Daraja Kenya Initiative & Daraja Academy Board of Directors
Joan Mworia, Masters of Science in Engineering
Brian Muriuki, Strategy Advisor in the State Department of Petroleum
Latifah Ngunjiri, Group Production Director at Royal Media Services Limited
Ali Allport, Physiotherapist
Dan Karuga, General Manager for Branch International Ltd
Angela Gagchui, Head of Transformation and Inclusion at Girl Effect
Patrick Ngugi Karanja, Lawyer
Dr. Sylvia Vito, Business Executive
Jenni Doherty, Founder
Jason Doherty, Founder
Samantha Raniere, President
Samantha Raniere is the president of Raniere Consulting. She brings over 25 years of experience in leadership coaching, team effectiveness, and change management. She has dedicated her career to the development of leaders and teams, with a particular focus on women – from emerging talent to CEO. She sees the potential in everyone and is committed to helping people and teams reach their maximum potential. Samantha has been involved with Daraja since 2016 and regularly volunteers to bring her coaching work directly to the school in Kenya.
Samantha grew up in Delaware, graduated from Vanderbilt University, and has an MA in Psychology from American University. She lived in Chicago for four years before transferring to the Bay Area in 2000 to be closer to her brother. She currently lives in San Francisco with her husband and daughter. In her spare time, she loves bringing people together to enjoy and share experiences. As a former triathlete and runner, she is frequently active and outdoors, enjoying the beauty of the area in which she lives.
Brian Schlaak, Vice President
Brian Schlaak finished his fifteen-year tenure as Head of the Upper School at Woodside Priory (a day and boarding school in Portola Valley, California) last spring. He has worked as an administrator in both public and private schools for 20 years and worked as a classroom teacher for 15 years before that. A graduate of UC Berkeley, he received his master’s degree in Education Administration from Stanford University. Past positions include Educator in Residence for Stanford’s School Redesign Network and Reform Coordinator for the Large to Small School conversion at Hillsdale High School. He has also been a Naval Officer, a Peace Corps volunteer, a bartender, and a whitewater raft guide. He is passionate about Daraja and enjoys his work on the DEF Board.
Norma Thomas, Treasurer
Dr. Norma Thomas is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University, Temple University, and the University of Pennsylvania. She retired from the California University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work as the MSW Program Director but continues to teach for the Center for Social Work Education, Widener University. Honored to receive many community service awards, Dr. Thomas serves on local, state, national and international boards, and advisory committees. She started a venture with her daughter and fellow board member, Raina León, called Story Joy to help the BIPOC community achieve its goals. She is a member of several organizations including the Morgantown, WV Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the National Association of Social Workers, the National Association of Black Social Workers, and the American Society on Aging. She is a licensed clinical social worker in the State of Pennsylvania and a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers.
Amy Bornstein, Secretary
Amy Bornstein knew she wanted to be more involved in supporting girls’ education at Daraja from the moment she stepped foot on the campus in Kenya. As such, she is very pleased to be able to bring her legal experience to the Daraja Board. Amy graduated from UCLA with a BA in History and, subsequently, received her JD from the University of San Francisco. Over the course of her career, she has worked at PriceWaterhouseCoopers in San Francisco, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan in Los Angeles and Bloomberg in New York. She has also received her mediation certification. Currently, Amy lives in Marin County with her husband and two children. She enjoys spending time as an active and engaged volunteer in her childrens’ schools. In their free time, her family’s biggest hobby is to explore the world through travel.
Noelle Thomas O'Neal
Helen Cooke Pyne
Helen is a freelance editor, writer and creative writing instructor. She graduated from Middlebury College and has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her published works include two mystery novels in a series for teens and various magazine articles for kids. She coaches students who are writing essays for college applications, works with the Society of Young Inklings to mentor young writers for their annual anthology, and has taught writing workshops in the Bay Area and as far away as Mexico and Kenya. Helen has sponsored three remarkable young women at Daraja and loves to discover new ways to make a difference in the lives of the inspirational students at the school. Married with four grown children, she loves to cook, travel, run, hike and spend as much time as she can outdoors.
Raina J. León
Raina has been published in over 100 journals as a writer of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and scholarly work. She is also the author of three collections of poetry and a chapbook. Her work has been a finalist for several prestigious awards, and she has received numerous fellowships and residencies—most recently completing a teaching poet-in-residence position at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco. She is currently a founding editor of The Acentos Review and an associate professor of education at Saint Mary’s College of California. Her research interests include high school engagement and the teaching of poetry, critical pedagogy, critical literacy in the high school classroom, and educational technology usage among high school educators.
Raina received her BA in Journalism from Pennsylvania State University, MA in Teaching of English from Teachers College Columbia University, MA in Educational Leadership from Framingham State University, PhD in Education under the Culture, Curriculum and Change strand at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, and her MFA in Poetry at Saint Mary’s College of California.
Matt Lai
Elizabeth Lindquist
Elizabeth Lindquist brings 20 years of experience as an Executive Chef and Restaurateur. She was raised in the Pacific Northwest where she first acquired a passion for food and learning, inherited from a long line of chefs and teachers in her family. Since her early teens, Elizabeth has been active in all facets of the food service/restaurant business, serving as Executive Chef, General Manager, and District Manager for several restaurants and corporate food services for Silicon Valley icons such as Google, Intel, and Xerox Parc. Elizabeth pursued her culinary career at Washington State University, studying Hotel Restaurant Administration. In her spare time, Elizabeth enjoys volunteering for various non-profits, including Hidden Villa, Girls on the Run, and Technology for Global Security.
Maggie Mosteller
Always looking to make a difference at the margin, Maggie has been a passionate supporter of Daraja Academy since she was first introduced to it. She believes that educating girls is the most direct way to have a positive impact on the future, and the Daraja model does it better than anyone else. After a campus visit, which touched her life forever, she became a tireless advocate for Daraja Education Fund. She has served on the DEF Board since 2017, serving on the fundraising and strategic planning committees and as Governance Chair, Gala event co-chair, Secretary, and Board Vice-Chair. She is a Phi Beta Kappa scholar with two undergraduate degrees from UC Davis and was her class graduation speaker when she received her MBA from UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. After successful careers in the telecom and SAAS worlds, she now is energized helping start-ups define their business processes and customer experience. She also is the VP of Operations for The Foundation for Teamwork.