Work with us.

Team members join us at every stage in their career, from a wide variety of sectors. We hope you’ll join us.

About our culture & values

Our goal is to maintain a high performance workplace where our team feels supported, respected, and able to thrive professionally.

Meet the team

Leadership

Ruchi Agarwal

Ruchi Agarwal

Director, Global Treasury

Julius Anyega

Julius Anyega

Controller

Leith Baker

Leith Baker

Senior Director, Product

Kimberly Belk

Kimberly Belk

Director of Compliance and Grants Management

Will Bishop

Will Bishop

Country Director, Mozambique

Kayla Fishman

Kayla Fishman

Director, Philanthropy Special Projects

Ellen Fitton

Ellen Fitton

Director, Internal Audit

Becca Frank

Becca Frank

Vice President, Technology

Tyler Hall

Tyler Hall

Senior Director, Communications

Heidi Hirvonen

Heidi Hirvonen

Director, People

Grace Jackson

Grace Jackson

Country Director, Malawi

Stephen Kalungu

Stephen Kalungu

Programs Director, Kenya

Omalha Kanjo

Omalha Kanjo

Programs Director, Mozambigue

Laura Keen

Laura Keen

Programs Director, US

Ariana Keyman

Ariana Keyman

Director, Partnerships

Sam Kreter

Sam Kreter

Director, Program Technology

Miriam Laker

Miriam Laker

Director, Research

Stella Luk

Stella Luk

VP, Programs

John Paul Makoni

John Paul Makoni

Country Director, Kenya

Sarah Moran

Sarah Moran

Vice President, Product

Yvonne Namala-Murindiwa

Yvonne Namala-Murindiwa

Programs Director, Malawi

Gloria Ngabire

Gloria Ngabire

Country Director, Rwanda

Ivan Ntwali

Ivan Ntwali

Country Director, Uganda

Dan Obus

Dan Obus

Chief Financial Officer

Dustin Palmer

Dustin Palmer

Country Director, US

Isabelle Pelly

Isabelle Pelly

Director, Partnerships

Daniel Quinn

Daniel Quinn

Director, Humanitarian

Lamia Rashid

Lamia Rashid

Regional Director

Harris Roberts

Harris Roberts

VP, Growth, Product, Comms & Marketing

Marie-Sophie Pocha

Marie-Sophie Pocha

Programs Director, DRC

Caroline Teti

Caroline Teti

VP, Safeguarding, Risk, Compliance

Carolina Toth

Carolina Toth

Product Lead

Maureen Trantham

Maureen Trantham

Chief Operating Officer

Caitlin Tuloch

Caitlin Tuloch

Senior Director, Research and Learning

Eelco Vugs

Eelco Vugs

Director, Safeguarding

Rachel Waddell

Rachel Waddell

Director, Partnerships

Lydiah Wangechi

Lydiah Wangechi

Regional Director

Ben West

Ben West

Chief of Staff

Yolande Wright

Yolande Wright

Vice President, Partnerships

Joseph Yarsiah

Joseph Yarsiah

Country Director, Liberia

Board of directors

Aly Jeddy

Aly Jeddy

Chairman (US)

Aly Sheezar Jeddy is a Director at McKinsey & Company. He has led the Firm's Private Equity & Principal Investing Practice for the Americas as well as the Strategy Practice on the U.S. East Coast. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of The Dalton School, the Board of Overseers of the International Rescue Committee, the board of the Aziz Jehan Begum Trust for the Blind, and the Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. Jeddy's experience includes work at the War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Office of the Prosecutor, at the World Bank, and with the leading human rights lawyer in Pakistan, advising the Prime Minister on advancing gender equality.
Rohit Wanchoo

Rohit Wanchoo

Director
Secretary
Treasurer (US)

Rohit is a Principal at a private equity firm in New York. He previously worked as a Research Analyst for the United Nations Millennium Project (UNMP), a group headed by Professor Jeffrey Sachs, tasked with preparing a plan for low-income countries to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Prior to his work at the UN, Rohit worked in finance as an investment banker for Lehman Brothers in New York. Rohit holds an MBA from MIT Sloan and an MPA in International Development from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Paul Niehaus

Paul Niehaus

Director (US)

Paul Niehaus is co-founder and chairman of GiveDirectly, currently the top-rated nonprofit by GiveWell and ranked among the 25 most audacious companies (Inc) and 10 most innovative companies in finance (Fast Company). GiveDirectly is a recognized leader in the use of modern technology to transfer funds directly to the extreme poor, and in the use of rigorous scientific methods to document its impact. Paul is also a co-founder of Segovia, which builds enterprise technology for the management of social programming in the emerging markets. He holds an academic appointment in the Department of Economics at UC San Diego, where he works with governments in India to improve the implementation of social programming. He is a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a Junior Affiliate at the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD), an Affiliate of the Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), and an Affiliate at the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA). He holds a PhD in economics from Harvard University and is a National Science Foundation Fellow and a Sloan Fellow. In 2013 Foreign Policy named him one of its 100 leading "Global Thinkers."

Country office boards

Samuel Mwamburi Mwale

Samuel Mwamburi Mwale

Board Member (Kenya)

Samuel founded Farasi Strategy Advisors Ltd, a firm that provides investment and strategy advice to public and private sector clients. He has served in senior positions in the Government of Kenya in the last 10+ years, having served for five as Principal Administrative Secretary and assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, in the Cabinet Office, Office of the President. Previously, he served as Economic Secretary to the Presidency at State House and as Economic Advisor to the Ministry of Planning & National Development and the National Economic & Social Council. Mr. Mwale holds a Master's degree in agricultural economics from the University of Oxford, a Postgraduate Diploma in Development Economics from the University of East Anglia, a Bachelor of Science in Range Management from the University of Nairobi, and has attended executive training on policy analysis at Stanford University and leadership at Harvard University.
Rachel Sibande

Rachel Sibande

Board Member (Malawi)

Rachel Sibande is a Digital Development Specialist. Ms. Sibande established Malawi's first technology and innovation hub; mHub. The hub provides digital skills training, financing and investment readiness support for emerging innovative entrepreneurs. Rachel currently serves as Senior Director at the United Nations Foundation. She leads Big Data for development and Digital Transformation work in Africa. Rachel has over a decade of extensive experience managing development projects in more than 16 countries cutting across digital financial services, public health, agriculture, disaster management and elections monitoring. She became a Google Scholar in 2015, being a recipient of Google's Anita Borg Award for outstanding computer science students from around the world. Rachel has been listed twice by Forbes as one of Africa's 30 under 30 entrepreneurs in 2016 and as a new wealth creator in 2019. In 2018, Ms. Sibande won the Climate Smart Innovation pan African competition of the Next Einstein Forum after inventing a thermal chemical plant that produces light and gas from maize cobs for mini grids to power rural households in Malawi. Rachel completed a PhD in computer Science at Rhodes University in South Africa. She read Cyrptography and Coding Theory for her Masters degree from the Mzuzu University and holds a Bachelors of Science degree from the University of Malawi.

Advisors

Rory Stewart

Rory Stewart

Rory is an advisor at GiveDirectly. Previously, he was the UK Secretary of State for International Development, Minister of State for Justice, Minister of State in Foreign Office and DFID (covering Africa, Middle East, and Asia), Minister for the Environment and Chair of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee. After a brief period as an infantry officer he joined the UK Diplomatic Service, serving overseas in Jakarta, as British representative to Montenegro in the wake of the Kosovo crisis, and as the coalition Deputy-Governor of two provinces of Southern Iraq following the intervention of 2003. He left the diplomatic service to undertake a two-year walk across Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India and Nepal. In 2005, he established the Turquoise Mountain Foundation in Kabul, working to restore a section of the old city, establish a clinic, primary school, and Arts Institute, and bring Afghan crafts to international markets. In 2008, he became the Ryan Professor of Human Rights at the Harvard Kennedy School and Director for the Carr Centre for Human Rights Policy. He is a Visiting Fellow at The Jackson Institute at Yale University. Speaking & Press Requests: If you are interested in Rory speaking at an event or making a press appearance please email press@givedirectly.org. He’s on Twitter at @RoryStewartUK.
Paul Brest

Paul Brest

Paul Brest is Professor Emeritus (active) at Stanford Law School, where he joined the faculty in 1969 and served as Dean from 1987 to 1999. He is also a lecturer at the Graduate School of Business and a faculty co-director of the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society. He served as president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation from 2000 to 2012. A leading scholar and teacher of constitutional law, Paul now focuses his teaching and writing on public policy, judgment and decision making, and philanthropy. He is co-author of Problem Solving, Decision Making, and Professional Judgment (2010) and Money Well Spent: A Strategic Guide to Smart Philanthropy (2008).
Joshua Rugema

Joshua Rugema

Joshua is currently the managing director at H2O Venture Partners, providing leadership for the firm's Africa operations. H2O Venture Partners is an investment firm that is building and investing in profitable, high-growth, high-impact, agricultural ventures in East Africa. Joshua has spent the last decade in private equity and investment management in the US.