Teddy Svoronos conceived of microgrants as a Fulbright Scholar in Tanzania working with health workers in a rural clinic. Their ingenuity, drive and intimate knowledge of their environment left a deep impression on him, and he has since worked to tap into that knowledge and energy around the world. Teddy holds a Master's of Public Health from Columbia University and is currently a Ph.D student in Health Policy at Harvard University studying evaluative sciences and statistics.
Ngabonzima Ernest has a B.A. in Journalism and Communication from the National University of Rwanda. Ernest co-founded Spark with Sasha Fisher and has been central in building the Rwanda program, including follow-up mechanisms and facilitator training. Previously, Ernest worked with the Cultural Tourism Board in northern Rwanda and other non-governmental organizations to support local development initiatives.
Grace is an M.B.A./M.P.H. student and Forte Fellow at the University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business and School of Public Health. She spent the past four years working in global health in Rwanda and Kenya with the One Acre Fund, Jacaranda Health and Health Builders. Grace graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in Sociology, where she was the recipient of the Anna Julia Cooper Prize for overall academic, moral and intellectual excellence and work against discrimination.
Shruti Joshi is a Director at AV&Co. Shruti has extensive industry and consulting experience in telecom, technology, consumer goods and media. Her areas of expertise include business and marketing strategy, online and offline media optimization, new product development, go-to-market planning, churn management and sales channel strategy. Prior to joining AV&Co., Shruti held an executive marketing position at Verizon Communications, where she was responsible for driving new acquisition growth for Consumer FiOS and Core network products, by developing product marketing strategies and optimizing multimillion dollar digital, awareness and direct response media campaigns. Shruti also has a consulting background in product development, where she helped global brands develop new products. As a result of her years of industry experience, Shruti provides expert advice on how businesses can maximize returns through improved marketing strategy and media management. Shruti holds an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and a B.S. in Business from the University of Southern California.
Thad has lived in North San Diego County since 1977, residing in Solana Beach, Carlsbad, and now rural Vista. His varied careers began with creating a screen printing enterprise at the age of eighteen. He later worked as an industry consultant. He also has experience in residential construction and remodeling. In the fifteen years prior to becoming a realtor, he was director of marketing for an international manufacturing corporation. Following the 2008 market crash, he worked in residential construction and began buying, restoring, and reselling homes. Thad has found that his combined experience in construction and marketing give him a unique position from which to determine property values and to effectively promote properties. Yet despite working for an exemplary company—and an exceptional advertising team— he decided on a career change. So, after thirty years in the screen printing industry and eighteen years with M&R, Thad left to become Operating Executive of RA5, a family foundation that believes everyone should be able to live in dignity and security. It supports charitable programs designed to eradicate poverty and empower and assist women and at-risk youth.
Neal is the Chief Strategy Officer at Dimagi and a computer scientist with field experience in applying information technologies to help organizations address poverty in low-income regions. He has published and lectured extensively in data visualization, data mining and automated planning and logistics. He has developed medical record and analysis systems for Partners in Health, the government of Rwanda, and a large AIDS treatment program in Tanzania, and worked with many other universities and non-governmental organizations. Neal holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Washington and a master’s degree in Global Health from the Harvard School of Public Health.