Catherine Gacheru, Director, Chairperson of the Board

Catherine is a Kenyan-born Registered Nurse, a philanthropist, trainer, and versatile leader in the field of nursing and midwifery with 20 years of extensive hands-on experience in the area of maternal and child health and clinical teaching. Catherine brings a unique mix of deep healthcare experience both nationally and internationally and proven capabilities in leading teams while implementing educational programs. She is currently a Clinical Educator/Staff Development Specialist at the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Virginia.

Catherine started her healthcare career at the Gatundu General Hospital in Kenya as a Community Health Nurse. In 1989, she emigrated to the United States and specialized as a Labor and Delivery Nurse. Her employment experiences span the St Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, University of Massachusetts Memorial Hospital and the Inova Healthcare systems in Northern Virginia.

Catherine is a graduate of Medical Training Center in Machakos, Kenya and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from George Mason University. She has achieved the coveted Registered Nurse certification specialty for high risk, in-patient obstetrics. She is also certified in the proven and original protocols of treating HIV positive mothers resulting in babies born free of HIV status.

Catherine has been involved as a mentor and philanthropist with the Tumaini Children’s Home since its inception in her hometown of Nyeri. She also provides financial and non-financial support to several underprivileged children in Kenya. She is married with two children.

Anne Muindi-Shemenski, Co-Founder and Director

Anne is a Kenyan-born management consultant who is passionate about helping marginalized children and youth live a hope-filled life that enables them to reach their full potential. Anne has been deeply involved with the Tumaini Children’s Home founded by her father in July 1997 and is excited about carrying on his legacy by assisting in the development of a vocational training center to alleviate youth unemployment and address poverty issues in Nyeri, Kenya.

Anne brings to Learn For Life Kenya key strategy, analytics, and operations management skills acquired through an extensive management consulting career with Booz Allen Hamilton and various independent consulting engagements in the US and South Africa.

While living in South Africa, Anne engaged in pro bono work with Berakah Educational Foundation developing a business strategy and implementing social entrepreneurship initiatives in a disadvantaged community to enable self-sustainment.

Anne was also an Integral member of the University of Cape Town Graduate Business School Inclusive Health Innovation Team that established the first health innovation hub in a public hospital in Africa at the world-renowned Groote Schuur Hospital. Anne also served as a Board Member at the American International School in Johannesburg.

Anne completed her ‘A’ levels at Limuru Girls’ High School in Kenya before moving to the US in 1985. She earned her B.A. with a double major in International Relations and Economics & Management from Beloit College, her M.A. in International Relations with a focus on International Development Economics from Yale University, and her M.S. in Information and Telecommunications Systems from Johns Hopkins University. Anne is a recipient of Booz Allen Hamilton’s prestigious Values in Practice Award and also the U.S. National Women of Color in Technology Award for Managerial Leadership.

Bonnie Lee, Co-Founder

Bonnie’s relationship with the people of Kenya began in 2011, when she organized a massive shoe drive with the organization Think Kindness. She and her oldest child, Alex, traveled to central Kenya to put some of those shoes on the feet of children living in two orphanages. Moved by the children’s hopeful, persevering spirits, she determined to get involved in Kenya in a more significant, long-lasting way.

Returning home, Bonnie joined the Think Kindness Board of Directors in 2012. In this capacity, Bonnie implemented a college scholarship fund, making a Kenyan post-secondary education a reality for college-eligible, yet destitute youth. Bonnie brings to Learn For Life Kenya more than 25 years of leadership experience in adult education ministries and community initiatives, focusing on creating and equipping teams for service. Some of her most cherished roles within her congregation have been serving as grant project director, church-wide campaign director, and head of the in-house curriculum publication body. For many years, she served as Discipleship Director and, for the last two years, as Director of Outreach Ministries. Within her community, Bonnie has been recognized for community service organizational development.

Bonnie completed her B.A. in Religion and English at Baylor University in 1992. Bonnie, her husband Matt, and their children Alex and James, are committed, as a family, to using their God-given resources to support the efforts of people in Kenya who share a vision for a more stable, hope-filled future through self-sustaining employment. She also feels enormously blessed to have met Anne, now a dear friend and the co-founder of Learn For Life Kenya, in 2013. Together, they recognized a calling to assist Kenyan organizations striving to provide vocational training programs.

Victor Mayeya Odwori, Marketing and Public Relations Director

Victor Mayeya Odwori is a management professional with a conscientious and strategic knack for detail. He is motivated by over 20 years of broad experience in administration, supervision, management, production and creativity in the advertising industry. He possesses strong organizational skills and excellent interpersonal and communication skills developed through course work, assignments, presentations, sales and publicity work. His experience also includes leadership and management experience throughout East Africa and the United States with the capability to adapt to changing environments.

Mr. Odwori is a Marketing and Public Relations expert with relevant hands-on experience. He is the Founder and Executive Director of Cypace Marketing, a U.S. minority-owned consultancy firm with representation in Nairobi, Kenya. He founded Cypace in Nairobi, Kenya in 2005 and launched it in the United States in 2013 with operationalized business both in the United States and Kenya. Cypace focuses its efforts on startup and established businesses owned by Africans. It functions as a Federal contractor with, among others, the Smithsonian Institution’s African Arts Museum to deliver initiatives that generate awareness among Americans about African culture. In addition, Mr. Odwori has handled operational management roles in Kenya with Take Two Communications and Face to Face Limited. He is the former Chief Executive Officer of Infinite Quest Marketing, a communication consulting firm and Kisima Music Awards, an awards ceremony recognizing the achievement of the East African Community in the entertainment field.

He has engaged with various initiatives and worked with organizations such as Kenya Connect, a U.S. nonprofit dedicated to education for rural kids in Kenya with projects in Wamunyu; and Learn for Life Kenya, a U.S. nonprofit empowering youth with vocational and technical skills and currently fundraising to build a modern vocational center in Nyeri. He heads Afti-pace, a nonprofit subsidiary of Cypace Marketing LLC. Afti-pace, or African-led Technical Initiatives at our Pace, promotes international cooperation and fosters actions among Africans throughout the diaspora to guide change.

Most importantly, Mr. Odwori is a Kenyan dedicated to the advancement of Kenya through his engagement in corporate patriotism initiatives with the Kenya Embassy located in Washington, DC, through a branding and public relation advisory role supporting activities and initiatives as well as holding a seat on the Jamhuri Day (Kenya Independence Day) celebration events committee.

Mr. Odwori’s academic background includes a London Chamber of Commerce and Industry College diploma in Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations, Selling and Sales Management; and various certifications for Information Technology, and Import and Export Trade. He is currently pursuing an MBA in Leadership and Sustainability with the University of Cumbria (Robert Kennedy College) in Zurich, Switzerland.

Joe Lamoglia, Director

Joe was invited to join the Learn for Life Kenya board after working with Catherine Gacheru and Anne Muindi-Shemenski where they serve together in the Reston, Virginia Club of Rotary International. Joe joined Reston Rotary in 2008 where he a past- president and continues as a board member. Joe brings his expertise in financial management, strategic planning, marketing and fundraising to the Learn for Life Kenya board.

Joe is a partner and co-owner of Potomac Financial Private Client Group, LLC and began his financial planning career in 2005. Prior to that, he served in various roles for several nonprofit associations in the Greater Washington, D.C. area including the American Horticultural Society and the Society for Human Resource Management. His firm provides financial planning and asset management – while offering clients the opportunity to align their investments with their values through portfolios focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors.

Joe stays connected to the not-for-profit world by using his talents to work with groups in his community. He has served at Reston Children’s Center in a strategic board role and at Armstrong Elementary as a volunteer instructor. He is an active member of the Reston Chamber of Commerce and continues to serve as president of the Reston Rotary Foundation Board.

Joe holds the Chartered Financial Consultant® (ChFC®) designation and the FINRA Registrations Series 7 and Series 66 (through Commonwealth Financial Network®), as well as Life and Health Insurance licenses. Raised in Loudoun County, Joe resides in Reston with his wife and daughter. Joe graduated from Old Dominion University, in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1989.

Warigia Kahiro, Secretary

Warigia has been volunteering with Learn for Life Kenya since 2016, and was invited to join the board after years of commitment to the organization. Her passion for youth in Africa is noted by her involvement with several organizations committed to their personal growth and wellbeing. At a young age her work volunteering at an orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya serving HIV children, sparked her passion for global development. Learn for Life Kenya gives her a unique and treasured opportunity to support the children of her mother’s home village.

Warigia currently serves as Director of Programs and Outreach for Oyana International; a non-profit organization offering reproductive health education and menstrual products to women and girls in Tanzania. She is also working at a non-profit OB/GYN in Virginia, while she completes her Masters in Public Health at George Washington University in Washington, DC.