MBILIZI  KALOMBO is a social worker by profession with a bachelor’s degree in social work and social administration and currently pursuing a postgraduate diploma in public Administration. KALOMBO has a deep passion for environmental and biodiversity conservation as well as poverty alleviation among the agonized communities. 

KALOMBO attended a food web school to broaden his knowledge about soil health and effective measures to increase soil health in order to increase food security among smallholder farmers. He has led a number of rural development projects and won an array of grants including the UNHCR, innovation grant in 2022. 

KALOMBO is an active member of international consortia like the Ecosystem Restoration Alliance (ERA) which promotes the restoration of healthy biodiverse ecosystems as a holistic response to the urgent crises of climate and biodiversity. He is also a member of the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH).  

CA4SH is a multi-stakeholder approach to strengthen, facilitate and accelerate the adoption and scaling of soil health restoration practices with outcomes for productivity and economic growth, rural livelihoods, biodiversity protection, mitigation and adaptation to climate change and natural resource management. He is a co-founder and executive director of KBTN now AYISD, a youth-led organisation operating in southwestern Uganda/Nakivale refugee settlement.

Benedict Baraka is a visionary young entrepreneur and the CEO of AYISD, formerly known as KBTN. Since 2009, Benedict has been actively volunteering with various organizations, starting during his school days, driven by a strong passion for community service and development.

Inspired by influential leaders, Benedict established a kindergarten in a refugee camp, which later transformed into a full-fledged school. This institution now provides quality education to over 10,000 children in the camp, offering them a chance at a brighter future.

Driven by his ambition, Benedict collaborated with other young leaders to establish YASID, an organization dedicated to advocating for climate action and addressing the impact of famine on marginalized communities. Through his work, Benedict educates and inspires youth to become changemakers in their respective African communities, particularly in underserved areas.

Currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Social Work of honors at La Trobe University in Australia.

Benedict seeks to further enhance his ability to serve communities effectively and without complexity.

Through his leadership in various professional and creative initiatives, Benedict remains steadfast in his commitment to building resilient and impactful communities. His dedication continues to inspire meaningful change and hope across the globe.

Dr. Mara Huber is an educator, innovator, and global advocate for experiential learning, sustainability, and capacity building. Her work bridges academic leadership and international partnerships, creating transformative opportunities that align education with real-world challenges and global development goals. As Senior Director for Instructional Innovation and Transformation at the University at Buffalo, Dr. Huber leads efforts to support the exploration, integration, and scaling of generative AI, active learning, and PEARL projects within courses and programs of study.

Globally, she serves as Senior Special Advisor to the Governor of Enugu State, Nigeria, where she is advancing the Smart Green School initiative and experiential learning curriculum to address pressing environmental and educational challenges. Dr. Mara Huber collaborates with educators, policymakers, and organizations across Africa, including in Tanzania, Uganda, and Nigeria, to design and implement scalable models for education and innovation. Her passion lies in building communities of practice where educators and leaders can share, innovate, and seed transformative change.

Diana Doheny is a US-based businesswoman with extensive experience in project management, real estate development, finance, manufacturing, and sales. 

She is a founder and chairperson of Ampli5E, a non-profit serving the Northeast US and Africa dedicated to empowering women and girls, promoting education, employment, and protecting the environment.

She is a principal of Kingfisher-US, a consulting firm focused on the design and development of natural-based solutions.  She is also the founder and principal of Agroforestry Impact and Development, a US-based social enterprise dedicated to regenerative agroforestry and value-added industry development for Africa and the Global South.  

As a member of the Advisory Board of the Sahelian Institute for Bamboo Research and Entrepreneurial Development (SIBRED), the first university-based institute in Africa dedicated solely to bamboo research and economic development, she is responsible for the strategic direction of the institute.  She is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Journal for Bamboo and Rattan (JBAR), which promotes research on bamboo and rattan in the Global South.

Over the past several years, Diana has worked in Ghana and Nigeria with local communities designing regenerative agroforestry solutions that empower women and youth and offer long-term value-added solutions for food security and economic development in rural agricultural communities.

Diana holds a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in project management from Louisiana State University and an undergraduate degree in Finance and Economics.  She is also certified as a Prosci Change Management and Lean Practices consultant.

Francis Bosah is a renowned expert in soil health, regenerative agriculture, and ecosystem restoration. With a strong academic background in Sociology and Anthropology, Francis' unique perspective on systemic societal change has driven his career in promoting soil health regeneration, regenerative agricultural practices, and environmental sustainability.

As the co-founder and CEO of Health of the Soil Education, Advocacy and Leadership (HotSEAL) Organization, Francis has dedicated his career to empowering smallholder farmers, ecosystem restorers, and communities to adopt regenerative knowledge design systems and practices that prioritize soil health, biodiversity, ecosystem well-being and climate stability.

Operating globally from Nigeria, Francis has worked extensively across Africa and beyond, providing expertise and guidance on soil health, regenerative agriculture, and ecosystem restoration.

Francis has received professional training from esteemed organizations such as Kiss the Ground, UNDP, Convention on Biological Diversity, FERI, SIDA, Korea Forest Service, IUCN, Society for Ecological Restoration, United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, The Nature Conservancy, SwedBio, Flanders, Pro-Natura, gef and NBSAP Forum, Regeneration International, and RegenIntel (Regenerative Intelligence), solidifying his expertise in soil health advocacy, regenerative agriculture, ecosystem restoration, biodiversity communication, resilience thinking,  climate solutions, sustainability, and regenerative systems.

In addition to his work at Health of the Soil Education, Advocacy and Leadership (HotSEAL) Organization Francis also held roles a ICB Pharma, Poland, as Technical Manager/African Director, and Total Energies, as Environmental Public Health Consultant.

Francis serves as a trusted advisor and knowledge partner to several organizations, including: AxessImpact (Switzerland) - Scientific Committee Member; Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate, (USA/UAE) - Knowledge Partner; Soil4Climate (USA)- International Knowledge Partner and Board Advisor; Growing-To-Give (USA)- Board Advisor; Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health - Knowledge Partner; Agroforestry Impact & Regeneration (USA) - Board Advisor; Africa Organization of Technology in Agriculture/International Business Models in Agriculture (Rwanda) - Board Advisor (2022-2024).

Francis is a professional member of the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER), Membership #71079865.

Rasel has been serving as the Departmental Chair of the Website Content Committee in the Department of Agricultural Extension and Community Development and as a Representative to the College of Agriculture Website Content Committee of Sokoine University of Agriculture since July 2020. 

He has enabled the Department to rise to the best of all academic departments in terms of website ranking at the university. Prior to that, he served as the Departmental Chair of the Undergraduate Studies Committee and Representatives to the College of Agriculture Undergraduate Studies Committee from July 2017 to July 2020. 

He facilitated the review and eventual approval of the curricula for BSc. Applied Agricultural Extension, and Bachelor of Community Development. The review led to increased enrolment of undergraduate students in the department from around 50 students prior to 2019 to nearly 500 students in 2020. 

Rasel has a career as an academician, researcher, author, consultant, and not-for-profit entrepreneur. As a researcher, academician, and author, Rasel has been engaging in multidisciplinary action research, social experiments, cross-sectional surveys, and ethnography since 2007. He authors over 12 articles (as a single author), published in refereed international journals and as chapters in international peer-review books. 

He is a recipient of several academic grants, which have enabled him to share his research findings in over 30 international conferences across countries located in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, West Africa, South Africa, and East Africa. 

Rasel has expertise in community development, gender and development, development economics, rural development, African studies, social anthropology, political economy, and agricultural extension.

Rasel holds a Ph.D. in Development Studies from the University of Dar es salaam. He also holds two Masters Degrees, which are MA Global Gender Studies of the State University of New York, USA, and MA Rural Development of Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania. 

He also holds a BSc in Agricultural Education and Extension from Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania, and a Diploma in Education from Morogoro Teachers’ College, Tanzania. Rasel has served as faculty for several higher learning institutions since 2007. As of 2014, he has been serving as an academician at Sokoine University of Agriculture located in Morogoro, Tanzania. 

He has supervised dissertations of over five postgraduate students (or graduate students) and has taught more than 10,000 undergraduate students in his areas of specialization. He holds membership in some reputable regional and international professional associations.

As a consultant and a not-for-profit entrepreneur, he has been engaging in the not-for-profit industry in Africa and the United States of America since 1996. He has developed a grassroots microfinance model that has been empowering grassroots entrepreneurs since 2011. 

He has also gained a national and international reputation by undertaking over 30 consultancy assignments for seven international NGOs and five local national NGOs. Professional consultancy services have been offered to reputable international not-for-profit NGOs such as fhi360 (Family Health International), the German Agency for International Cooperation (GTZ), AFRICARE, and Norwegian Church Aid (NCA). 

He has also served as an employee of reputable international not-for-profit organizations such as the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and World Vision.

He has also offered services to national not-for-profits such as Tanzania Gender Networking Program (TGNP), Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC), Village Community Banks (VICOBA) Federation of Tanzania in Tanzania as well as Jewish Family Services in New York, USA. The not-for-profits are located in both the Global South and Global North. Rasel is the founder of the Tanzania Chapter of the scaleWAYS- East Africa Community of Practice (CoP) with the support from the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), the Lake Victoria Basin Commission of the East African Community (LVBC), the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), and Austrian Development Cooperation.

Finally, Rasel, with excellent command of both English and Kiswahili languages, is a recipient of several prestigious awards including Fulbright, Champion of Women Economic Development for the year 2012, and the American Political Science Professional Development Award (two times). He has won several travel grants to present his work across the world.

Richard is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in microenterprise development, vocational education management, and public administration. His career is characterized by a commitment to community development, entrepreneurship support, and strategic leadership across diverse sectors.

Current Role

As a Microenterprise Development Manager, Richard provides expert business coaching to 40 aspiring entrepreneurs annually, facilitating the launch and growth of new ventures. His approach combines personalized guidance with practical business acumen, fostering economic development at the grassroots level.

Executive Leadership in Education

Prior to his current position, Richard served as CEO for one of three vocational training colleges owned by him and his team of investors in Australia.

Under his leadership, one  of the institutions specialized in business management, the other in Agriculture and  horticulture and the third in building and construction.

This role showcased his ability to manage educational institutions and align curricula with industry needs.

Public Sector Management

Richard's tenure as City Manager of Mildura for seven years demonstrated his proficiency in public administration and stakeholder management. He successfully led initiatives to enhance the city's appeal as a tourist destination, investment hub, and residential community, balancing diverse interests to drive urban development and quality of life improvements.

Academic Background

Underpinning his professional achievements is a Master's degree study program in International and Community Development from Deakin University ongoing. This advanced program  has informed his approach to both urban management and microenterprise development, providing a solid theoretical foundation for his practical work.

Early Career and International Experience

Richard's career trajectory began in the resources sector as a mining geologist with Western Mining Corporation in Western Australia. He subsequently transitioned into marketing and hospitality, where he excelled in client acquisition and business development. This role expanded his professional reach to include projects across Australia, the South Pacific, Africa, and Southeast Asia, cultivating a global business perspective.

Hanna is a gender and social inclusion researcher working with CIFOR-ICRAF, and Global Communications Lead for the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH).

Hanna holds an MSc in Environmental Forestry and an MA in Gender, Feminist and Citizenship studies. Her current doctoral research is investigating the impact of male outmigration on women’s access to land in The Gambia.

Hanna has been working with international research organizations as a gender consultant since 2020, and she has extensive experience serving on boards for non-profit organizations both locally and globally. She is based in Newfoundland, Canada.