Amalia is the Head of Programmes at HiH (UK) and has worked in international development for more than 12 years, specializing in financial inclusion and supporting rural livelihoods. Prior to joining Hand in Hand, she was Head of Financial Sector Development at Nathan Associates, overseeing the organization’s portfolio of financial sector focused work. Amalia has worked with and advised a range of institutional and corporate donors, including DFID, SIDA, FSDA, Access to Finance Rwanda, MasterCard Foundation, Barclays, and Deutsche Bank. She also worked at Plan International UK, and spent several years at the OECD and in the UK financial industry. She has
a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University and a Bachelor degree in Economics from the University of Cambridge.

Albert joined Hand in Hand Eastern Africa in 2012 as Head of HR & Administration, and has served as CEO since February 2017. He has played a major role in the creation of more than 300,000 businesses and 400,000 jobs in Kenya, as well Hand in Hand’s expansion into Rwanda to help create 115,000 jobs. Before joining Hand in Hand Eastern Africa he spent 13 years in senior roles with CIC Group, one of Kenya’s fastest-growing insurance companies, including five years as HR Manager.

Albert’s belief in Hand in Hand Eastern Africa’s mission – fighting poverty with jobs – goes all the way back to childhood. Growing up on the slopes of the Aberdare Mountains in central Kenya, he split his time between school and the family farm – not unlike many of our members’ children today. “It was a very rustic community, but very close,” he says. “Everybody was brought up in the spirit of having to work hard.”

That spirit, combined with a decades-long history of volunteering in his local community, is what led him to Hand in Hand Eastern Africa.

Prof Catherine Ndungo is an Associate Professor in the Department of Kiswahili at Kenyatta University. She holds a PhD in African Oral Literature.

She also holds a Masters degree in Linguistics and African Languages. Prof Catherine Ndungo was formally the Associate Dean, School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Previously she was the Director, Institute of African Studies. She was the founder Chairperson of the Department of Gender and Development Studies.

She has published widely in her area of Scholarship. She is also a member of many professional bodies such as Association of African Women for Research and Development, Organization for Social Science Research for Eastern Africa among others. She sits in several boards and is also the Chairperson of British Institute of East Africa.

Janet Maro is a graduate of Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) in Tanzania. She holds a BSc. In Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness as well as a MSc. Project Management.

Janet has a strong passion for sustainable agriculture and rural micro financing and this crystallized out during her work at Bustani ya Tushikamane (ByT) where she works with farmers on agro ecological farming, group saving and lending.

Janet is a co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT), a national organization in Tanzania. SAT’s vision is to reduce the social and environmental problems and as well to provide sustainable food for the fast-growing global population. She was appointed to the Hand in Hand Eastern Africa Board in 2015 and has supported in the establishment of the Hand in Hand Eastern Africa -Tanzania (HiH EA -TZ). Janet is also a Board member of the Tanzania Organic Agriculture Movement (TOAM).