Board of Directors

                                                                                Edward M. Ballen, LCSW, Executive Director     

                                            Sue Altman, MS.Ed.                                                                           Judith Schmidt, PhD

                                            Laura Himmelstein, LCSW                                                                Mark Schulman, AIA, LEED AP

                                            Ellen Lasch, M.B.A.                                                                            Jason Waxler

                                            Peter Schaffer                                                                                    Jack Zitomer

                                           

Advisory Board

  • Rachel Ballen, BSN, Health Consultant

  • Josh Ballen, MBA, Financial Consultant

  • Robert Whittaker, Esq.

  • Ann Ewing Burns, M.El.Ed., Head of Lower School at The Hackley School

  • Stan Chu, MS.Ed,  Bank Street College Graduate School of Education

  • Tristen Edwards, Peace Family

  • Sindy Solomon, MD, Healthcare Consultant

  • Scott Hewitt, Ed.D, Rollins College

  • Yigal Joseph, Ed.D., Leadership Consultant

  • Michael Ioli, MS.Ed, KIPP School

  • Tovah Klein, PhD, Director Barnard College Center for Toddler Development

  • Jennie Lyons, M.B.A., Technology Consultant

  • Michael Marlowe, MA, Leadership Development

  • Casey Maxwell, M.Ed., Early Childhood Education Consultant

  • Neesha N. Rahim, MSW, Executive Director, Level-Up Village

  • Alain Rwabukamba, M.Eng., Technology Consultant

  • Muhoza Rwabukamba, Cultural Consultant to Rwanda

  • Heide Wrigley, PhD, Executive Director, Literacywork International                       

 

Our Staff

  • Michele Israel,  Director of Communications

  • Jean Paulin Mutatsineza, Project Manager

  • Eugene Nteziyaremye,  Literacy Coordinator

  • Elisaphane Bikorimana, Librarian/Early Childhood Specialist

  • Joseph Semafara, Technology Consultant

  • Geoffrey Mutabazi, President of REAP Rwanda

  • Antoine Tuyisenge, Treasurer of REAP Rwanda

  • Justice Rafiki, Community Outreach Coordinator

 

Jean Paulin Mutatsineza, the REAP Project Manager just returned to Rwanda from the United States where he spent nine weeks attending President Obama’s Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders and meeting with REAP Executive Director and board members.

Below is an extract from an interview with REAP’s Director of Operations:

 

In addition to an intensive training in personal, team, organizational and societal leadership, the six weeks I spent at the University of Minnesota have been an eye-opener, an exposure, an energizer, an impetus and a challenge to first develop myself as a leader, and then my field team.

My goal is to develop the REAP employees into a small think tank for the organization to provide sustainable educational & vocational opportunities to students and see REAP scaling up its impact to the national level.

Furthermore, I will be creating a wide network with US and African leaders in education and as a Mandela Washington fellow, my employer organization is eligible to apply for USAID grants and other various US-funded opportunities.

 The 10-day stay at Ed’s home, REAP’s executive director, was invaluable, I got to discuss face-to-face with my supervisor, meet key REAP partners, and see the organization’s “Top View” as a project manager. I learned how to balance day-to-day details, essential to accountability, while also attending to the organization’s big picture.

Last but not least, I was humbled to meet our U.S. board members, the generous faces that collectively provide their unwavering efforts to making REAP’s work possible.

I very much appreciate the work you do.