Eugene Dushime

Eugene Dushime is currently the International Coordinator for MindLeaps since January 2018; managing MindLeaps’ International partnership programs throughout Africa. Prior to that position, Eugene served as the Country Director of MindLeaps Rwanda for 8 years where he established the country office that currently has 11 staff members. Eugene also led the implementation of programs currently serving over 200 street children and vulnerable youth. He has assisted in the establishment of the MindLeaps Guinea programs and its activities.

As a professional dancer, Eugene received a silver medal from the International Dance Competition of the 6th Francophone Games held in Lebanon in 2009. In May 2013, his Choreography “Vulnerability” won the Jury’s Choice Awards at the Students Screen-dance Competition at the University of Utah, USA. Eugene also attended several professional dance trainings at the University Centre for Arts and Drama in Rwanda, West Africa and Europe. Additionally, he co-founded both Inshoza and Amizero Dance Companies for which he played a major leading role.

Eugene holds an MBA in Project Management from the University of Lay Adventist Of Kigali in Rwanda. He also holds a Bachelor’s degree and an Advanced Diploma in Agriculture Sciences with focus on Agroforestry from the University of Rwanda, College of Agriculture, Animal Sciences & Veterinary Medicine.

Ansoumane Conde

Ansoumane joined MindLeaps in 2012 and assumed the role of Country Director in 2014. He received his Baccalaureate Degree in Science & Mathematics from Kamsar College (2004). In 2007, he obtained a license in Commercial Financial Management from the International University of Mercure. In 2009, he graduated with his Bachelor’s Degree in Finance & Banking from the same university. Ansoumane served as an Administrator for The Carter Center’s Election Observation Mission in 2010. A year later, he became the Chief Controller for GEP (Guinea Petrol Equipment). In addition to his role with MindLeaps, he is an active member of the International Youth Chamber of Guinea.

Martha Bua Peace

Prior to MindLeaps, Martha worked as a social worker and an NGO administrator. She was field coordinator of Uganda Youth Empowerment. She has worked at Refuge and Hope International as a social worker in a shelter for female survivors of sexual and gender based violence. She was also the Psychosocial Program Manager at Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. Martha worked as a consultant for Playing to Live on the Care for Caregivers’ program aimed at addressing psychological wellness needs for front-line staff working in refugee settlements in the West Nile Region of Uganda. She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Gender Studies at Makerere University with a special interest in Gender and Forced Migration.

Martin Mamadouno

Martin was born in Boké, Guinea, where he completed his primary and college education. He obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics at Kipé School in 2010. In 2013, he graduated with a degree in Mathematics from Gamal Nasser University of Conakry. In 2014, he completed a two-month internship at the National Institute of Statistics and another three-month internship at the National Agency for Agricultural and Food Statistics. Before joining MindLeaps as Assistant Director, he worked with Direct Dialog Media & Marketing services. He previously volunteered with the NGO Hope of Guinea and collaborated with MindLeaps on its Guinea Edugrade and Ruben’s Shoes partnership projects.

Shpetim Latifi

Shpetim is currently managing MindLeaps’ newest program in North Macedonia. He is Assistant Professor at the University AAB in Prishtina, Republic of Kosovo,and also visiting professor in a few universities in North Macedonia. He has extensive experience of around 20 years in the NGO sector, as well as with humanitarian organizations such as the Red Cross of North Macedonia. As a Fulbright alumnus, he graduated from Purdue University and holds a PhD in computer science. He has worked as chief of party for numerous project grants from USAID, Foundation Open Society Macedonia, and EU funded projects. He is currently head of North Macedonia’s NGO “Florence Nightingale”.

Rebecca Davis

In founding and serving as the Executive Director of MindLeaps, Rebecca is responsible for the strategic direction, fundraising and management of an organization currently operational in six countries and with headquarters in New York City.
Prior to MindLeaps, Rebecca worked for The Carter Center, Stage Holding Russia, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. She ran a professional dance company and a pre-professional training program in Philadelphia for five years known as RDDC: Rebecca Davis Dance Company.

Rebecca graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelors of Business Administration in Entrepreneurship from Temple University, and she holds a Masters in International Relations with a concentration in Peacekeeping from American Military University. She received a post-graduate certificate in Ballet and Choreography Studies during her Fulbright year in Russia.

Rebecca has been recognized for outstanding leadership and MindLeaps’ potential to scale an innovative solution: how to achieve and quantify behavioral change through movement. Rebecca is a two-time Fulbright Scholar (Russia, Ukraine) and a former Greater New York City Fulbright Alumna- in-Residence. She was a 2017 Truman Security Fellow, and a 2018 Gratitude Network Fellow. A sought-after speaker whose accomplishments are frequently noted in various news media, Rebecca has most recently spoken at The World Bank’s Human Development Week (2019), Segal Family Foundation’s Annual General Meeting (2019) and chaired the Arts & Resiliency Panel for Ubumuntu Arts Festival with panelists Reggie Van Lee, LaMar Baylor and Royce Zackery.

Janelle Junkin

Janelle Junkin, PhD, MT-BC. Dr. Junkin is a board-certified music therapist and an independent researcher.She has taught at various universities in the Philadelphia region and is currently an adjunct professor at Harrisburg University, Philadelphia campus. Dr. Junkin works with BuildaBridge International as the Dean of the Restorative Arts Institute providing professional development opportunities. She has trained and supervised community artists and creative arts therapists who work with refugees, survivors of torture and vulnerable populations and is the founder of Orchestral Dialogues: Accepting Self, Accepting Others. She has completed research and consultation with the Armed Services Arts Partnership and MindLeaps and has consulted with organizations and companies to build their own internal Monitoring and Evaluation systems. Dr. Junkin has worked in 15 countries on five continents. She is published in the Journal of Applied Arts & Health and the International Journal of Education & the Arts. Her most recent book chapter was published in Arts in Healing, August 2018. Her areas of research include child and youth identity development, the role of the arts in conflict transformation, and understanding the community arts and creative arts therapies as vehicles that provide hope and healing to people and communities in crisis.

Bashir Karenzi

Bashir, from Rwanda, is currently Technical Director at MindLeaps. He started dancing in 2008 in the Inshoza Contemporary Dance Company. Bashir holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the National University of Rwanda and is fluent in English, French, Luganda, Kiswahili, Kinyarwanda and Kisoga. He has been working with MindLeaps since 2014 and launched the 2018 program with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Rwanda.

Bashir served as the Assistant Director of MindLeaps in Rwanda before becoming Director of Strategic Partnerships in 2019. In that role, he launched MindLeaps’ UNHCR project serving vulnerable children across Rwanda’s six refugee camps. He trained and managed a team of 36 youth refugee trainers to implement the program. In 2020, Bashir moved into his new role as Technical Director in which he is standardizing operations across the continent of Africa and launching a MindLeaps Academy to build leadership skills in African youth. Most recently, Bashir has been joining MindLeaps’ Rebecca Davis to speak about the organization’s response to COVID-19 and new online learning strategies. Some engagements have included at Rahway High School (USA), World Outside My Shoes (Global) and the upcoming Together We Remember Vigil (Global). Bashir’s media appearances include TV21 in North Macedonia, and interviews with Budd Mishkin, Together We Remember and Russian Pointe’s 5-6-7 EIGHT podcast.

Eleanor Milburn

Eleanor brings over seven years professional experience in arts administration and over thirteen years of dance and music training to MindLeaps. Eleanor studied ballet at the School of American Ballet and Joffrey Ballet School in New York City. She completed two degrees at Columbia University: a Bachelors in Music and Mathematics from Columbia College and a Masters in Public Administration from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. Eleanor previously worked at the Arts Initiative at Columbia University, where she was the Assistant Director of Event and Program Administration, and helped engage Columbia’s diverse student body with the arts of New York City.

Jesse Hawkes

Having witnessed the birth of MindLeaps’ amazing work in Rwanda, Jesse is excited to be able to support MindLeaps’ growth and development globally from New York. With executive and program experience in youth development, public health, human rights education, and arts as a vehicle for social change, Jesse’s career includes work in Rwanda, South Africa, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia, Haiti, and the US. A life-long theatre artist (member of Actors’ Equity), Jesse has a B.A. in History from Harvard University, where he worked and performed at Anna Deavere Smith’s Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue.

Jesse traveled to Rwanda in 2002 and co-founded a theatre for social change program called RAPSIDA, focused on supporting youth and people living with HIV/AIDS; growing the program from one high school to sixty; contributing to national Rwandan public health campaigns through musical theatre, radio and TV/film. Jesse also served as the Rwanda Program Director and Executive Director for Global Youth Connect, a human rights learning and activism organization focused on youth and civil society organizations; running 20 programs globally including the Human Rights in the U.S.A program.

Jesse has taught workshops on theatre and activism for NGOs at the United Nations and has spoken on panels at The New School, CIVICUS/Montreal, UNAOC/Doha — on topics such as LGBTQI rights in Rwanda and youth activism in the face of extremism. As a consultant, he conducted research for the Global AIDS Alliance and wrote radio, TV/film, and cartoon scripts for Population Services International (PSI-Rwanda).

Caitlyn Casson

Caitlyn Casson is Teacher Training Specialist and an international dance trainer with MindLeaps. Originally from Philadelphia, Caitlyn graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of South Florida with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance and a minor in Psychology. She has performed repertoire by distinguished artists Bill T. Jones, Doug Varone, Talley Beatty and Sean Curran. Casson’s desire for internationally diverse, artistic endeavors has taken her across the globe to perform and teach including Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival and Kigali’s Ubumuntu Festival. Since 2013, she has been working as an international dance trainer and teacher training specialist with MindLeaps to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Rwanda and Guinea. Caitlyn is currently based in NYC. She also teaches yoga and is a performing company member with Ariel Rivka Dance, Dance Entropy and Matthew Westerby Company.