Biographies
Management Team | Board
of Directors | Creative Team
Management
Team
Anna
Msowoya Keys, President and Founder
Anna has been the President of Maloto since 2007, and was one of its
founding members. For more than 20 years, Anna has worked to improve
the lives of some of Africa’s most disadvantaged and vulnerable populations—refugees
and others affected by armed conflict, people living in extreme poverty,
and people living with HIV/AIDS. In addition to her native Malawi, Anna
has worked in Mozambique, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Kenya, and Rwanda. Anna has worked as a project director for a variety
of non-profit organizations, including the British charity organization
Action Aid, the Norwegian Refugee Council, and the International Rescue
Committee. Anna has also consulted for various agencies and non-profits,
including the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children. In recognition
of her empowering work with women in Malawi, she was the first recipient
of Whole Women Healing Award: “Women of Compassion Award for 2007”.
Anna divides her time between Mzuzu, Malawi and Valley Cottage, New York,
where she lives with her husband and two sons.
Gina
Paoloni, Director of Development
Gina Paoloni
has spent her entire career in sales, marketing and business development. She
is the President of GP Advisors LLC, a consulting company she formed
to help companies develop and execute their business development and
marketing strategies. Current clients include
Old City Partners, a hedge fund marketing firm, as well as The Perry
Group, a Public Relations Agency. Past clients include start-ups, Studio
Panepinto and Rita Wilcox Designs as well as The Sports Club New York
and Yogaworks. Prior to starting GP Advisors, Gina was Vice President
of Sales for Equinox Fitness Clubs.
Jill Bennett, Educational Consultant
M.Arts, PGCE, Dip.Ed
Jill Bennett
graduated in French and Spanish from St.Andrews’ University and in education
from Edinburgh University in Scotland. When living in Brunei with her
husband, a university lecturer, she founded an international school for both
the children of expatriate staff and local Asian families. The
International School of Brunei is now an established member of the Council
of International Schools with over 1,500 students.
Jill was
then recruited to launch and head the Rome International School. On retirement
after fourteen years, Jill joined VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas). She
was sent to Malawi, where she spent two years as a Methods Advisor for the
Northern Education Division, monitoring and inspecting schools and conducting
teacher training.
She now
works as a Consultant Education Advisor and has undertaken educational
development projects in Italy, Sri Lanka and Malawi. Jill is also the director of
a small charity, the Bennett Malawi Orphan Care Trust Fund, which assists students
in Malawi to complete their studies. Jill is excited to help Maloto open
Mzuzu Academy’s doors in 2010.
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Board of Directors
Elizabeth Bohart, Board Chair
Elizabeth Bohart is an independent strategy consultant with over 20
years experience-developing business plans & growth strategies for
non-profit & for-profit entities. She has worked extensively in Russia,
the Baltics, Eastern Europe and sub-Saharan Africa.
Bohart is currently working with Propeller films on Watchers of
the Sky, a documentary film examining genocide over time and culture.
She is the key strategist behind the development and implementation
of the film’s education outreach program and its ongoing community
engagement projects.
Bohart serves on the New York board of advisors for Peace First, a violence-prevent
organization that works with schools to teach students effective conflict
resolution skills. Bohart has a BA from Tulane University and a Masters
in Public Administration from American University. She lives in New York
City with her husband and three daughters.
Meredith Brokaw
Meredith Brokaw has been a high school teacher, an author of
8 books on parenting (The Penny Whistle books), the founder of a store
specializing in educational toys, and the author of a western life
style book (Big Sky Cooking). She is an emeritus board member of WNET.org
and Conservation International. The mother of 3 daughters and 4 granddaughters,
she and her husband NBC’s Tom Brokaw believe that everybody has a stake
in making the planet a better place for future generations.
Victoria Harmon
Victoria Harmon is a Managing Director for Credit Suisse in the Talent,
Branding and Communications division, based in New York. She is ad interim
Head of Americas Corporate Communications, covering Private Banking,
Investment Banking and Asset Management communications in the region,
and ad interim global Co-Head of Investment Banking Corporate Communications.
Within these areas, she is responsible for the Bank's media relations,
internal communications, executive communications, branding, marketing
and advertising functions. Ms. Harmon is a member of the Americas CEO
Management Committee and the Communications Management team.
Prior to joining Credit Suisse in 1999, Ms. Harmon worked for Salomon
Smith Barney in the Corporate Communications department in both their
New York and Hong Kong offices. Prior to working in financial services,
she worked for the US Trade Representative, Mickey Kantor, in the Executive
Office of the President of the United States and for NBC News in Washington
D.C.
Ms. Harmon holds a JD from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A.
in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley. She
is a Member of the Board of Directors of Malδto and an advisory board
member of Art for Refugees in Transition (A.R.T.), all based in New York.
Phlyssa Koshland
Phlyssa Koshland's career has focussed on sculpture but she comes from
a long family tradition of philanthropy. Her key particular interests
are education, social policy for poverty alleviation and environmental
issues.
She was born in the USA in 1949 and grew up on Long Island during the
Civil Rights years. She moved to Berkeley in 1964 before going toHarvard
in 67, graduating with at BS hon in Sociology. She then moved to Sydney,
Australia in 1975 where she started her career in art. In 1990 she went
to Paris for one year and twenty years later she splits her time between
Sydney and Paris and the US.
Jodi Nelson
Jodi Nelson, director of Impact Planning & Improvement (IPI), leads
a central team that creates the guidelines and standards for strategy
and measurement at the foundation.
Prior to joining the foundation, Jodi spent eight years at the International
Rescue Committee (IRC), where she led an initiative to bridge the gap
between academics and aid workers to strengthen the quality of data used
to effect and measure change in post-conflict countries. She founded
the IRC’s department of Research, Evaluation and Learning. Prior to
that, Jodi worked with the Asia Society, the Committee for Economic Development,
the World Resources Institute, and the Society for International Development.
She has a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University, and has
taught at Princeton and New York University.
Mrs. Sophie Mhango Nyasulu
Born in Rumphi, Malawi. Sophie Mhango Nyasulu is a founding member
of Maloto. She attended Mzuzu Government Secondary School in Malawi
then attended Walla Walla College in the US. She currently resides
in Belpre, Ohio and works for Holzer Clinic in Athens, Ohio. She
is dedicated to giving back to Malawi.
Mr. Richard Taylor
www.taylorandassociates.net
Mr. Richard Taylor is Managing Attorney with Taylor and Associates,
a private practice representing injured workers since 1975. He
is listed in Best
Attorneys in America as well as Who’s Who in Arizona, Who’s
Who in America and Who’s Who International. Taylor
received his B.A. and Law degree from Arizona State University. He
is married to Antoinette Denison Taylor with two children, Julienne and
Brittany. Taylor has competed in international classic car rallies
throughout the world since 1997. One such race brought Taylor to
Malawi which in turn led to his active support for Maloto.
Tamsen Ann Ziff
Tamsen Ann Ziff is Chairman of the Board and a Managing Director of
the Metropolitan Opera and a Vice-chairman on the Board of Directors
of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. She is a member of
the Board of Trustees of Carnegie Hall and is the Founding Chairman of
the Board of Directors of The Smile Train, an international organization
that provides free cleft lip and palate surgery for underprivileged children.
Mrs. Ziff was Chairman of the Board of the Rainforest Alliance for six
years and currently serves on the Boards of the American Museum of Natural
History, Conservation International, Maloto, Inc., the New York Restoration
Project, the World Science Festival and the Fairchild Tropical Garden
in Miami. She is also a member of the National Council of the Aspen Music
Festival. She is a founder and producer of the Caribbean Community Theater,
St.Croix, U.S.V. I. Mrs. Ziff studied Music Therapy in the Masters program
at NYU and received her Masters in Social Work from New York University.
She was a psychiatric social worker in the New York City system for many
years. Mrs. Ziff is also a jewelry maker and designer and owns the eponymous
store Tamsen Z on Madison Avenue in New York.
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Creative Team
Jennifer Panepinto, Design Consultant
www.jenniferpanepinto.com
Jennifer Panepinto runs her own full-service graphic and product design
studio. Prior to starting the studio, Jennifer was a Founding Partner
and Creative Director at Studio Panepinto, LLC which incubated her first
product—Mesü Portion Control bowls. Mesu enjoyed great success
and was sold on QVC, Target.com, specialty stores and the Museum
of Modern Art. Mesu was also featured on television segments including
HGTV’s I Want That!, Extra: What’s Hot, What’s New, The
Big Deal with Donnie Deutsch, and The Today Show with Katie
Couric. Previously, Jennifer worked as Senior Designer for Toys
“R” Us, Inc. and as a Design Production Assistant at Martha Stewart
Living Omnimedia. She received her MFA in Design from The School of Visual
Arts in 2003 and a BFA in Photography from Pratt Institute in 1998.
Jennifer Fineran, Website and Video
Production
www.gypsycampstudios.com
New York-based film editor Jen Fineran is best known for her intimate,
non-fiction storytelling, particularly films that raise awareness and
spark change. In 2006, Fineran founded Gypsy Camp Studios creating
documentaries and video projects for filmmakers, non-profits and educational
clients. The films she has edited explore a variety of fascinating and
relevant themes, including women's empowerment (A POWERFUL NOISE,
which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2008); personal identity
and the "obesity epidemic" (ALL OF ME: A STORY OF LOVE,
LOSS AND LAST RESORTS); contemporary art (EVERYBODY KNOWS… ELIZABETH
MURRAY, produced and directed by Academy Award-nominee Kristi Zea);
HIV/AIDS (THE DIARY OF BONO AND CHRIS TUCKER: AIDING AFRICA,
MTV); and American history and racial divisiveness (CONFEDERACY THEORY,
PBS). She is currently editing AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY, the first-ever
feature length film on the iconic contemporary Chinese artist and activist,
Ai Weiwei. Fineran studied political science and sociology as an undergraduate
and holds an M.A. in Film Theory, History and Criticism from Emory University.
She is a member of the Motion Picture Editors Guild.
Kurt Griffith, Web Design & Development
www.fantastic-realities.com
Kurt is a veteran Art Director, Web & Graphic Designer and Illustrator.
A Skilled, experienced and versatile graphics professional with over
30 years experience in print, publishing, marketing, promotions, web
design, production, and training.
Over a diverse career in the industry, he has accumulated skills in
Art Direction, Illustration, Graphic Design, Digital Art, Electronic
Publishing and Web Design. He has worked as freelance and as a staff
artist, working both solo and with creative teams and workgroups. Having
learned his craft in the murky prehistory prior to desktop publishing,
he possesses both traditional and digital studio skills. Kurt has a BFA
with honors in Graphic Design and Illustration from Pratt Institute.
Raised in Brooklyn, NY, he moved with his family to Rockland Country
in 2001. Kurt established Fantastic Realities Studio as
a versatile source for seasoned and professional design solutions serving
the Hudson Valley and NYC region.
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