Women’s Day

On this International Women’s Day we are celebrating the women who work for the Grumeti Fund.  A team of women from various backgrounds and of different ages and determinations who play an integral role in the organization’s success.  These women are extremely dedicated to the mission of the Grumeti Fund and they embody the words of renowned African conservationist Wangari Maathai who said, “We cannot tire or give up.  We owe it to the present and future generations of all species to rise up and walk!”    

Frida Mollel | Community Outreach Program Manager

Frida has worked to uplift people and to protect the environment of her home country for her entire career.  She has a way of speaking with people and engaging with people that is truly meaningful.  Projects under her care that are flourishing include a scholarship program, an environmental education center, a language development program, an enterprise development training program, and a bee keeping project to name a few.   Frida is particularly passionate about girls empowerment, a program that the Grumeti Fund is expanding significantly in 2018.

Katherine Cunliffe | Senior Technical Advisor for Community Outreach

Katherine is smart, efficient and just knows how to get things done. Her vast experience in development in Africa is invaluable and one her biggest impacts on the Community Outreach Program was in developing a needs assessment spanning all 21 villages on the Grumeti Reserve boundary.  From this assessment and under her leadership grew our current program called UPLIFT – Unlocking Prosperous Livelihoods for Tomorrow.  This re-organization of the Community Outreach Program has created sound solutions to multiple local development challenges.

Alina Peter | Operations Room Coordinator

Alina is the organizer and maintainer of all anti-poaching information, specifically pertaining to our new Domain Awareness System.  With an MBA in Information Technology Management, she is just the person to do this.  Not only does she collect, collate and make sense of all the information coming in from the field, which directly correlates to how quickly and effectively the team can operate on the ground, she also trains with the game scouts of the Special Operations Group every morning preparing for a military-standard fitness test.

Bahati Sumuni | Education Project Officer

Bahati is passionate about education and about seeing children prosper and to make their dreams a reality.  Previously a teacher, she is completely dedicated to helping kids achieve their goals.  She identifies scholarship recipients and tracks their progress and helps pair scholarship recipients with internship opportunities as well as taking part in the organizing and facilitating of life-skills training for youth.  Her involvement is critical to the success of many young Tanzanians in the Serengeti region.

Beezie Burden | Head of Communications

Beezie has an incredible passion for wildlife conservation and community development in Africa and is committed to raising awareness about the daily challenges and accomplishments in our work.  With a smile on her face, Beezie is always ready to tackle whatever comes her way – from spending hours in the rain photographing a snare removal to traveling long distances to interview the people that the Grumeti Fund works to support. A recent focus of hers is Conservation Participation Safaris – a program launched in partnership with Singita whereby we bring conservation-orientated individuals from around the world and involve them in the everyday workings of the Grumeti Fund.

 

Dr. Kristen Denninger-Snyder | Post-doc Researcher

Kristen is a super worker. She is currently busy working on an issue so complex that it takes several different projects operating simultaneously to make an impact on the enormous issue that is human wildlife conflict.  Her work toward implementing data collection systems, a camera trap survey spanning the entire protected area, supporting the work of the human wildlife conflict mitigation unit and most recently contributing significantly to an elephant collaring program, is vital.

Click here to donate to our Women and Girls Empowerment Program