Ramie Arian

Ramie Arian Consulting

Ramie Arian is a consultant who works with non-profits, mainly in the Jewish community, and specifically in the arena of Jewish summer camps. Most assignments involve either project management or research. Current and recent clients include the Foundation for Jewish Camp, the JCC Association, the Union for Reform Judaism, the Jewish Funders Network, the Jewish Agency for Israel North American Section, Young Judaea Global, the National Ramah Commission, Birthright Israel Foundation, The iCenter, The Jewish Education Project and Jewish Helping Hands, among others.

Throughout his 40-year career he has worked with non-profit management and with Jewish education, mainly in experiential settings. He was founding Executive Director of the Foundation for Jewish Camp, and he has served as National Director of Young Judaea and as Vice President of the Wexner Heritage Foundation. He served for 15 years with the Youth Division of the Union for Reform Judaism, and he enjoyed 22 summers at URJ camps.

A graduate of Brown University, he holds an MA, rabbinic ordination and a Doctorate of Divinity (honoris causa) from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

Michael Maguire

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation

Michael has spent the last 20 years as a corporate banking executive in New York working for a variety of US and international banks. Most recently, Michael was Head of the Technology, Media, Telecom and Transportation division at Santander Bank, N.A. Prior to Santander, Michael spent ten years at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) as the Director of the Retail, Healthcare, Technology, and Media divisions. At RBS, Michael was responsible for $30 B portfolios across 200 companies and 9 industries, evaluating corporate credit risk, industry trends and capital market conditions. Prior to RBS, Michael was an SVP at Mizuho Americas.

Michael has served in an advisory role for organizations while living in Kigali, Rwanda, in 2015 and 2016. In 2016, he developed and taught the Business and Entrepreneurship class at MindLeaps Rwanda, which focuses on developing business, math and life skills in vulnerable youth. Upon his return to New York City in 2017, Michael joined the Board of Directors of MindLeaps and became Chairman of the Board in 2018.

Michael received a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from New York University and an MBA in Finance from Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. Michael is also a dance enthusiast who has supported dance schools and companies throughout his life and has personally studied dance at Alvin Ailey, Broadway Dance Center, and the Juilliard School.

In 2016, Michael volunteered at MindLeaps Rwanda. In 2018, Michael returned to Rwanda to support Rebecca during Misty Copeland’s return visit. Michael also visited MindLeaps Uganda in 2018.

Kathleen Bakrich

Hofstra University

Dr. Bakarich is an assistant professor in the Zarb School of Business at Hofstra University. Utilizing her experience working as an auditor for RSM USA LLP in New York City and time spent in Frankfurt, Germany, during a Fulbright scholarship, Katie focuses her teaching and research on international accounting. Her research has been selected for presentation at various conferences in the U.S. and abroad, and she also teaches a summer course at the Hochschule Bremen’s International Summer Program in Germany.

Katie is a licensed CPA in New York State and received the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ (AICPA) Accounting Doctoral Scholars award to fund her doctoral studies. She earned a Ph.D. and MBA in accounting from Baruch College, The City University of New York (CUNY) and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Accounting) from Fairfield University in Connecticut. Katie recently served as President of the Fulbright Alumni Association’s Greater New York Chapter. In 2018, Katie traveled to Rwanda to visit the MindLeaps program with her sister.

LaMar Baylor

Disney’s The Lion King on Broadway

LaMar currently serves as Programs & Community Engagement Manager at Conga Kids in LA. Before Covid-19, he performed in Disney’s “The Lion King” on Broadway. His dance career began in Camden, NJ, and led him to perform alongside Patti LaBelle, Ben Vereen, Danny Glover, Wynton Marsalis, and Jill Scott where he was the Lead Male Dancer in her Directorial Debut “Slide”. In 2007, LaMar played the Lead Male Dancer in the production of « My Brotha Marvin » [the Marvin Gaye story] directed by Zeola Gaye.

LaMar was a member of the Philadelphia Dance Company, known as PHILADANCO! for five years and is the Associate Artistic Director of Waheed Works. LaMar has performed works by choreographers such as Garth Fagan (Tony Award Winner), Christopher L. Huggins, George Faison (Tony Award Winner), Jawole Willa Jo Zollar (MacArthur Award Winner), Ronald K. Brown (Bessie Award Winner), Rennie Harris (Bessie Award Winner), Scott Jovovich, Abdur-Rahim Jackson, and Hope Boykin (Two time Bessie Award Winner). He is a former Principal Dancer/Assistant Rehearsal Director with Eleone Dance Theater and the Rebecca Davis Dance Company.

LaMar holds a B.F.A. in Dance from the University of the Arts. He is currently pursuing his Masters of Science in Arts Administration at Drexel University. LaMar first traveled to Rwanda in December 2011 with a project run by Rebecca Davis Dance Company. He returned to Rwanda in 2013, 2016 (with Misty Copeland), 2019 (to choreography for the Ubumuntu Arts Festival), and in 2021 (with Kirven Douthit-Boyd).

Hana Ginsburg Tirosh

Hana holds a BA in Education Policy from Princeton University and an MFA in Dance Performance and Teaching from Purchase College, SUNY. She is currently a member of Matthew Westerby Company, Ariel Rivka Dance and Kaleidoscope Dance Theatre, and has also performed with Mark Dendy Dance Theater, Kazuko Hirabayashi Dance Theater, 360 Dance Company, Riedel Dance Theater, Valerie Green/Dance Entropy, Lane & Co, KDNY and Amy Marshall.

As a teacher, Hana has taught ages 2 through working professional dancers, and administratively, she has served as General Manager for 360, Co-Managing Director for Dances Patrelle, Executive Consultant for ARD, and the NYC Director of the New York Institute of Dance and Education. She is the mother of three sons: Orin, Arlin and Zahavi. Hana visited the opening of the MindLeaps Center, which she was instrumental in bringing to fruition, in February 2023 in Guinea.

Joanne Hill

Joanne followed in the footsteps of her family’s legacy in trailblazing and community advancement. She was the first Black Food & Beverage Manager at the Grand Hyatt Washington and is currently a Trustee of the Arthur & Patricia Hill Foundation. Compelled by her roots in the city, Joanne became the Development Director of the South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation and joined the Board of Trustees of major NY-based dance companies, including Dance Theatre of Harlem and Ron K Brown’s Evidence Dance Company. Joanne has also worked in various roles at Agency.com and CBS Radio Corporation.

Joanne is a native New Yorker whose professional experience spans from economic development to digital marketing to philanthropy. She graduated from Howard University with a BBA (Cum Laude) and Baruch College with an MBA.
Joanne visited MindLeaps Rwanda in 2018 with Reggie Van Lee’s group of friends. Most recently, she became involved with MindLeaps work in Rwanda and now New York City. In her spare time, Joanne is an avid traveler having been to places ranging from Cuba to Singapore to the Galapagos Islands and Myanmar.

Roger Webb

US Department of State

Roger is a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State. He is currently the Commercial Section Chief in Bolivia. Roger’s previous assignments in the Foreign Service include Lima, Tel Aviv, Sarajevo, Iraq, DC (as the senior desk officer in the office of Iraq Political Affairs, and later as the public diplomacy officer for the Western Balkans), and as the Public Affairs Officer in Kigali, Rwanda.

Roger is originally from Independence, Missouri and graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in Violin Performance. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, he was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco and spent three years teaching English in Slovenia. Roger was also student at the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College in Ft. Leavenworth, KS, where he earned his Master of Military Art and Science in Conflict, Security and Development. Roger is married to a fellow-Foreign Service Officer and the father of two young children.

Roger currently sits on the Board of Directors of MindLeaps North Macedonia. He has visited MindLeaps in Rwanda and recently published an article about MindLeaps in the Journal of Public Diplomacy.