Our Story
From a Dream to a Labor of Love
When Rwandan Senator Aloisea Inyumba attended the “Women Waging Peace” Conference at Harvard University in 2000, sponsored by Ambassador Swanee Hunt, she had a dream of educating more girls in her country. She wanted to shape and transform a site where many were killed in the Genocide Against the Tutsi in 1994 and turn it into a place of joy for future female leaders to be nurtured and taught.
At the Conference, Aloisea met Sister Ann Fox of the Paraclete Center (an educational after-school center for local youth) in South Boston who shared her dream of educating girls. For the next 4 years, Sister Ann and Aloisea stayed in touch about their dream of building a girls school in Rwanda and gathered an interested group of philanthropic women from Boston - who became known as the “Group of 8’ - to help.
In 2004, their dream was given the green light and the land they needed was donated by the Mayor of Bugesera, Francois Nkurunziza. At a time when mandatory grade-school education was a new idea in Rwanda, and most parents enrolled their sons, not daughters, in school past the 6th grade, a girls middle school was enthusiastically welcomed by Rwanda’s Minister of Education, Joseph Murekeraho.
In 2008, the Maranyundo Girls School opened with visitors from near and far and Aloisea and Sister Ann’s dream was realized.
In remembrance of our co-founders who helped shape the vision and foundation of the Maranyundo Initiative, their enduring legacy will forever resonate within the essence of Maranyundo.
The First Trip
Timeline
KEY DATES:
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Sister Ann Fox meets Senator Aloisea Inyumba at Harvard University at the Women Waging Peace Symposium, hosted by Ambassador Swanee Hunt
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Maranyundo Girls School (MGS) welcomes its first middle school class with 60 students in its first year.
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MGS welcomes high school students with a new and improved campus including a state-of-the-art STEM Center and Makerspace to provide a science and technology focused education.
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MGS takes lessons learned during the pandemic, as well as long held best practices, and shares and extends resources beyond MGS to other Benebikira schools and the Maranyundo Training and Learning Center is launched.
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The construction of the Maranyundo Training and Learning Center (MTLC) began on MGS' campus in August 2023.
Learn all the details of our journey and see the pictures that tell the inspiring story of Maranyundo:
2025- In February 2025, USAID terminated their $1 million grant designated to fund the critical equipment and furniture of the MTLC. Despite this tragic setback, Maranyundo had many amazing events throughout the year to support the MTLC - board members introduced new friends to Maranyundo, the Falmouth Road Race was a success with six runners representing Team Maranyundo and we had our first Fall Gala.
2024 - In an exciting step forward for the Maranyundo Training and Learning Center (MTLC), the Rwandan Minister of Education, Honorable Gaspard Twagirayezu, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Benebikira Sisters and the Maranyundo Initiative to launch the MTLC. This groundbreaking partnership marked a new era in professional development for Rwandan teachers, particularly in STEM.
2023 - The Maranyundo Learning Institute broke ground in June of 2023. The Institute will allow Maranyundo to share best practices with more schools, more teachers, and more community members even when school is in session.
The Maranyundo Girls School hosted a teacher training for the Playful Engineering Based Learning (PEBL) Project in collaboration with Tufts University's Center for Engineering Education and Outreach and Department of Education and support from the LEGO Foundation empowering teachers with Novel Engineering and Arduino to inspire the next generation of innovators!
2021 - The Maranyundo Girls School hosted the Bridge2Rwanda inaugural Isomo Academy where students worked to improve their English language, reading, and critical thinking skills during an 8 week program.
2021 - With the increase of hybrid learning due to COVID, Maranyundo gave laptops to each high school student at MGS. Thanks to generous foundation funding, we were also able to extend laptops, science equipment, teacher trainings, and books to other schools, students, and teachers in the Benebikira network.
March 2020 - Covid-19 becomes a pandemic and the girls leave MGS and teachers and students stay connected through e-learning on mobile phones supported by Maranyundo. In November 2020, thanks to the hard work and preparations of Sister Laetitia and the staff, the Maranyundo Girls School welcomed students back to campus after being shut down for 7 months.
2020 - As Sister Marie Juvenal moved into her new role as the Benebikira School Coordinator overseeing all 17 Benebikira Schools in Rwanda, Sister Laetitia Musanabaganwa became the new Head of School at Maranyundo.
The STEM Center is completed and the first high school graduation is conducted with attendance from the First Lady, Madam Jeannette Kagame, Sister Juvenal, and the Maranyundo Initiative.
2017 - MGS welcomes over 100 girls from all over Africa as well as educators from Yale University for the Yale Young African Scholars program.
2016 - Every one of the 60 Maranyundo students ranked in Division 1 on the middle school national exam, and 16 students received top scores on the exam. Maranyundo students Mbabazi Belise and Teta Sheilla, were named as the first and second ranked students in the whole country!
2015 - The first high school class is admitted to MGS. The construction of the high school continues, and the new dormitory, bathrooms, and shower facilities are built. Additionally, an expanded dining hall and 6 new classrooms are built.
2013 - Construction begins on a multi-purpose hall for the school and community to use on new land. The Parents’ Committee holds a fundraising event at the graduation to raise money for the expansion that is attended by over 600 people; nearly $100,000 is raised!
2013 - Faculty from Westover School in Connecticut and Tufts University design a two phase technology training program and visit the school twice to provide training and oversee installation of new computers in a computer lab.
2011 - Sister Marie Juvenal is named Head of School. Additionally, National O Level exam scores are released and MGS is ranked as the #1 girls school in the country and #2 overall. Later that year, Maranyundo teachers traveled to Boston to be a part of a Teacher Residency Program at Tufts.
2011 - Maranyundo Initiative formally transfers ownership and operation of the Maranyundo Girls School to the people of Rwanda under the Benebikira Congregation. The school remains an independent school, open to girls of all faiths. The Maranyundo Initiative agrees to provide on-going support. Cows, a traditional gift of honor in Rwanda, were gifted to the Maranyundo School in honor of the school handover.
2009 - The second class of 60 girls begin, school is at capacity of 120 students.
2008 - The Maranyundo Girls School is dedicated and opened with First Lady Jeanette Kagame as the guest of honor. The school presents a book called "Dreams of My Future", authored and illustrated by its students, to the First Lady. The event is attended by donors, community members, and dignitaries and The Maranyundo Initiative is established as an official non-profit in the same year.
2006 - A groundbreaking ceremony is held at the school to commemorate the building and is attended by the people of Nyamata and supporters of the school and construction begins. A tree is planted to immortalize the occasion that still flourishes at the site today.
2005 - The school is given its name, Maranyundo, after the hill and stone quarry overlooking the school which produced ‘a rock so hard that it cannot be broken.’ At the dedication, Mayor Gaspard announces that the land was the site of a former concentration camp.
2004 - Senator Aloisea Inyumba and Sister Ann acquire land in Nyamata, Rwanda. A Boston Globe article, talking about building a new school for girls in Rwanda, catches the attention of Beth Floor and Sue Pucker (pictured above), who already knew Sister Ann through the Boston Children’s Museum Board of Directors, and they express interest in supporting the exciting project.
2000 - In September, Senator Aloisea Inyumba of Rwanda attends the ‘Women Waging Peace Conference’ at Harvard University. There she meets Sister Ann Fox of the Paraclete Center in South Boston and Former Ambassador Swanee Hunt. Sister Ann invites Aloisea to a Thanksgiving dinner to meet others at the Paraclete Center in South Boston.
Why Support a Girls Middle and High School in Rwanda?
Many reasons:
A devastating genocide that took the lives of almost one million people.
Traditionally large educational gaps between girls and boys and the strong desire to close that gap and empower girls.
An understanding of the importance of women in leadership. Rwanda has a mandate that 30% of parliamentary positions must be reserved for women, in 2020 more than 60% of Rwanda’s parliament positions were held by women.
A real community spirit of self-help and cooperation known as ‘Umuganda’. On the last Saturday of each month, Rwandans gather for a day of community service to work on a difficult task which may include building roads, building schools, laying out agricultural plots to provide food to the community or picking up garbage and litter. The morning of service ends with a community meeting and important announcements from the local and national government.
And much more work remains as access to early childhood education is very limited, school classrooms are often overcrowded, there is an urban-rural divide in education, enrollment in secondary education sharply declines to only 46%, much less than that of the 100% enrollment in elementary education. And less than 4% of Rwandans 25 or older have had any type of higher education. (Source World Education News)
For the founders and our Board of Directors, all of these are worthy reasons. But most will tell you that while one of these may have initially interested them, their real passion and connection came once they visited Rwanda, met the students, and toured the school. There is something infectious to their smiles, inspiring about what they have overcome, and captivating about their dreams for their future. There is something very special in those ‘thousand hills’ that you cannot put your finger on, but you can feel it, and you want to return.
Before the school was built, Sister Ann visited Rwanda 12 times, bringing with her different groups of the original founders of the Maranyundo Initiative and most have returned again and again and again.
Jessi Smolow
Executive Director
Jessi Smolow joined the Maranyundo Initiative as Executive Director in August 2019. Prior to this, she served as the DREAMS Program Manager with World Education which involved overseeing a 3-country USAID-funded project in Tanzania, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe that targeted over 4,000 girls and young women to stay in school.
Jessi spent the last decade developing and implementing various education and health programs in Central East Africa – including three years living in Kigali, Rwanda where she first heard of Maranyundo! In addition to her international work, she is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker working with children and families. She has her Master’s in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania and her Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology from Penn State University.
Board of Directors
Lisa Tellekson
Board Chair
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Lisa is an experienced professional with over thirty years in the field of fundraising and administration. She has worked at non-profit organizations whose supporters are passionate about the mission including New England Conservatory of Music, Oxfam America, The Community Group, and WEEMA International. Lisa is currently the Foundation Administrator for Theodore Edson Parker Foundation.
Lisa’s introduction to the Maranyundo Girls School was in 2005 when she worked with the founding group of dedicated volunteers to raise the funds needed to build the school in Nyamata, Rwanda. She followed the progress of the schools and the girls with pride ever since, and joined the Board in December 2020: “I am delighted to join the Maranyundo Board. It was a true honor and a privilege to be involved at the very beginning. Aloisea and Sister Ann’s vision for the school was inspiring and working with the volunteers who came together to make the dream a reality was incredibly rewarding. I’m delighted to continue my Maranyundo journey and support opportunities for these incredibly wonderful girls.”
She has a B. A. in English and German from St. Olaf College. She and her husband, Howard Amidon, live in North Andover with their dog Perry who is doing his best to take the place of their three grown children
Melissa Carr
Vice Chair and Education Chair
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Melissa joined the board of the Maranyundo Initiative in December of 2018. She had been following the story of the Maranyundo Girls School for years and turned a dream into reality in 2016 when she spent a month living, teaching, and learning at the school together with her husband and their three daughters. She is inspired by the amazing community and the love of learning that are the hallmarks of the school.
Currently, Melissa is in her eighteenth year of teaching social studies courses in world history and international issues at Concord-Carlisle High School. Previously she directed the Strengthening Democratic Institutions Project and Caspian Studies Program at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. In her role there she also attended the Women Waging Peace conference (albeit with the Russian delegation) where the seeds for the Maranyundo Initiative were set.
Melissa has a long-standing interest in cross-cultural education. She lived and worked in Russia for six years directing cultural and educational exchange programs. She also served for seventeen years on the board of PH International which works to build strong global communities by fostering civic engagement, cross-cultural learning, and increased opportunities in the digital age.
Melissa holds a Masters in Public Affairs from Princeton University where she focused on international development and education policy and a BA in Political Science from Amherst College.
Julie Jalelian
Treasurer
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Julie Jalelian was until recently a Managing Director in the Global Technology, Media & Telecom Corporate and Investment Banking Group at Bank of America Securities, Inc. Julie has over 35 years of banking experience, delivering BofA’s global corporate and investment banking platform to large corporate clients in the media, technology, business services and ecommerce sectors where she focused on acquisition financing, capital structure optimization, portfolio management and investor relations. Julie holds an A.B. in Economics from Mount Holyoke College and an M.A. in Economic Policy from Boston University.
Prior to her banking career, Julie was a Peace Corps Volunteer in northern Cameroon, West Africa where she taught small enterprise development to local women’s agricultural cooperatives. Julie became an Advisory Board Member with the Georgetown Institute of Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) in 2014 and a Founding Member of the GIWPS Ambassadors in 2019. She has served in various capacities at Belmont Day School, Buckingham Browne & Nichols School and the Artists Association of Nantucket. Julie and her husband are proud parents of Sarah Jolley (Georgetown, C’17, Dartmouth Tuck School of Business, ‘23) and Liam Jolley (Dartmouth, ’20).
Julie supports girls' education directly and through various philanthropic organizations in Tanzania and Rwanda. She was first introduced to the Maranyundo Initiative during a family visit to Rwanda in 2025 where she witnessed firsthand how access to quality STEM education is empowering young women to shape their futures.
Fanny Schumacher
Secretary
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Fanny is an accomplished executive and strategic leader with over 20 years of experience in Treasury and Balance Sheet Management. Known for Financial Risk Oversight, Asset &Liability, Liquidity, Capital Stress Testing Modeling, and Foreign Exchange Risk Management within Global Corporations and Financial Services, Fanny excels at navigating complex organizational challenges, leading risk systems implementations, and building sustainable value. She is currently a Treasury Executive Director at UBS.
A native of Peru, Fanny holds a B.S. in Economics from Universidad del Pacifico (Lima, Peru) and an MBA from Boston University, Questrom School of Business. Outside of professional pursuits, she is deeply passionate about Girls in STEM Education and Mentorship. Her past volunteering experience includes Girl Scouts of America, Saint Rose of Lima Parish, Hispanic Outreach “Hermanitas,” and Operations Hope NY.
Fanny personally witnessed the impact of Maranyundo’s championing access to quality education in Rwanda after her daughter volunteered at the Maranyundo Girls School during her junior spring vacation program through her high school, the Westover School in Connecticut. Her daughter’s work at MGS was a life-changing and transformative experience as she created a summer STEM program for middle school girls in a local underserved community in Connecticut after she returned home. Fanny is excited to continue her daughter’s important work by joining the Maranyundo’s Board of Directors.
Caroline Wang
Post-Secondary Chair
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Caroline is a former engineer and a committed volunteer in the fields of education, public service, and microfinance. Currently, Caroline is the Chair of the Friends of the PKG Public Service Center at MIT where she advises on projects and efforts to create and spread awareness of the Center's student activities and achievements. She is also a member of the Council for the Arts at MIT, reviewing grant proposals from students and faculty for funding for their arts-related projects, and supporting MIT’s Arts Scholars, and she serves as an Educational Counselor for MIT, interviewing high school seniors applying for undergraduate admission. For the microfinance organization, Kiva.org, she leads a team of volunteer French translators. Caroline has been a long-time supporter of Maranyundo and visited the school in 2015 with her family; she joined the Maranyundo Board in early 2021, excited to help enable these enthusiastic young women to enter STEM fields. Caroline has a lot of experience mentoring young high school students and wants to apply her experience to support the school's academic mission, as well as help advance the college prep and counseling strategies. Caroline has degrees from the University of California San Diego, with a MS in Bioengineering, and MIT, with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. Caroline has two children and shares MIT alumni status with her son, a recent graduate of MIT, and lives in Menlo Park, California.
Annie Weiss, PhD
Development Chair
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Annie Weiss PhD, is a licensed Psychologist with over 20 years of experience working with children, adolescents and adults in inner-city schools and therapeutic settings. She has previously designed and run therapeutic programs for high school students with severe mental illness. She currently sees patients in her private practice. Annie first visited the Maranyundo School in 2013 and has followed its growth since that time. She is excited to join the board to support the development of academic and mental health programming for students across Rwanda. She holds a BA from Williams College and a PhD in Psychology from Tulane University. She completed her internship training at Boston University’s Center for Multicultural Training and her Post-Doctoral fellowship at Cambridge Hospital. Annie and her husband live in Boston, MA with their three young children.
Owen Boucher
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Owen Boucher works at SailPoint Technologies as a Corporate Account Executive selling identity security to enterprise-level organizations. He had previously worked at Oracle-NetSuite working on business development. Before that, he studied at Ithaca College and graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Marketing.
Owen first visited Rwanda in 2022 with his mother who brought him to the Maranyundo Girls School where he was truly inspired by these young women. Once he was there, he knew it would be impossible to leave and not do more. Since then, he has fundraised for the school, and in 2024, he ran the Falmouth Road Race in honor of Maranyundo. In 2025, Owen will be Maranyundo's team captain. He is focused on helping the development committee expand its fundraising efforts in creative ways.
Leanne Chase
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Leanne has spent the last 15 years working with clients to improve their marketing and communications, most recently for Gannett. She started her career in television production producing Boston Red Sox baseball games, college hockey games and was awarded an Emmy Award for producing the Opening & Closing Ceremonies for the 2002 Winter Olympic games. She holds a BS from Suffolk University and an MS from Boston University. Leanne was drawn to the Maranyundo Initiative as educating and inspiring girls around the world is one of her passions, she joined the board as she saw what passion + planning could accomplish at the Maranyundo Girls School.
Claire Kokoska
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Originally from New England, Claire lives in Providence, RI. She's spent nearly a decade developing renewable energy and energy efficiency projects for municipalities, school districts, and nonprofits.
In September 2018, Claire was introduced to the Maranyundo Initiative and the Maranyundo Girls School by Lani Cooper, then Interim Director. Claire traveled to Rwanda with Board members and Sustainers in 2019 to visit the Maranyundo Girls School and Kigali, and celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Benebikira Order. Over the last few years, Claire has worked with the Maranyundo Development team to assist with Development Committee efforts, newsletters, photography, graphic design, and social media.
Nicole Masozera
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Nicole Masozera is a public health and nutrition professional with a background in research and policy analysis, specifically in food systems. She holds an MSc in Global Health Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a BA in Community Health and French from Tufts University. She currently works at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), a regional agricultural institution, where she is an advisor at Rwanda's Ministry of Youth and Arts, supporting the design and implementation of youth agriculture programs. She is passionate about understanding the lives of those impacted by policies and programs, ensuring that their perspectives shape policy by amplifying their voices. When not at work, Nicole enjoys reading about systems thinking and sustainable development, particularly in the context of multi-stakeholder engagement and coordination in partnerships that aim to improve livelihoods through job creation and better health outcomes.
The Maranyundo School holds deep personal significance for Nicole. It began as a vision of her mother, Aloisea Inyumba, alongside Sister Ann Fox and other extraordinary women from Boston, who, in December 1999, laid the foundation for what would become a beacon of hope in Nyamata, Bugesera. With the support of the Government of Rwanda, their commitment blossomed into a school that has grown from its first cohort of 60 girls in 2008 to a thriving middle and high school serving 450 students. The Maranyundo School’s journey embodies the transformative power of education, weaving a new story into the tapestry of Rwanda’s future. As a product of an all-girls education at the Westover School, Nicole understands firsthand how such an experience fosters academic excellence and empowers young women to reach new heights. Joining the Maranyundo Initiative Board is a privilege in honoring her mother’s legacy, collaborating with a group of individuals deeply committed to Rwanda, and contributing to nurturing the potential of young girls whose futures will undoubtedly shape our world.
Juliet Musabeyezu, MD
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Juliet Musabeyezu is a medical student at Harvard Medical School. She first moved to Boston from Kigali in 2011 to attend Harvard College, where she graduated with a degree in Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology. She then spent two years working in Global Health - first with Last Mile Health in Liberia designing community health worker programs and supporting mobile clinics in the aftermath of Ebola, and then with the University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda building curriculum for a Master’s Degree Program in Global Health Equity. Her interests include women’s health and reproductive justice. In her free time, Juliet is keenly interested in short-story fiction writing and storytelling more broadly.
Juliet first learned about the Maranyundo Girls School from her friend and classmate Isabelle Byusa. She joined the Maranyundo Initiative excited to work with a committed group of women eager to improve education for young women in Rwanda through innovation, community, and a strong sense of purpose.
Daphne Petri
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Daphne Petri has been on the Maranyundo Initiative Board since 2011 and served her tenure as Chair from 2014 to 2019. Daphne is the Principal of Daphne Petri Architects, and in addition to MI serves on the Board of Directors of Gardens for Health International and on the National Advisory Board for the Union of Concerned Scientists. She is on the Advisory Committee for Jewish Family and Children’s Service Center for Early Relationship Support and has been a longtime Volunteer with the Visiting Moms Program at JFCS. BA Kirkland/Hamilton College ’72, Master of Architecture MIT ’76. Daphne lives in Massachusetts and is married with two grown daughters who live in San Francisco. She thrives on an active life of service at home and abroad and fun with family and friends.
Deborah Scarff
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Deborah Scarff trained to become an X-ray technician, working in several hospitals in Boston, and later relocating to work in Honolulu, Hawaii. While in Hawaii, she developed an interest in photography and decided to combine that interest with her X-ray career by pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Photographic Communications at the Rochester Institute of Technology. After graduation she worked at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary before starting her own business, “The Better Light,” which specialized in both medical imaging and high-quality commercial and architectural photography. She was commissioned by the Episcopal Cathedral in Boston to create and exhibit a one-person photographic experience called “God’s Light in Holy Places.” The exhibit was later expanded into a published book of environmental portraits of Episcopal priests, entitled Lifestyles of the Spiritually Rich and Famous.
After a 30-year career, she recently “retired” in order to more fully concentrate on her interests in helping women and enhancing women’s rights and education, especially through international outreach opportunities. She was introduced to the Maranyundo Girls School through Trinity Episcopal Church Concord in 2011 and joined the Maranyundo Initiative board in 2016.
Kailey Theriault Baird
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Kailey Theriault Baird is an attorney who currently works as Corporate Counsel at Bitumar, a multinational, privately held corporation. She is responsible for providing legal counsel on a wide variety of issues. Kailey has lived in Montreal, Geneva, Grenoble, and now resides in Boston with her husband and two young daughters. Kailey received her Juris Doctorate degree from Suffolk University Law School in Boston and her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Relations from Queen’s University in Canada. She is currently a member of the Spruce Street Nursery School Board of Directors and is fluent in French.
Kailey first learned about the Maranyundo Initiative from Annie Weiss in 2018. She has always been overwhelmingly impressed with the success story of Rwanda, a country that overcame tremendous adversity, and one we all should look to for a lesson in community and perseverance. As a mother of two little girls, Kailey has always believed that education is the most valuable gift you can provide. She is an advocate for empowering young women and expanding our global community and has been incredibly impressed with the alumnae of Maranyundo. Kailey is confident that these graduates will continue to be our future leaders.
Chantal Umuhoza
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Chantal Umuhoza is from Kigali, Rwanda. She went to the Maranyundo Girls School for middle school and graduated from MGS in 2012. Since there was no high school at MGS at the time, she went to Gashora Girls Academy and graduated in 2015. From there, she studied at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, and received a BA in Physics in 2020. She continued her studies at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and received a Master of Science degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering. She currently works as a Power Systems Engineer at a Power Systems Consulting company called RLC Engineering based in South Portland, Maine.
Chantal is excited to join the Maranyundo Board to give back to what Maranyundo gave to her. She feels she is where she is today because of her education at MGS. She wants to join the Post-Secondary Committee to help students navigate this critical stage of their lives and provide mentorship and guidance.
Lydie Uwantege
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Lydie E. Uwantege is a Civil Engineer with over a decade of experience in infrastructure development, specializing in construction projects, hydroelectric power, road networks, and water supply systems. She has expertise in construction management, contract administration, and public procurement, ensuring efficient and sustainable project execution. As Operations Manager at Delta Developers, a real estate firm specializing in high-end residential projects, she oversees strategic planning, operational efficiency, and stakeholder engagement. Committed to mentorship and knowledge-sharing, she volunteers with Engineers Without Borders (EWB-USA & EWB-UK) and serves on the ASCE Government Engineers Council, contributing to public infrastructure policy discussions. Beyond engineering, she is a published author, recently releasing A Melody in Words, a poetry collection on Amazon, showcasing her passion for storytelling and artistic expression.
Lydie’s passion for education and community empowerment aligns with the mission of the Maranyundo Initiative, and she is eager to bring her experience and enthusiasm to help the Initiative thrive. Her interest in joining the Development and Marketing Committee is driven by her experience in strategic planning, event management, and fundraising. Lydie is keen to contribute her skills to increase the Initiative’s visibility and support its growth. Additionally, with her expertise in partnership development and project management, she is well-positioned to support the MTLC Taskforce in strengthening the Maranyundo Training and Learning Center’s partnerships in Rwanda.