US team

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.

Lynn has spent over 25 years focused on development in Africa beginning right out of college in the Peace Corps in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Her experience includes work with NGO’s, the private sector and the US government. She is passionate about gender equality and ensuring that no one is left behind in accessing sustainable and affordable basic services. 

Lynn is currently the CEO of a non-profit, Thrive Networks which specializes in providing last mile distribution of water and sanitation services in South East Asia.

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.

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 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 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.

Peter has over 30 years of commercial and private equity experience in the UK and Africa. He works with impact investors in sub-Saharan Africa and tutors on the Oxford Impact Investment Programme where he is an associate fellow at Said Business School.

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.

Leslie Mitchell is a seasoned international development professional with 20+ years of senior management experience in developing countries in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. 

As Country Director in Romania, Ethiopia, Kenya/Somalia she has provided overall strategic direction and overseen and managed a large donor funded portfolios with a diverse group of non-profit civil society organizations, building their institutional and technical capacities in a broad range of social and program areas including child protection, women and girls, natural resource management, peace building and conflict management, democracy and good governance, micro-finance among others.

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.