Dear LEP friends, family and supporters,

I am continually grateful for our staff who volunteer their time while also managing full-time jobs, ensuring that the sum of our funding can go towards opening new libraries. Such a model requires everyone on our team to maintain a healthy balance between their paid job, personal lives, and LEP, and this is something I appreciate and am sensitive to. With that in mind, and given the need to constantly bring in new leadership to keep our thinking fresh, I’d like to take a moment to thank some very key people who are leaving The Literate Earth Project.

Alexandria Moore has been a founding board member and COO for a decade. Martin Quigley, as both Chief Marketing Officer and a board member, has been instrumental to our marketing and communications efforts. I and the rest of LEP are immensely grateful to them both. 

With their departure we welcome an entirely new board, and a new COO and CMO, who will be joining me to help lead the organization. We will be releasing interviews with each of them in the coming weeks but for now, here is a short bio on each:

New Board Members

Maureen Muthua is a marketing executive at IBM currently working out of New York City. She has run marketing for IBM in different business units, disciplines, and geographies, including in Central, East, and West Africa.  Maureen is currently leading Industry Partnerships for IBM’s Corporate Social Responsibility organization working with different stakeholders to support Education and Skills Initiatives that IBM brings to the communities where they operate. Maureen is an avid reader and passionate about Education and the empowerment it brings to society. 

Trinity Heavenz is a social entrepreneur based in Uganda. He grew up in the Kosovo slum in Kampala and has personally experienced the poverty and challenges facing young Ugandans. He is the CEO and Founder of era92 Creative and Co-founder of 92hands Uganda. He was named among the 37 Social Entrepreneurs to Watch for in 2020 by Causeartist and as an Inspired Individual in Africa 2020 by Tearfund.

Samuel Majwega Musoke is the Founder and CEO of MK Publishers Ltd, the leading school books publisher in Uganda, with additional operations in Rwanda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Zambia. He is the founding President of Avance International University, where he is now a trustee. He is the Vice President of the Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industries and has been the Chairperson of the Uganda Publishers Association.

Kennedy Cheruiyot is a developer for IBM with a Master's in Electrical Engineering. He grew up in Kenya, and moved to the U.S. in 1997. He returns to Kenya regularly to support his home country and has built libraries, conducted soccer clinics, and is the Co-founder of Kenya Girls STEM Camp. He is also active in his adopted country as a SUNY Ulster Ambassador, and is President of NY/NJ Safari Club.

New Executive Leadership

Chief Operations Officer-Trevor Anderson is returning to The Literate Earth Project after a hiatus during which he held multiple management and leadership positions. Trevor was a founding board member and attended the opening of LEP’s first library. Since then he has been an Assistant General Manager within the hospitality industry and begins a new role as a Client Partner Executive at Kyndryl this summer. As COO, Trevor will manage our staff and partnerships in Uganda.

Chief Marketing Officer-Gwen St. Julian is a creative entrepreneur and business professional, currently working as a Communications Manager at Kyndryl. She is the Founder and CEO of St. Walls Collections, Creative Director of Nenaji Media, and author of Tired: Collective Photos of the Late Modern Contemporary Civil Rights Movements. She is also a Comms Manager at IBM. Gwen actively makes strides towards fostering community uplift in Dallas, Houston, and New York City alike.

I am excited for the impact we will be able to make with this new leadership as we grow our organization in 2021.

All Best, 
Jeff Fonda