC as an Economist in 1983, he has held various technical and managerial positions there supporting development programs in East Asia, Eastern and Central Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, he is an Operations Advisor and a Land Reform and Administration Coordinator for Sub-Saharan Africa. He is also President of the International Community of Banyakigezi, an NGO that promotes culture and socio-economic development among the people that live or originate from South Western Uganda.

Janis Simon

Janis Simon has been married for 32 years and is a mother of four children and a host son from the ABC program (A Better Chance). She has her Masters degree in art education from Connecticut. She has taught art in the public schools kindergarten through 12th grade, and pre-school and Kindergarten for the Jewish Community Center. She has been on many boards of directors, including Hadassah, Congregation Kol Haverim, A Better Chance, and Hartwell Soccer.

Anu Frank - Lawale

Anu Frank-Lawale is a British– born Nigerian who currently lives in Virginia with his wife and children.  Having spent a lot time living between the developed and developing worlds he is passionate about bridging the gulf between them.  He is trained as a quantitative geneticist with a speciality in aquaculture breeding.  Anu is currently the breeding research manager at the Aquaculture Genetics and Breeding Technology Centre in the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) where he is designing and implementing a selection programme for the Eastern Oyster.  He enjoys playing sports, cooking, photography, cinema and music.  He is actively involved in his church.

Dr. Graham Pike

Dr. Graham Pike is Dean of International Education at Vancouver Island University, Canada. Previously, he was Dean of Education at the University of Prince Edward Island and before that he was Co-Director of the International Institute for Global Education at the University of Toronto.  He has published widely for academic and professional audiences and he is passionately committed to the development of global citizenship through public education. Through his Specialization in International Education program at UPEI, student teachers gained experience in schools around the world - including at Nyaka School, which he visited in 2007.

Prof. Mohamed Zefzaf

Professor Mohamed Zefzaf teaches ESL and composition at Massachusetts Bay Community College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. He was born in Tangier, Morocco and grew up in Belgium. A speaker of several languages, he is a graduate of The Institut des Art et Métiers in Brussels; he holds B.A.’s in Sociology, Geography/ Earth Sciences, and a M.A. in ESL/Linguistics from the University of Massachusetts at Boston. He taught at The International Institute of Tourism in Morocco and at The American Language Centers, North Africa. Professor Zefzaf’s interest in diversity training has led him to present widely on the topic of cultural rapprochement.

Ms. Becky Schritter

Another year has come and gone and even though I was going to semi-retire, it didn’t happen. I have been traveling to Texas once a month to help my sister with our ranch. We now have 12 Angus cattle, with 3 of them being born within the last four months. We also have 14 Boer goats with all of them expecting babies the end of April. There will be a new grandson in our home any day now and the whole family is very excited. I have been very busy being a CASA Advocate for 2 teenage girls and this has been quite a challenge. One of them will turn 18 years old in May and then will be out on her own. The other one is 13 and is going to be adopted by her older sister who lives in Yuma, Arizona. At the CASA Christmas luncheon, I was honored as being named as the “Teenager Advocate” for San Juan County. This was a great honor!