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Board of Directors

Our ethical Board of Directors ensure that SEND Sierra Leone adheres strictly to Sierra Leonean legislation and the directives of all governmental stakeholders whiles ensuring that the quality of lives in Sierra Leone are improved through SEND implemented projects.


BOARD CHAIRPERSON

LUCY CECILIA FORAY GONDOR

Lucy Cecilia Foray Gondor is an Educationist, a Women’s Empowerment Advocate and currently serves as the President of Kailahun Women in Governance Network; a leading grassroots women’s advocacy CBO that champions women empowerment and participation in local governance. Under her leadership, Kailahun District became the first district to have the highest number of women elected as local councillors in Sierra Leone. She has also been a doyen of women’s empowerment in Eastern Province of Sierra Leone and double as the President for the Eastern Women’s Network that serves three districts that is Kailahun, Kenema and Kono.

She is the Board Chairperson of the National Executive Council-SEND Sierra Leone, Board Member of Pendembu Community Bank in Upper Bambara Chiefdom in Kailahun District, Board Member of Pendembu Vocational Secondary School. She is an aspirant to become the next Member of Parliament for Upper Bambara Chiefdom in Kailahun District.

Gondor received an Award from SEND West Africa for her leadership and commitment to SEND Sierra Leone during the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone that dismantled and re-ordered people’s lives in Sierra Leone.

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BOARD MEMBER

SIAPHA KAMARA

Mr. Siapha Kamara is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SEND West Africa. He holds an M.A and M.Phil. in Development from the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague, Netherlands. He is a Social Development practitioner with expertise and hands-on experience in:

  • • Social accountability and good governance practices
  • • Organizational development and management of NGOs
  • • Social inclusion, gender equity and women in governance
  • • Micro-finance and small business development
  • During over 40 year career in Social Development, Mr Kamara has led the establishment.

  • • Social Enterprise Development West Africa (SEND West Africa
  • • Ghana Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation Network (PM & E Network)
  • • SODEC Northern Ghana Program for Institutional Capacity Building for Poverty Alleviation
  • • Northern Ghana Network for Development
  • • Ecumenical Training and Consultancy Centre (ETCC) of the Christian Council of Ghana
  • Under his leadership, SEND West Africa became operational in Ghana (1998), Liberia (2004) and Sierra Leone (2008), empowering disadvantaged citizens including women, youth, persons with disability, farmers and key population to exercise their social, economic and political rights. Some of his books and articles include: The Journey of A Male Gender Trainer in Northern Ghana, an article published in the book: Gender Training in Ghana in 2001 by D. Tsikata et al., A Participatory Training Handbook: Volume One: Project Planning, Management and Animation and Volume Two: Gender in Development Training, co-authored with A. Denkabe and published in 1993 by Freedom Press. Experiences in planning and conducting participatory and gender training for the staff and beneficiaries of NGOs in Northern Ghana and Problems of Food Insecurity in Liberia, published in Forum, Volume No 5, 1987. Impact of plantation agriculture on food insecurity in Liberia especially among low income groups.

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    MARION JOY MINAH

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    BOARD MEMBER

    Marion Minah is a Chartered and Certified Accountant with wealth of experience in financial management and controls for 20 years now. She has been exposed to different ways of working as she has being journeying in her career in Organisations like Action Aid, Christian Aid, Restless Development and Child Fund. This has afforded her the opportunity to learn and work on all forms of budgeting and reporting systems of all the major players in Development like the UN agencies, USAID, European Union, DFID, Global Fund, Comic Relief, Guernsey, DEC Appeals etc. She has managed various budget portfolio in all recognised currencies, the most recent being over £6 million.

    She has facilitated external and internal audits for over 15 years, having conducted internal audits herself for two Organisations in Zambia and Tanzania and supported financial management reforms in Liberia for a period of 3 months. She has facilitated trainings for finance and non-finance staff in finance polices, procurements, taxation, document retention, preparing for audits and many more.

    She is an excellent communicator and is a positive woman that can easily work in a team which has earned her a good experience in other areas of work like programming, Human Resource management and Office Administration. She currently serves as a Director/Trustee of a petroleum and estate outfit and also a Commissioner in the National Commission for Privatisation in the Office of the President of Sierra Leone; this additionally exposes her to understanding how public and private outfits are financed and managed so that they are profitable or deliver to the purpose of their existence. She has worked in multi-racial environments and she is highly results oriented and believes that nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it.

    JOSEPH AYAMGA

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    BOARD MEMBER

    Joseph Ayamga is the Country Director for SEND Sierra Leone, a member of its National Executive Council and the Board Chair for Communities Empowerment for Water and Development (CEWAD). He has worked in International Development for eleven (11) years and is passionate for inclusive growth, social inclusion and Women’s Economic Empowerment.

    For these years, Ayamga has championed women empowerment and participation in governance in Sierra Leone, his work in the 2012 and 2018 elections with Christian Aid and SEND has been respectively recognised by the European Union (EU) Observation Mission Report for Sierra Leone to be transformative and innovative. Joseph Ayamga is the first recipient of the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, Germany, Alumni Achievement Award in 2015 for his outstanding humanitarian work in the fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone. Ayamga, together with his team in Sierra Leone have made significant contributions to various Social Protection, Gender, Nutrition, Financial Services and Development WASH Infrastructure (Sierra Leone) in addition to the continuous promotion of Women’s Participation in politics in Sierra Leone

    JEANNE KAMARA

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    BOARD MEMBER

    Jeanne Kamara comes with decades of robust experience of delivering in the fields of Education, and International Development. She has recently led Christian Aid, a reputable British INGO as the Country Manager of the Sierra Leone programme for 11 years.

    Christian Aid is a leading global INGO whose mission is to end poverty and to challenge the structures of power and inequality which keep groups of citizens marginalized and excluded leading to limited life choices. The organization’s strategic focus in SL is to contribute to national development efforts in the areas of Accountable Governance and Health. During her tenure, the CA team strengthened and built the capacity of accompanied local partners in critical areas of good governance. Initiated and contributed to meaningful life-changing programmes for women men and children in our operational rural communities, some of which have been replicated across other Districts in Sierra Leone, deepening gains with continuing positive ripple effects. Jeanne’s leadership role in Sierra Leone was preceded by a 13-year long career at The British Council Headquarters in London, UK across various departments and supporting international offices across the globe. Leading a social education programme for 9 years after teaching in secondary schools in the UK and the Prince of Wales Secondary school in SL. Passionate about investing in the growth and personal development of people, she continues to offer her time, services and expertise for the benefit of young people just out of university in a mentorship programme. She has recently been invited to sit on the Board of Governors of her Alma mater, St Joseph’s Secondary School, Freetown. Jeanne is a strategic thinker, with strong interpersonal and relationship building skills, who fervently believes in the value of life-long learning. She is community oriented and enjoys time with family, Creative writing, board games, table tennis for relaxation.


    BOARD MEMBER

    SHEKU JAMES

    Sheku James serves as Secretary of the National Executive Council to SEND Sierra Leone. In this role, he oversees the organization’s records and provides strategic direction, and as a community and organizational development specialist, he conducts training to improve the skills of the staff of SEND Sierra Leone. Mr. Sheku previously served as Learning and Development Coordinator for the Network Movement for Justice and Development (NMJD), a reputable National NGO in Sierra Leone, overseeing organizational learning and development. Over nearly two decades at NMJD, Mr. Sheku played a vital role in the organization's growth nationally and internationally.

    Before joining NMJD, Mr. Sheku was a teacher. He graduated from NJala University with a Bachelor degree in Development and Economics. He is also a Master’s Degree holder in Development Studies. Mr. Sheku is currently working with the National Council for Civic Education and Development (NaCCED) as a Curriculum Development Officer based in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

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    BOARD MEMBER

    FATMATA DASSAMA

    With about 20 years of experience as an Educationist and almost 15 years as a women empowerment advocate in Kenema district in the Eastern region of Sierra Leone, Fatmata Dassama resonates in almost every household in Kenema District. She became a National Executive Council Member in 2020 as a result of her exemplary leadership in promoting women’s socio economic and political empowerment in Kenema district as president for the Kenema Women in Governance Network with its motto: helping women, help communities. This is a network of women led groups across the district which seeks to empower women to developed a well governed, healthy and economically stable communities in Kenema District.

    She has served as chairperson for the health committee during her tenure as councilor in 2012 for the Kenema District Council. Using her leadership and advocacy skills during the 2018 general elections, there are now 11 women as councilors for both city and district councils in Kenema district. Fatmata Dassama is a Board Member of the Government Junior Secondary School in Giema village in Dama Chiefdom and a member of the Kenema District Grievance Redress Committee headed NaCSA. Fatmata Dassama’s networking skills has also earned her the position of District Coordinator for 5050 Women’s Group. She is the founder of Madihun Women’s Development Association, a rural women community led initiative seeking to promote women and girls right issues in Kenema district where she serves as the National Coordinator.

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