Our Team

Kennedy has been with KOMAZA since the start in 2006 and is currently serving as supervising Field Manager for plant operations. In this role, his responsibilities include coordination of social marketing and recruitment and oversight of new community plantings with KOMAZA field staff. He has previously worked as a supervisor on Kenya's National Youth Service Farm and managed his own successful independent farm business. Kennedy also has experience in engineering and has received training in business management.

Gibson is one of the original KOMAZA field staff and now supervises maintenance activities of all existing KOMAZA farms.  In addition to managing field staff and consulting with farmers, Gibson's leadership and skills in community relations are an invaluable resource to smooth running of field operations.  As a certified agriculturalist, Gibson brings years of farming experience and his bright green thumb to our team.

Mike joined KOMAZA in September 2009 and is working with the Crop Production team to develop all aspects of field operations to handle increased capacity as KOMAZA grows rapidly.  He is also helping to design and run experimental crop production trials at the KOMAZA farm.  Prior to joining KOMAZA, Mike spent the last four years managing native plant restoration projects in Northern California, including a stint with the National Park Service and several years with a land management contracting firm.  Mike has a degree in Biology from New York University.

Tunje joined KOMAZA in September 2009 as a Field Manager and is currently working directly with our extension network to expand our planting operations. Prior to joining KOMAZA, Tunje worked as a Project Extension Officer for Alisei, an Italian non-governmental organization. In this role, he supervised 20 farmers on a mixed-crop farm in Malindi, Kenya. He also has experience establishing and managing private tree nurseries and is an avid beekeeper. Tunje earned a certificate in agriculture from Kilifi Institute of Agriculture.

Alfred joined KOMAZA in early 2010 and currently works as a Field Manager on our Crop Production team. Prior to KOMAZA, he was a field extension officer for Mace Foods, where he was responsible for recruiting and managing a large network of outgrowers and supervising the production of food crops. Alfred also has significant experience working with international development organizations, including Plan Kenya, Heifer International and TechnoServe. Alfred holds a Certificate in Agriculture from the Kilifi Institute of Agriculture.

Etemesi manages our industry-leading experimental farm in Ganze, where he is spearheading crop production research that will help us improve our current planting practices and advance our R&D work on a number of agricultural innovations for semi-arid farmers. Etemesi is also leading efforts to establish KOMAZA's first, large scale nursery. Prior to joining KOMAZA, Etemesi worked at Eagle Aviation in Mombasa.

Scott joined the KOMAZA team in July 2010 and is working on developing training programs for KOMAZA's Field Extension Network. Originally from California, Scott has spent the last eight years working in environmental conservation and agricultural development in the United States and Paraguay, including serving as a crop extension volunteer in the Peace Corps. Scott holds a Masters Degree in International Agricultural Development from the University of California, Davis.

Zainab joined KOMAZA's Organizational Development team in August 2010, and brings a diverse background having worked in both corporate and civil law firms. Before joining KOMAZA, she worked with a premier civil litigation firm based in Karachi, Pakistan, where she was on teams for cases that are now seminal judgments in case law. At KOMAZA, Zainab is working to ensure that the rights and interests of the farmers are safeguarded, especially those relating to land tenure. Zainab graduated with an LLB (Bachelor in Laws) honors from The University of London and was born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan.

Janet is responsible for the bulk of KOMAZA's administrative work in Kenya and has played a major role in establishing KOMAZA from its first days in Kenya. She brings an extensive background in non-profit administration with her to KOMAZA, as well as experience as a successful entrepreneur. Her knowledge of local infrastructure, resources and cultures is invaluable, and her ability to navigate government bureaucracy borders on awe-inspiring.

Ali Abbas Causer joined as an Associate in April 2010 to help define, design and implement the Rural Cell model that will be used for scaling KOMAZA's operations. Prior to joining KOMAZA, he worked for several years as an Investment Banking Analyst at Credit Suisse and Centerview Partners in New York City. During this time, he worked on teams advising several public and private companies across a broad range of industries on complex corporate situations and the strategic direction of their businesses. He brings with him a skill set in financial and operational modeling, budgeting, business planning and data analysis. Ali Abbas graduated from Columbia University in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Mathematics and a minor in Economics. He was born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan.

Juliet joined KOMAZA in early 2008 and earned several promotions before becoming KOMAZA's Procurement and Logistics Manager. She holds a diploma in Community Development and Counseling from Mombasa Polytechnic and has significant experience working with community organizations in KOMAZA's current program areas. Juliet plays an important support role at KOMAZA by ensuring that our field and office teams have the materials they need, when they need them. Juliet is currently studying sustainable development at Pwani University.

Sarah recently completed a Masters Degree in International Development Studies from the Elliott School of International Relations at George Washington University and has previously worked or volunteered in Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Cameroon and Zambia. At KOMAZA, she is working on developing the organization's capacity to monitor and evaluate the social impact of its programming.

Solomon joined KOMAZA in mid-2010 after spending two years helping to revamp the human resource management operations at SIFA International and China Petroleum Pipeline Company. He has over five years of experience coordinating micro-finance programs at small enterprises programs. Solomon is currently pursuing an MBA in strategic management at the University of Nairobi and has a post-graduate diploma in human resource management as well as an undergraduate degree in Economics, also from the University of Nairobi. At KOMAZA, Solomon is helping to enhance overall operations in the HR function and streamline local and regional external relations.

Philistine has worked in KOMAZA's accounting department since the organization's inception. She is a certified Kenya Accounting Technician and has significant experience and training in financial management and controls. Philistine helps keep our operations running smoothly by ensuring the proper management of KOMAZA's finances.

Emily Joined KOMAZA in June 2010 and is working to build field operations capacity and plan our expansion strategy. Prior to joining KOMAZA, Emily spent time managing riparian revegetation projects and community engagement programs for the Australian government. She also spent time in northwestern Australia developing and supervising a program to maintain municipal services in indigenous communities. Emily has a degree in Conservation Biology and Ecology and a Postgraduate Diploma in Environmental Engineering.

Maria joined KOMAZA in September 2009 and serves as the Technology Associate. In this role, she is responsible for driving new technology initiatives for KOMAZA program delivery and managing all of KOMAZA’s technology infrastructure. She has experience working in software development and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Yale University.

Leah joined KOMAZA in October 2009 as an Associate. She brings significant experience working with non-profits in Africa, Latin America and the United States and graduated magna cum laude from Brown University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations - Political Economy and Development. Before joining KOMAZA, Leah worked in rural Sierra Leone as a coordinator of microfinance and agriculture initiatives and managed project fundraising, monitoring and evaluation, and accounting. She has worked in conflict zones and was the founder and coordinator of a major educational program for resettled refugees. With KOMAZA, Leah is helping to drive the capital investment campaign required to bring KOMAZA to scale and enable self-sustaining growth and impact.

Arthurnas Ngala Barawa joined KOMAZA in July 2010 and currently serves as a Field Manager, leading tree planting operations in rural communities in Ganze District. Prior to joining KOMAZA, Arthurnas worked as a primary and secondary school teacher and also served as a Demographic Surveillance Field Supervisor for the Kenya Medical Research Institute. He has professional knowledge and experience in agriculture from the Kilifi Institute of Agriculture and studied Project Planning and Management at the Kenya Institute of Social Work and Community Development. He also has completed coursework at the AMREF International Training Centre.

Matt joined KOMAZA in late 2009 after spending three years working at a global public affairs consulting firm in New York City, where he helped corporate, government and non-governmental clients develop and administer public-private partnerships to address global health and development priorities, with a primary focus on water stewardship, public health and sustainable agriculture. He also has professional experiencing working abroad in Europe and Asia. Matt earned a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in International Affairs and Communications from Elon University, where he graduated with honors in 2006. He has completed additional graduate coursework in economics at New York University as well as academic research in Brussels at the European Commission.

Kennedy joined the KOMAZA team in July 2010 and serves as a Field Manager, helping to coordinate planting activities among our network of partner farmers. Prior to KOMAZA, he worked for a variety of non-governmental organizations, including RAFIKI Participatory Development Partners, Friends of Norway Development Agency and Kamadingo. Kennedy has a Postgraduate Diploma in Community Development from the Kenya Institute of Social Work and Community Development. He has also attended several educational workshops held by Plan International.