Ben drives forward Indego Africa's uniquely business-minded approach to empowering women in Africa. Ben received a B.A. in English Literature from Washington University in St. Louis in 2000, a J.D. from New York University School of Law in 2004, and in 2010 completed the Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Program in Social Entrepreneurship. Ben frequently speaks on leadership, management, entrepreneurship, and social enterprise to a wide range of professional, academic, and industry audiences (more info on speaking engagements here).

Prior to Indego Africa, Ben was an attorney in New York City. He practiced complex commercial litigation and white collar defense as a Managing Associate at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP (Orrick), where he represented big four accounting firms, technology manufacturers, energy companies, and individuals in business disputes and government investigations. In 2007 Ben enrolled Indego Africa as a pro bono client and then, in 2008, engineered an unprecedented corporate responsibility partnership between the organizations that facilitated his full-time move to Indego Africa. Ben’s game-changing “intrapreneurship” has been covered by The New York Law Journal, The Recorder, Beyond Profit, NYU Law’s Law School Magazine, Law.com, The American Lawyer, and many others.

Ben's honors include Diplomatic Courier Magazine's Top 99 Under 33 Foreign Policy Leaders; The Global Leaders' "Future Global Leaders Award"; 85Broads "Guys Who Rock"; and 2007-2010 Empire State Counsel Honoree. Ben is a member of the Young Strategic Forum and the Founder’s Circle for the Society for Social Innovation in Africa (SOFIA), and is founder of Indego Africa's blog, Social Enterprising. Ben received the 2009 Fair Trade Federation Photography Award and has exhibited his photos and mini-documentaries at galleries in NYC, Washington, DC, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.  Connect with Ben on LinkedIn and Facebook.

On June 5, 2011, Ben delivered the commencement address at North Yarmouth Academy, his alma mater, in Yarmouth, Maine. Check out the video to hear Ben describe the history of Indego Africa, rave about the leadership of 10,000 Women scholar Emelienne Nyiramana, and pass along a few life lessons for good measure.

Another corporate attorney turned social entrepreneur, Conor is the fastidious nerd behind Indego Africa’s increasingly stylish curtain. Tasked with quarterbacking Indego Africa’s functional and operational strategies, Conor is dedicated to meticulously building out every stage of its entrepreneurial model for economic justice from innovation to impact.

Prior to joining Indego Africa, Conor practiced law in the New York City and Los Angeles offices of Latham & Watkins. He represented public and private companies, investment banks, private equity firms and investors in a wide range of leveraged finance and other capital-raising transactions. As pro bono counsel to Ashoka, Conor structured joint ventures, strategic partnerships and other collaborations that provided critical support for Ashoka’s global network of leading social entrepreneurs.

Conor currently chairs the audit committee on the board of directors of Red Hen Press and serves on the board of directors of NYU Law’s Alumni Association. A past recipient of Bet Tzedek’s Access to Justice Award, Conor is a member of the Committee on Attorney Professionalism for the NYSBA. He is the executive editor of the blog Social Enterprising and co-wrote a recent article in the trade publication Deal Lawyers.

Conor received a B.A. in History and English from Georgetown University and a J.D. from NYU Law, where he was an editor of the Journal of International Law and Politics and taught at the High School Law Institute. He is qualified to practice before the California, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, and New York bars. Connect with Conor on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Deirdre received a B.A. in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia in 2007, where she was a Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholar. While at UVA, Deirdre was a member of the founding class of Bridging the Gap, a student-run mentoring program dedicated to refugee youth in the Charlottesville area. In 2010 Deirdre graduated with a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School, with a concentration on human rights, global women’s issues, and refugee services. Deirdre held internship posts during law school with several distinguished nonprofits, including the United Nations Population Fund, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International USA, and the American Civil Liberties Union. She also contributed valuable research assistance to Human Rights Watch’s Testing Justice, Amnesty International USA’s Deadly Delivery, and ACLU attorney Mie Lewis’s The Human Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law: Lessons for the U.S. Human Rights Movement. Deirdre also held a summer legal fellowship in Johannesburg with Lawyers for Human Rights, where she provided legal services directly to refugees and asylum seekers during the xenophobic outbreak of violence in 2008. Deirdre is a recipient of the Edward V. Sparer Public Interest Fellowship and the International Law Society Global Justice Fellowship. She has passed both the New York and New Jersey state bar examinations.

Deirdre’s lifelong interests in fashion, retail and African art and style serve her well as she spearheads Indego Africa’s retail programs and partnerships. Deirdre oversees all relationships and design collaborations with several high-profile retailers, including Anthropologie, Nicole Miller, Dannijo Jewelry, Shopbop and Steven Alan. She has represented Indego Africa at international gift fairs and trade shows in both New York and San Francisco. Deirdre has worked closely with the USAID Competitiveness and Trade Expansion Program to improve trade between East Africa and the United States, and was quoted in the USAID article Snapshot: Supporting Socially Conscious Growth. This June, Deirdre will be speaking on a panel at the prestigious Fashion and Finance/NY event, where she will discuss the intersection of fashion and philanthropy.

Casey joined Indego Africa in January 2011 as Rwanda Country Director where he guides all Rwanda-based operations and has the amazing opportunity of working directly with Indego’s many partner cooperatives, university student interns, and Rwanda-based staff. Prior to joining the Indego team, Casey held executive level leadership positions with non-profit organizations in such various fields as international philanthropy, leadership development, and human services. Over a 17 year career in the non-profit sector Casey has developed grant making strategy to the developing world, designed global fundraising initiatives, administered post-doctoral programs, and led mountaineering trips near Yosemite National Park. Casey has served on numerous boards and consulted with non-profits organizations throughout the world.

A graduate of Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, Casey went on to earn a master’s degree in Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California and performed doctorate-level research on the topic of global philanthropy at the University of Wales/Oxford Centre for Mission Studies in Oxford, England. During his academic career Casey was awarded numerous distinctions including the Leadership Development Program scholarship, Academic Fellowship – American Indian Graduate Center, Native American Scholars award, and the Paul K. Jewett Faculty Scholarship.

He lives with his beautiful wife Cara in Kigali, Rwanda.

Rosine recently graduated from Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin with a Master’s degree in Servant Leadership and a Graduate Certificate in Ethical Leadership in Organizations.

Her educational background has focused on legal issues from Kigali Independent University; human rights, humanitarian issues and International law from the Geneva academy of international humanitarian law and human rights (Heid/Geneva University); and leadership styles from Viterbo University.

While pursuing her masters, she served as a volunteer with Congress Representative Ron Kind’s Office and AMOS Organization and Lutheran Office for Peace and Justice.

Following the genocide in Rwanda, Rosine became active at the National Youth Council of Rwanda that coordinated activities related to social and economic welfare of youth, genocide survivors, and other groups in need. She also participated in a research project organized by UNICEF on child abuse and served as Assistant Prosecutor of the Huye High Court in Huye, Butare, Rwanda.

Sarah joined Indego Africa as Rwanda Retail Director in June 2011. She has a passion for Africa and has lived, studied or worked in five African countries. Serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon from 2007 to 2009, Sarah partnered with women’s agricultural groups in rural rain-forested communities to promote and train over 600 farmers on the use of soy as a tool for income generation and a key to the alleviation of malnutrition. It was in Cameroon that Sarah became convinced of the need for creativity and innovation in the development sphere.

After her Peace Corps service, she was selected as a Princeton in Africa Fellow where she worked for the International Rescue Committee in the Central African Republic as Field Logistics Manager from 2010-2011.

In addition to her travels in Africa, Sarah loves using Africa’s plethora of colorful fabrics to design clothing, jewelry and home décor. She holds a B.A. in African Studies and Environmental Science from Swarthmore College. She is a Project Pericles and Eugene Lang grant recipient.

Yves joined Indego Africa in January 2009 as a Management and Business Planning intern, where he supported the Indego Africa partner cooperatives. In 2010, he becamea consultant at the Twiyubake Family Cooperative and was in charge of their “Hand Up” training program. Yves now works as a Senior Intern, a position he’s held since January of 2011.

Yves is one of the founders and partners of Max Impact Consulting – Rwanda’s first consulting firm dedicated to providing high quality, affordable consulting services while developing the skills and business management capacity of young Rwandan professionals. He is also currently a finalist in the Bachelor of Business Administration program at the School of Finance and Banking (SFB) in Kigali, with a major in Accounting. Yves won a competitive scholarship from Generation Rwanda in 2007.

Matt continues to push forward Indego Africa's founding vision of using the power of social enterprise to transform the lives of economically-vulnerable but highly-skilled artisans in Africa. Matt has a longstanding interest in African development, stemming from his six years living in Nigeria and his personal experience working with African women - those who support families and survive in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Matt has spoken about Indego Africa's innovative model to a variety of groups, from the World Affairs Council and Center for Unconventional Security Affairs to the African Social Enterprise Forum and Columbia University Law School (more info on speaking engagements)

Matt's professional training includes three years spent as a practicing attorney at Akin Gump LLP in Washington, DC where he coordinated the legal aspects of financing large-scale infrastructure projects in developing countries such as Bolivia, Morocco and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In his previous position, Matt participated in firm management activities through his membership on both the Hiring Committee and the Associates Committee. Prior to joining the law firm, Matt was a federal law clerk in the Eastern District of Virginia and spent time in the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Justice working on international legal issues.

Matt graduated magna cum laude from American University's Washington College of Law in 2003 and holds a bachelor's degree in economics and history from Washington University in St. Louis. He has conducted published legal research on the topic of combating exploitative child labor through the global trading system (available here>>) and is conversational in French & German. Matt is currently a Fellow of the Wittenberg Center for Global Ethics and the StartingBloc Institute for Social Innovation, where he focuses on social entrepreneurship in Africa, and has traveled to more than 60 countries, living extensively in seven countries on four continents.

In August 2011, Matt joined Google as a University Program Specialist for the Middle East & Africa. He is responsible for building out Google’s strategic hiring programs and acting as Google’s ambassador at target academic institutions across the region. Matt was also recognized by Devex as one of 40 under 40 International Development Leaders in London.

Connect with Matt on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Thomas M. Mitro: Co-Founder & Member of the Board.

Tom has spent about one-third of his 32-year career as a financial manager living and working in Africa, notably in Angola and Nigeria. Now as the head of Mitro Consulting, Tom provides high-level financial and commercial advice to African government companies with respect to major natural resource development projects and to public companies on cultural aspects of conducting business in Africa. He is an expert in fiscal and tax policy in several countries, including Angola and Nigeria, and has made presentations at seminars in the U.K., Nigeria, Angola, Papua New Guinea and the U.S. Tom has acquired considerable experience negotiating various financial and commercial issues with national governments, banks, oil companies, multilateral institutions and non-profit organizations in Africa. He was formerly responsible for corporate policy-making, governmental interactions, and financial planning for African subsidiaries of Chevron, a Fortune 100 natural resource company. In this role, he helped lead Chevron’s effort to establish a joint project with the US Agency for International Development to provide development banking to under-served communities in Angola and represented Chevron in its community outreach and development programs. As a community leader, Tom has served as chairman of the board for international schools in Lagos and Luanda and as a board member for a project to provide mosquito nets to communities in Angola.

Alia Varsano

Alia became a professional fashion model starting at the age of 14 and traveled around the world, living in New York, Paris and Milan for 10 years. During that time, she also received her BA from Columbia University and then enrolled in Columbia Law School, where she won recognition as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. After graduating with her JD in 2001, Alia held a series of executive positions in the private sector, including Vice President of Business Development at Yorkshire Global Restaurants and Worldwide Director of Contemporary Jewelry at Phillip de Pury and Company. From 2009 to 2011 she served as Partnership Advisor at the United Nations Office for Partnerships. There she promoted and developed new United Nations partnerships and alliances and facilitated the collaboration between the private sector, foundations and the United Nations in furtherance of the Millennium Development Goals. Alia currently works as the Vice President of Business Development for Nourish Capital, an early stage venture capital fund focused on nascent concepts in the restaurant space.

J. Bryon Townsend III

Byron Townsend serves as Mission & Music Pastor at CrossPoint Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, LA. Mr. Townsend grew up with the Mitro family in Nigeria for 5 years and has spent parts of his life in Brazil, the Congo, Gabon and other far-flung locales. He played an integral role in Indego Africa's 2007 trip to Rwanda and provides advice and much-needed counsel to Indego Africa leadership in a number of areas. Mr. Townsend has held a variety of positions in the church and the wider business world, including positions where he was actively involved in marketing and in fundraising for a 501(c)(3) non-profit. He is finishing up his master's degree in theology at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Of particular importance, Mr. Townsend has demonstrated a commitment to working with the under-served (including Indego Africa's partners) and to educating his congregation and the wider world about the role of service in their lives.

Lyse Hunger

Lyse Hunger and is a Rwandan citizen with significant experience in commercial and social enterprises throughout Africa, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Rwanda, Angola and Algeria. Ms. Hunger earned her Master’s of International Relations in Lumumbashi, DRC where she studied social sciences, administration and politics. She conducted six years of technical studies in social work, where she volunteered at a foster home for children with AIDS in Zambia and as a counselor for orphaned and traumatized children in Rwanda. With the support of the Dutch and German Embassies in Angola, Ms. Hunger founded Rainbow Home as a facility for housing and caring for street children in Luanda. She also supported an old age home and orphanage in Luanda. Now living in Algeria, Ms. Hunger has worked with street children and adopted a family of eight struggling to make ends meet. As a major volunteer and Director, Ms. Hunger has been instrumental in helping Indego Africa establish a foothold in Rwanda and has put Indego Africa officers in touch with government ministers and willing volunteers in Rwanda. Ms. Hunger speaks English, French, German, Portuguese, Swahili, Lingala and Kinyarwanda fluently.

Cory is currently a Senior Finance Manager in the Chief Commercial Officer division at Pepsi Beverages Company (PBC), a division of PepsiCo, based in Somers, NY. In his current role with PBC, he supports the PBC Grocery Sales teams for some of the largest Grocery customers in the United States. Prior to joining PBC, Cory was a Marketing Finance Manager at Pepsi Beverages Americas (PBA) supporting the marketing teams for brands such as SoBe, Propel, Aquafina and Amp Energy, among others. Prior to joining PepsiCo in April of 2008, Cory was an Associate in the Leveraged Finance Group at Bear, Stearns & Company in Manhattan. Cory started with Bear Stearns in August of 2005 after completing his MBA. In the Leveraged Finance Group at Bear Stearns, Cory underwrote, structured and executed numerous leveraged loan and high yield bond offerings to support both leveraged buyouts and corporate acquisitions. During his time in the Leveraged Finance Group, Cory also did a six month rotation in the firm’s High Yield Capital Markets group where he worked with the sales team and potential investors to successfully syndicate leveraged loan and high yield bond offerings. Prior to business school, Cory worked in small business lending at both The Bank of New York and Commerce Bank.

Cory received at Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Hamilton College in 2000 and a MBA in Finance and Corporate Accounting from the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester in 2005. Cory currently lives in Pleasantville, NY, with his wife Lyndie and his two daughters, Kendall and Rylie.

From 2007 to 2011, Michael Brotchner served as the Executive Director of Generation Rwanda, which helps orphans and other socially vulnerable young people in Rwanda pursue a university education and ultimately become leaders in driving economic development and social reconciliation. Previously, Mr. Brotchner was the Director of Development for the Fund for Public Schools, which secures private funding for the New York City Department of Education’s reform efforts and develops public-private partnerships. He also served as the Director of Development for Fair Trade USA, the organization that promotes and certifies Fair Trade products such as Fair Trade coffee. Mr. Brotchner has served on the Boards of numerous nonprofit organizations, including Root Capital, which provides affordable financial services to small and medium-sized enterprises operating in environmentally sensitive areas of Latin America, Africa, and Asia. He holds a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.A. with high honors from Wesleyan University.

Steve Foresta is a partner at the international law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in New York and is the firm-wide leader of the Litigation Practice Group. He has extensive experience handling all phases of complex litigation and has tried numerous cases in state and federal court and before arbitral panels in the U.S. and abroad. Steve is also an active participant in Orrick’s pro bono and associate training programs, and in recognition of his unwavering commitment to professional development, he received Orrick’s Excellence in Mentoring Award for 2010.

Steve also devotes a substantial amount of time working with community service organizations. During the summer of 2009, Steve traveled to Rwanda with his son Michael to work with Indego Africa’s staff, artisan partners, and Generation Rwanda interns, and he’s been a devoted Indego Africa supporter ever since. Steve also serves as Chair of the New York Board of Advisors of Disability Rights Advocates, a non-profit legal center whose mission is to advance equal rights and opportunities for people with disabilities. Steve graduated from Fordham University School of Law in 1987 and received his undergraduate degree in 1984 from the University of Virginia, where he was an Echols Scholar.

Michael Arietti, now retired, is a United States diplomat and a career foreign service officer with the Department of State. He served as the United States Ambassador to Rwanda from 2005 to 2008.

Ambassador Arietti joined the Department of State in 1973 and is a member of the Senior Foreign Service. Before his tenure in Rwanda, he held the position of Director of the Office of West African Affairs. During this period he was directly involved in efforts to bring about peace in Liberia, as well as coordination of American cooperation with ECOWAS headquarters on regional issues.

Ambassador Arietti has previously served as Deputy Permanent Representative at the U.S. Mission to the U.N. in Geneva and as Deputy Chief of Mission in Lusaka, Zambia. He has also served at U.S. Embassies in Sweden, Australia, and Iran. Within the Department of State, Ambassador Arietti has served as Director of the Office of UN Peacekeeping Operations, as Director of the Human Rights Office and in other positions responsible for arms control negotiations, and Middle Eastern issues. He has also worked on environmental issues, including the protection and sustainable use of African timber resources. Prior to joining the Department of State, Ambassador Arietti served as a Peace Corps volunteer in India.

Tamsin Smith is the founder of Slipstream Strategy (www.SlipStreamStrategy.com), a consultancy dedicated to helping philanthropists, executives, international organizations, non-profits, and inspired individuals bring good ideas to life. Prior to forming Slipstream Strategy, Tamsin served as president of (RED), the for-benefit brand that harnesses private-sector ingenuity and influence to activate the buying power of the public in the fight against AIDS in Africa. Recruited by (RED)’s founders Bono and Bobby Shirver, she helped (RED)’s corporate partnerships to include Converse, Gap, Motorola, Emporio Armani, Apple, Hallmark, Dell, Microsoft, Starbucks, and American Express in the UK.

Before joining (RED), Tamsin shepherded Gap Inc.’s public-policy strategy, joining the global specialty retailer in 1997 and creating and leading the company's government affairs department for nine years. Tamsin began her career with six years on Capitol Hill, serving as senior legislative assistant to two members of the U.S. House of Representatives and associate staff to the House Appropriations Committee. Tamsin graduated Kenyon College Phi Beta Kappa with highest honors in literature and holds a Masters in Law & Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.

Jackson Muneza M'vunganyi is the host of Upfront—Voice of America Radio, a fresh, fast-paced show aired in both the U.S. and in Africa that talks to and with teens and young adults about trends, lifestyles, health, entertainment, and other issues touching the lives of listeners. Jackson’s broadcasting career has been multi-faceted so far, working in both radio and television, in Africa and the United States.

Beyond his broadcasting merits, Jackson also volunteers his time with African communities in the Diaspora on issues affecting the continent. A native of Rwanda, Jackson holds a Bachelors Degree in Multimedia Development from American University in Washington D.C. and a Masters Degree in Information Management from the University of Maryland.

Cam Cowan is a partner in the Global Finance Group for the international law firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in Washington, D.C., and has been a member of Orrick’s Executive Committee since 2001. He serves as counsel to financial institutions and government agencies in complex capital markets and debt financings in the United States, Europe and Asia and as an advisor on financial markets regulation. Cam also helps lead the Social Sector Finance practice at Orrick, with a focus on microfinance.

Cam has been recognized as one of the top structured finance lawyers in the world by The Best of the Best Experts Guide. Cam also has been selected as one of the top structured finance lawyers in the United States by Chambers Global, listed in Band 1 for Capital Markets: Securitization, and as the top ranked lawyer in the world based on personal nominations by Legal Media Group’s Guide to the World's Leading Structured Finance and Securitization Lawyers. Cam is listed in Who’s Who Legal -- Capital Markets, in The International Who’s Who of Capital Markets Lawyers, in Lawdragon 500 and in The Best Lawyers in America. Cam was named Best Lawyers 2011 Lawyer of the Year for Washington, D.C., structured finance.

Cam is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Virginia Law School Foundation. He received a B.S. from Syracuse University, magna cum laude, in 1975, an M.B.A. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business in 1975, and his J.D. from University of Virginia School of Law in 1981.

Sam Taylor is the Founder of Reputation Dynamics, Inc., a company that provides a value-add network of brand marketing, issues management and communications, as well as social responsibility services for the lifestyle and professional services industries. She is also Senior Advisor to The Synergos Institute, a non-profit dedicated to reducing poverty and promoting social equity in emerging economies around the world including the African continent. Formerly, Sam was the Chief Marketing Officer of GMHC, the nation’s oldest non-profit HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care services provider where she spearheaded a once-in-27-year rebranding initiative in 2009.

A native of London, Sam spent an impressionable part of her childhood growing up in Kenya, East Africa where she was engaged in community work with The East African Women’s League. She is also a founding member of The CMO Club and an advocate and speaker for ‘Doing Good in Society,’ where she consults with a diverse range of organizations who are about to start, or currently engaged in, developing sustainable responsibility program initiatives aligned with business impact.

Elchi Nowrojee, Director and Counsel, is Co-Head of Legal - Americas for the Asset Management division of Credit Suisse. Elchi provides legal coverage principally for the Alternative Investments businesses of Credit Suisse in the Americas. He is based in New York. Prior to joining Credit Suisse in November 2006, Elchi specialized in complex financial transactions, including private investment fund formation, strategic partnerships and private acquisitions at the law firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP. While there, Elchi represented a number of clients investing in African companies, forming African investment funds and working with other Africa-related businesses. He assisted in legislative monitoring for African multilateral clients and participated actively in African business development.

Elchi currently sits on the Sub-Committee on Africa of the Advisory Committee of the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice. He is also the immediate past Chair of the Committee on African Affairs of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Elchi has worked and lived in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. Elchi holds a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School, a Master of Philosophy in International Relations from St Antony’s College at Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and a degree in African Studies from Yale College.

Alex Kennedy is a law student at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Prior to law school, she spent three years working for Goldman Sachs in the Investment Banking Legal team in London, England. It was during her time at Goldman that she was introduced to Indego Africa by the Office of Corporate Engagement.

Alex spent nine months with the Indego Africa team in Rwanda, working closely with Indego Africa’s artisan partners and Generation Rwanda interns. While working in Rwanda, she was a volunteer for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women program in Kigali, where she recorded the stories of former program participants. After completing law school, Alex hopes to maintain a pro bono practice that helps women entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Zachary Daniel Kaufman (www.zacharykaufman.com) is an attorney, professor, writer, speaker, and social entrepreneur. A graduate of Yale University (where he was the student body president and co-captain of the wrestling team), Oxford University (where he was a Marshall Scholar), and Yale Law School (where he was the Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Law & Policy Review and co-founder and co-president of Yale Law Social Entrepreneurs), Mr. Kaufman focuses his research, writing, and teaching on International Law, particularly International Criminal Law and Transitional Justice. His first book, After Genocide: Transitional Justice, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, and Reconciliation in Rwanda and Beyond (www.aftergenocide.com), which he co-edited with Dr. Phil Clark, was co-published by Columbia University Press and C. Hurst & Co. in 2009.

Mr. Kaufman is currently an Adjunct Professor at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and will soon re-join the international law firm of O’Melveny & Myers. Mr. Kaufman’s professional experience has focused on the investigation, apprehension, and prosecution of suspected perpetrators of atrocities, including genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and terrorism. He has worked at the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit; the United States Departments of Justice and State; the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and for the Former Yugoslavia; the International Criminal Court; Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law; O’Melveny & Myers; and Google’s Global Public Policy and Government Affairs department.

Mr. Kaufman is the founder, president, and chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Friends of the Kigali Public Library and an Honorary Member of the Rotary Club of Kigali-Virunga, Rwanda. Together, these non-profit organizations are fundraising and collecting books for, raising public awareness about, and building Rwanda’s first-ever public library. Mr. Kaufman also serves as a consultant to other non-profit organizations and social enterprises.

Ryan Lester: CO-CHAIR OF New York Regional Board

Ryan Lester is an attorney in the New York office of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, where he represents domestic and international clients in complex litigations and arbitrations involving a range of legal matters, including product liability, commercial disputes, and governmental and regulatory affairs. Before joining Orrick as an associate, Ryan worked with several international governmental organizations devoted to international lawmaking, governance and enforcement. In 2001, Ryan interned as a legal advisor to the United Nations Liaison Office of CARE International in New York. In 1998, Ryan was a research fellow at the Center for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) in New Delhi; later that year he was seconded by the U.S. State Department to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna, where he served as an assistant to the OSCE's Coordinator of Economic and Environmental Affairs. In 1997, Ryan interned as an Economic Section officer at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan. Ryan received a B.A. with highest honors in Political Science and Film at Vassar College in 1997; an M.A. in International Affairs at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs in 2001; and a J.D. at Stanford Law School in 2002, where he served on the Executive Board of the Stanford Journal of International Law.

Aaron Bourke: CO-CHAIR OF New York Regional Board

Aaron Bourke recently graduated from NYU School of Law and is currently an associate at Reed Smith LLP in New York. After graduating from college, Aaron worked for ten months as a development intern for the Foundation for Sustainable Development in Rajasthan, India. During law school, Aaron held a human rights fellowship at People's Watch in Tamil Nadu, India. Aaron was Chief Strategist of the Law and Social Entrepreneurship Association while at NYU, and he held a one-semester Social Enterprise Fellowship after graduating, during which he wrote a business plan for the creation of a formal social entrepreneurship program at the law school.

New York Regional Board Members

Jake Beinecke | Aaron Bourke | Becca Brennan | Megan Brosterman | Victoria Boyne | Suzanne Dressler | Rishona Fleishman | Mike Foresta | Colleen Galbraith | Ali Grant | Helen Gugel | Omar Haroun | Dan Hennes | Rachael Honowitz | Andrew Jiang | Malli Kamimura | Viraj Kamdar | John Kansfield | Miles Killingsworth | Tracy Klein | Zain Koita | Alexandria Lee | Ryan Lester | David Levin | Diana Maislen | Katherine Moore | Gillian Morejon Gutierrez | Lyndsay Marie Nester | Justine Olweny | Beth Packman | John Powell | Keren Raz | Paul Sayegh | Zack Shankman | Renee Soufer | Lee Stasiulis | Naomi Sugar | Brian Tilker | Carla Valdivia | Sierra Visher | Jason Walls | Danielle “Dani” Weinstein | Michelle Witten | Sonia Yeo

Daniel Sacks: CHAIR OF Washington, D.C. Regional BoarD

Daniel Sacks graduated McGill University with a B.A. (Hons) in Political Science. He spent two years as a research associate at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, studying economic development policy in Africa. He conducted fieldwork in Nambia, Kenya and Malawi, studying issues of wildlife conservation and agricultural development. Daniel has published papers on a variety of development issues, with a focus on enterprise-based solutions to poverty. A native of Vancouver, BC, Daniel has traveled to six continents and still has not picked a favorite.

Washington, D.C. Regional Board Members

Areaya Abebe | Elizabeth Andrews | Rachel Askarinam | Brian Athey | Kristin A. Bennett | Vadim Brusser | Ashley Cahill | Charles Cummins | Stephen Dimond | Andrew Dober | Laura Donahoe | Mike Englert | Kriten Farrell | Jorie Feldman | John Gardner | Steve Grothouse | Vanessa Harbin | Laura Herring | Julianna Hutchins | Greg Jacob | Lauen Janosy | "Jean-Pierre" Yohani Kayinamura | Lisa Ku | Peter Lallas | Amy Martin | Jackson Mvunganyi | Mary-Rose Parrish | Ambica Prakash | Janet Rabin | Renuka Rayasam | Daniel Sacks | Andrew Satter | Marc Schloss | Rachel Shachter | David Sunstrum | Dominique Strickland | Nora von Ingersleben | Diana Warth | Erin Yeagley

JosHua Lebowitz: CHAIR OF Chicago Regional Board

Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Josh Lebowitz learned the value of helping others very early in life. Through community service with his family, school, and synagogue Josh came to appreciate and look forward to contributing to communities of peers and strangers alike. During his early adulthood, Josh was fortunate enough to travel through Western Europe and the Pacific Rim, which opened his eyes to foreign cultures and peoples and intensified his desire to give back. Josh attended Washington University in St. Louis (B.A. Psychology, Business minor) with Matt Mitro and Ben Stone. After college introduced Josh to the Midwest, he made Chicago his home and has resided there ever since, pursuing a career in creative marketing. Having fueled consumerism for some six years, Josh now enjoys using his marketing skills to spread awareness and drive support for the women of Indego Africa. In January 2009, after being an Indego Africa enthusiast for some time, Matt and Ben asked Josh to chair the Chicago board. He now looks forward to pushing Indego Africa onwards and upwards for years to come. In his spare time Josh enjoys biking, traveling, reading and photography.

Chicago Regional Board Members

Jon Floss | Colleen Fahey | Kate Arnold | Jackie Schubert | Alexis Worley | Ariana Vargas | Benita Chan | Casey Brazeal | Emily Fiffer | Gabe Greenbaum | Galen Graham | Guy Lakonishok | Joey Shapiro | Josh Gad-Harf | Kristen McCullough | Lauren Haefner | Michelle Weed | Robert Holst | Robin Murphy | Sarah Belleau | Smith Schwartz

Eric Mills: Co-Chair of LA Regional Board

A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Eric Mills spent his early childhood living in Belgium and Spain. At a young age, he developed a passion for TV production and even produced a weekly news program featuring his 6th grade class. After studying mechanical engineering at Washington University in St. Louis and working as a logistics consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers and IBM in Chicago, Eric moved to Los Angeles to pursue his lifelong dream of a career in television. He’s worked on several hit reality and game shows including Deal or No Deal and The Surreal Life. He currently produces the Game Show Network's GSN Live and has an original program in network development.

After hearing his college friends Matt and Ben speak passionately about Indego Africa’s work, Eric had to join their efforts. As the child and grandchild of refugees, he has a deep appreciation for the situation facing the women in Rwanda. He looks forward to using his media skills to showcase Indego Africa's ongoing achievements.

William Craven: Chair of San Francisco Regional Board

Will Craven has become a committed Indego supporter because he can feel in almost all of his efforts that he's only two degrees removed from Indego's female partners in Rwanda: "I've never visited the continent of Africa, much less met our partners there. But we're in touch with the same people every day, we handle the same products, and I think we're all inspired by the uniquely 'close' international experience that is Indego Africa." He serves as Media Officer for ForestEthics, a nonprofit environmental organization which specializes in shifting US consumer demand to protect Canada's most precious lands and resources. He lives in San Francisco with his wife, coffee and records.

San Francisco Regional Board Members

Amanda Coughlin | Will Craven | Nick Grandy | Garron Hansen | Joseph Kim | Emily Proller | Allie Robbins | Julie Robbins | Kate Truka | James Williams

Alice schaut: Co-Chair of milwaukee Regional Board

After being raised and spending most of her childhood in the U.N. refugee camps of Uganda, Alice Schaut returned to her homeland of Rwanda after the genocide of 1990 that claimed most of her family and friends. Now she is a resident of Port Washington Wisconsin. Alice was the subject matter and a biography titled "From Every End of This Earth" by Steven Roberts was published last year and was also entered into the Library of Congress. Alice obtained her degree from Mount Mary College in Milwaukee Wisconsin. Alice is a genocide survivor and is focused on moving forward to make positive changes for her country.

CLIFF schaut: Co-Chair of milwaukee Regional Board

Cliff Schaut is the Senior HP Storage & Blade Architect for AF Services / Hewlett Packard. With more than 20 years of experience in the Information Technology industry has also assisted with building IT organizations for both start-up and established companies. An accomplished corporate strategist and technical manager, his vision and expertise in building IT business infrastructures have driven companies toward aggressive corporate goals including initial public offerings. Mr. Schaut has used these abilities in various industries that include Fortune 500 companies on a global scale. He has held successful executive and director level positions managing groups with high personnel numbers. Offering operational strengths in building IT organizations, managing organizations toward corporate initiatives and goals, and pioneering cutting edge technology solutions.

Jacob (Jake) Troy: Chair of the boston regional board

Jake brings to the Indego Africa Team a passion for social entrepreneurship , volunteerism and innovation in education, having previously served as the Co-President of the Global Social Venture Competition, and as a Board Member for the Freire Charter School, Southwest Philadelphia Community Enrichment Center and the Jewish Relief Agency. Jake is currently a consultant and Senior Manager in the Multi-Channel Commerce and Content Management practice at SapientNitro, a leading interactive marketing, creative design, and technology services agency. Prior to joining SapientNitro, Jake founded a tech startup and held positions at Fry Inc., Johnson & Johnson and Arthur Andersen Business Consulting. Jake holds a B.A. in Business Management from Franklin & Marshall College and an M.B.A. from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business.

April Marie Liberty: Chair of the Miami Regional Board

April Marie Liberty, violinist and violist, earned her Bachelors in Music degree in viola performance in 2009 from a full-merit scholarship at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. Prior to college, April graduated from high school in 2005 from the nationally recognized Walnut Hill High School for the Performing Arts with a focus on both musical theater and music performance. As a young musician, April studied at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School in Boston, MA from 1995-2005. Over the years, April has performed with many famous musicians, toured with orchestras to France, Italy and Spain, played numerous times with the Miami Symphony Orchestra, Frost Symphony Orchestra, Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra and continues to perform all throughout the South Florida area. April is currently the Young Musicians’ Junior and Intermediate Orchestra conductor and private instructor within the CGCC Community Arts Program Conservatory for the Arts, teaches group violin classes at Henry West Lab Elementary School grades K-3, the FYO S.T.E.P.S program at Hialeah Gardens Elementary School grades 3-5 and private violin lessons at P.A.C.E. Miami Homeschooling Enrichment program. As well as teaching in the above programs, April is also a private violin and viola teacher serving many students throughout the Miami area.

Aside from her musical endeavors, April is President of The Liberty Family Foundation, a global charitable outreach organization (www.libertyfamilyfoundation.org) and is the President of Liberty Business Consulting, LLC, doing business as Three Brothers Paint & Body Shop (www.threebrotherspaintandbodyshop.com).