STAFF
Jordyn WellsCo-founder and Executive Director
As WMI’s Managing Director, Jordyn oversees the day-to-day execution of the WMI’s vision, development of internal operational systems and planning and implementation of new programming.
Previously, Jordyn worked for Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO), a Kenya-based NGO, from 2011-2016, most recently as the Chief Program Officer, where she led the design and implementation of SHOFCO’s operational, financial, and evaluation systems. Prior to SHOFCO, Jordyn served as the Chief Program Officer at DoSomething.org. As DoSomething.org’s Chief Program Officer, Jordyn provided young people with the funds and training to start and grow their own community projects and nonprofit organizations.
Jordyn has a BA in cultural anthropology from Bard College and a MSW, with a concentration in nonprofit management and international social welfare, from Columbia University.
Nicole Schmitz
Assistant Director
Since 2013, Nicole has served in numerous roles at WMI, working to expand the WMI Fellowship network, Community Development Grant program, Scholar Ambassador program, Global Advisory Board, and Scholar Review Board. She also leads the planning and logistical coordination of Dream Big Conferences and the WMI Academy and provides operational support across the organization.
Previously, Nicole served as the International Student Advisor and Scholar Services Coordinator at Mercer University and as a Program Assistant for Project Harmony International.
Nicole earned her BS in international business from Champlain College.
Lisa McLaughlin WyncoopEducation Manager
Lisa manages our education programs, which involves communicating directly with our student scholars and assisting them in their academics and community service, as well as overseeing the scholarship application process. She helps plan and creates content for the WMI Academy. She also works with the WMI Global Advisory Board as staff liaison.
She has worked extensively with international students at the secondary and tertiary education levels. A former associate professor at Columbia University in New York City, she has taught English language skills to international students and refugees living in the United States, as well as teaching English as a foreign language in Spain.
Lisa graduated from Boston College with a double major in English and philosophy and has a master’s degree in teaching English as a second language from St. Michael’s College.
Alma NishtarDevelopment Manager
Alma is responsible for fundraising and donor communications. In additional she provides administrative and project management direction to both the development and communications teams.
Prior to joining WMI, Alma worked in electoral politics and has experience with campaign organization, fundraising, project management and policy development. She is also a volunteer fundraiser for her alma mater and is active in the nonprofit sphere.
Alma earned an AB in Environmental Studies and History at Mount Holyoke College.
Justine Jackson
Communications Coordinator
Justine is in charge of designing and creating our communication materials.
Prior to joining WMI, Justine has worked both in the nonprofit sector as a Learning Coordinator at Northlands Job Corps and a School Director for a Ghana-based trade school, and in the arts sector as an Events Coordinator in NYC, the Director of a commercial gallery and Founder of Little Horse Arts, youth theatre and arts programming. When not working for WMI, Justine co-owns and co-manages Northern Daughters Gallery in Vergennes, Vermont.
Justine has a BA in international studies from Middlebury College.
Bonny Mark Alinga
Community Development Grants Coordinator
Bonny Mark joined WMI as a scholar in 2011 and graduated from Bugema University with a degree in business administration with a focus on human resource management; he also has a professional certificate in computer networking and will soon complete a master’s degree in business administration from Uganda Christian University.
As our Community Development Grants Coordinator, Bonny Mark brings his experience of having engaged in many WMI programs. He was a founding leader of the WMI Uganda Fellowship in 2014 as well as being awarded two Community Development Seed Grants and a Growth Grant to support the creation and expansion of the Nissi College School in his home community, which he created from the ground up.
Bonny Mark is the founder of a successful business, has registered an NGO supporting women, orphans and vulnerable children, and also created a secondary school. Most recently he has served as a Regional Grants Support Officer for Eastern Uganda with Rotary International.
Mala Deep Upadhaya
Asia & Oceania Regional Coordinator
Mala Deep Upadhaya is a WMI Graduate Scholar who completed a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Kathmandu University in 2020. He has worked as an independent consultant for several national and international organizations on data visualization, analysis, and web development projects.
He is also a researcher who integrates methodologies from data visualization, human-computer interaction, machine learning, visual analytics, and data mining to tackle social context issues and develop methods to make complicated systems and concepts easier to use and comprehend for both professionals and non-experts.
As the Regional Coordinator for Asia & Oceania, Mala Deep intends to develop opportunities for WMI Scholars to realize their full potential by giving them a place to learn and continue developing their professional skills.
Phoeby Musonda
Central & Southern Africa Regional Coordinator
Phoeby is Regional Coordinator for Central & Southern Africa and lives in Zambia. Her professional background is in the nonprofit sector, with experience in international development. She works as operations and development manager in the Zambia office of Freely in Hope, a nonprofit organization that focuses on advocacy through education and leadership development for survivors of sexual violence.
Before that she worked with Women and Law in Southern Africa, an organization that focuses on women’s and children’s socio-economic rights. She is a 2017 WMI Graduate Scholar with a bachelor of law degree from the Zambian Open University.
Joyce Shikuku
East Africa Regional Coordinator
Joyce, from Kenya, is our East Africa Regional Coordinator. She graduated with a degree in development studies from Mount Kenya University in 2019. She has over ten years’ experience in social behavioral research, working with Kenya AIDS Vaccine Initiative-Institute of Clinical Research as a study coordinator.
She has served as a WMI Kenya Fellowship leader and was awarded a WMI COVID-19 Response Grant and a Community Development Seed Grant. Joyce is the founder of Giving Back Initiative, an organization that empowers underprivileged adolescent girls and young women in remote parts of Kenya on sexual and reproductive health management, working to reduce school dropouts of young women by introducing reusable, affordable and environmentally friendly sanitary pads to address the menstrual health gap. In her work she focuses on gender and social inclusion.
Success Odoemenam Eugene
West Africa Regional Coordinator
Success is the Regional Coordinator for the West Africa region and resides in Nigeria. She graduated with a degree in biological sciences from the University of Port Harcourt in 2021 and is currently expanding her knowledge in cancer studies through clinical training in the management of pediatric and adult cancers, histopathology, and radiology at a national referral hospital in Katsina state, Nigeria.
Success served a two-year term as a Global Advisory Board Member from 2019 – 2022 and co-led the development of the scholar mentorship program. She actively advocates for young women to explore STEM fields and tech careers. As a Regional Coordinator for West Africa, Success plans to create opportunities to harness the potential of WMI Scholars in her region, increasing their professional visibility, thereby increasing donor participation to ensure more sponsorship for needy students in West Africa.
Fred Okech
Scholar Programs Administrative Assistant
Fred liaises with additional staff members to help with scholar-related administrative duties. In this role, he helps facilitate enhanced organization and increases efficiency for the WMI team.
Fred has broad work experience in the IT sector and has provided administrative support to different institutions in Kenya. He has an extensive volunteer history beginning in 2018 at Glory Missionary Girls Centre in Kenya, a secondary school that offers refuge, support, and education for young girls that have escaped female genital mutilation in their communities.
He recently completed his bachelor’s degree in business and information technology from Jomo Kenyatta University in 2022. Fred plans to start a CBO that will empower underprivileged families financially and also provide opportunities for promising young people to achieve their full potential.
Bridget Sullivan
Office Manager
Bridget provides administrative support from the WMI office in Vermont. In this role, she assists the development and communications teams.
Bridget comes to WMI with a strong customer service background, having worked in various administrative positions from insurance to newspaper circulation. Her professional background also includes work in early education.
Bridget has an associates of arts degree from the Community College of Vermont, but she attributes much of her education to be from the school of life. Her compassion for people and ability to perform a multitude of administrative tasks are among the many attributes that she brings to WMI.
GLOBAL ADVISORY BOARD
The Global Advisory Board is comprised of WMI Scholars who are invested in the scholar experience and exemplify the values of partnership and community leadership. Board members provide insight, direction and recommendations for the growth of our organization and are integral to ongoing program development and implementation. Each member works 10 hours a month and serves a two year term.
William AliraAgriculture Student, Uganda Martyrs University South Sudan
Dr. Hellen KihoroMedical OfficerKenya
Moisés GutiérrezMedical Student, Autonomous University of Nicaragua
Moisés Gutiérrez is a medical student at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua, originally from a rural community in the southeast of Nicaragua. After his secondary education he worked in the Ministry of Education as an English teacher in three rural schools. He has been keenly interested in supporting social causes, and began to collaborate closely with the Peace Corps and later with the Red Cross. He twice attended the National Young Leaders Camp in Nicaragua and was a mentor at the CHACA National Camp, which is focused on gender equity and sex education. He is a former SUSI Scholar for Student Leaders of the Western Hemisphere of the United States Department. He joined the Global Advisory Board with an interest in supporting and amplifying the voices of WMI’s Spanish-speaking scholars.
Alpha BanguraGlobal Challenges Graduate Sierra Leone
Jawaria ShahzadBiotechnology Graduate
Pakistan
Pakistan
Jawaria graduated in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in biotechnology from the University of Karachi. Having worked as a research associate at a local research facility to find a potential treatment through natural means for liver cancer, she is currently looking for new opportunities where she can help her community grow. She has worked towards educating local children because she believes that education empowers the people to be able to help themselves in the future, and in turn, their community. As a board member, Jawaria wants to work towards a successful mentorship program that will help students achieve their goals.
Isaac Yeboah
Medical Student, University of Health & Allied Sciences, Ghana
Isaac is a medical student from the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ghana. He is active on campus and has served in several leadership positions such as the curator of TEDxUHAS, president of the National Union of Ghana Students and the chief justice on the Student Representative Council. Projects he is involved in include the One Thousand Sanitary Pad Project, which seeks to distribute free sanitary pads to girls in low-income communities. Isaac hopes to develop a career in public health with a focus on global epidemiology. He is passionate to bring new ideas that will help WMI Scholars in their chosen fields, most especially in the areas of volunteerism and mentorship.
Mariam Sulleiman
Engineering GraduateNigeria
Mariam is a final year student at the Federal University of Technology Minna, majoring in electrical and electronic engineering. She co-founded Females in Clean Energy Foundation and serves as secretary of the foundation, the goal of which is geared towards realizing gender equality and women’s empowerment as well as increasing access to affordable and reliable renewable energy in rural communities in Nigeria. Currently, she works as a research assistant at Advanced Engineering Innovation Research Group. She is the first female president of WMI Nigeria Fellowship. As a board member, she is most interested in promoting the success of WMI by strengthening the relationship between scholars of different countries through a cultural immersion series program.
Charles Uwambajimana
Pharmacy Graduate
Rwanda
Rwanda
FORMER GLOBAL ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS
Dr. Melisa Bhebe
Zimbabwe, Medical Doctor
Success Odoemenam Eugene
Nigeria, WMI West Africa Regional Coordinator
Brian Juma Omala
Kenya, Graduate Student, McGill University
Jeremiah Thoronka
Sierra Leone, Graduate Student, Durham University
Dr. Ephranzia Chao Malindi
Kenya, Radiologist Specialist
Sujan Gautam
Nepal, Graduate Student, Erasmus Mundus emPLANT
Thomas Servodzi
Ghana, Finance Manager, Asante Kotoko Sporting Club
MEDICAL SCHOLAR BOARD
The Medical Scholar Board is composed of WMI Scholars who are university students or professionals within the field of medicine and healthcare. The board’s mission is to strengthen support of the growing WMI Medical Scholar community through professional development activities, networking events and the sharing of relevant resources. Each member dedicates 10 hours a month and services for a one year leadership term.
Dr. Onesai ChiguvareZimbabwe
Onesai Chiguvare is a WMI Graduate Scholar and currently works as the head of managed care at the First Mutual Health Company in Zimbabwe. She obtained her bachelor’s in medicine and surgery at the University of Zimbabwe in 2017 and is particularly passionate about sexual and reproductive health, wellness, and wellbeing. Onesai served as a government medical officer in a provincial hospital where she developed a strong passion for health provision to the underprivileged in society as a way to facilitate future societal growth. Onesai then went on to complete a masters in sexual and reproductive medicine from the University of South Wales and is currently finishing her MBA at the University of Zimbabwe. She has become a notable advocate for accessible and affordable fertility care in her nation with the All Things Fertility medical business. Her mission on the WMI Medical Scholar Board is to create professional development activities and networking events.
Morie KoromaSierra Leone
Morie is a medical student at the University of Sierra Leone College of Medicine and Allied Health. At university he has served as the public relations officer for the student union government. Morie was part of the founding group of the WMI Sierra Leone Fellowship and has held the positions of outreach coordinator and secretary general. As a way to give back to the community, he led a team that conducted awareness campaigns about COVID-19 in the western districts of Sierra Leone. Morie was introduced to the idea of Global Health Strengthening, an approach that teaches young people about health in a way that is both scientifically sound and relevant to their area, and then incorporates community service to help them become leaders. Serving on the Medical Scholar Board he will be charged with instituting a monthly email blast promoting opportunities and providing oversight for medical and health focused community development grant applications.
Dr. Yvette NkurunzizaRwanda
Yvette Nkurunziza joined WMI in 2018 and graduated from the University of Rwanda with a bachelor of medicine and surgery with honors in 2021. Yvette currently works as an intern medical doctor at Rwamagana Provincial Hospital. In university, she had various leadership positions including the vice guild president of the College of Medicine and Health Science. Yvette served as a leader of Rwanda Girl Guides Association, touching the lives of many young women, and as a prenatal health project leader at Rwanda Village Community Promoters. She was a Wavumbuzi Entrepreneurship Program ambassador with the Allan and Gill Gray Philanthropy and is a certified young leader by Young African Leaders Initiative. Yvette has a strong interest in career guidance, mentorship and intergenerational experience sharing. As a board member she will be leading professional experience sharing events.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Gwenael Apollon
Secretary General, YMCA Haiti
Didier Blesin
International Training Consultant & Coach
Rick Claydon
CEO Emeritus, Ridgewood YMCA
Jag Dalal
Management, IT Expert and Public Speaker
Dr. Mary Clark Romney
Retired, Medical Doctor
Bob Dill
CEO, R2D2 LLC
Kenneth Forester
CEO, Meridian Air
Rick Kushel
Co-Founder & General Partner, Fintop Capital
Christopher Lutz
Senior VP of Investments
Gail Nystrom
Founder & Executive Director, Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation
Thomas Wells
Founding Partner, Wells, Jaworski & Liebman
& Founder & Chairman, WMI
Jordyn Wells
Co-Founder & Executive Director, WMI
ADVISORY BOARD
Marianne Dill
Retired Director of Operations, The Rink
Brent Edmonds
President and Founder, Edmonds Contracting
Susan Hunt
Occupational Therapist
Bob Jones
CEO Emeritus, Children's Aid and Family Services
Ernie Lamour
CEO, Ridgewood YMCA
Seta Nazarian
Nonprofit Organizational Management Consultant
Denis Salamone
Senior VP of Investments
Leanne Tingay
Senior Associate for Programs, Orton Family Foundation
Carol Vitz Wells
Operations Director, Bristol Suites & Vermont Marketplace
Philip Wells
Architect, Wells Architecture