BOARD OF DIRECTORS & ADVISORY BOARD

    Pr. Lévi Kandeke

    President & Founder

    Pr. Lévi Kandeke was born in Burundi and completed his ophthalmic training at The University of Geneva, Switzerland. After a short period where he worked as a consultant in a specialized center for glaucoma at CHNO in Paris, France, he had decided to go back to his home country where there was a considerable need for eye care and became the country’s very first eye surgeon. Pr. Lévi Kandeke is now a renowned ophthalmologist and surgeon-scientist at the University of Burundi. He is best known for his efforts to make eye health care accessible in the community: he had revolutionized eye care in his country by establishing a series of community eye centers across the country serving remote communities. The CEC is all self-financed through service fees and can provide a full range of services, including glasses for refractive error, drugs for minor conditions, and referral of complex and surgical cases to the ophthalmologist. More than 70,000 people are served each year. His innovations have been an inspiration to many, and ophthalmology has become one of the first selected choices in specialization for young physicians in his country. He is also the founder of CTSOE, the only tertiary child eye care center in a country where childhood blindness can be a death sentence. He is also the Founder and President of the Burundian Ophthalmology Society (BOS).

      Nicole Uwimana

      Chief Executive Officer,

      Nicole Uwimana, Is the Founder and Executive Director of African Women in Action (AWIA), an NGO based in Burundi whose mission is to empower communities, especially women through social innovation and entrepreneurship. Her project of locally manufacturing reusable sanitary pads “Kirezi Pads” is contributing to keeping thousands of underprivileged young girls in school by giving them access to safe sanitary pads for their periods. Before starting AWIA, Nicole lived in Sweden for more than 10 years where she studied Political Science at Örebro University and worked in the field of International cooperation at the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). She returned to Burundi in 2017 with a clear ambition: to use her experience and skills to make a meaningful positive impact on her country. Beside her work with AWIA, Nicole is also the coordinator of a UNICEF project “UPSHIFT” at Library without Borders in Burundi.

        Pr. Stanislas HARAKANDI

        CEO CHUK

          Herve Barutwanayo

          Lawyer

          Former Lawyer of the Burundian United Nations Office for Human Rights, Transitional Justice Unit, Former Magistrate and Substitute of the Public Prosecutor, Former Member of CENI/CEPI, Electoral Commission, Former Member of the CNTB, Member of the Council of the Bar Association, Co-Founder of Cabinet APA, Country Representative of the NGO D S F, Member of the African Federation of Lawyers. Proven experience in the legal and judicial field is recorded against him, especially within the Law Firm, including several areas of expertise in the formation and management of companies, arbitration procedures, mediation, new information technologies and communication as well as taxation as a whole with secondary firms in Senegal, Niger and Guinea.

            Donatien Ndayishimiye

            Executive Managing Director of MediaBox

            Executive Managing Director of MediaBox is Experienced Chief Executive Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the internet and digital transformation industry. Strong business development professional skilled in Business Process, Business Intelligence, Business Process Improvement, Integration, and Business Requirements.