Chris Bradshaw, Founder/President

Chris Bradshaw was inspired to help start libraries in Africa after being told on a pony trekking trip in Lesotho that the country had just one library. As Founder of the African Library Project and President of the Board, she has led the organization, coordinating Americans across the United States and Africans in nine countries to start and improve small libraries.  Her interest in Africa began during her junior year in college when she studied at Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone and traveled throughout western and central Africa.  An ardent traveler, she has now traveled, lived or worked in 58 countries on five continents including 19 African countries.  Her background includes ten years as a YMCA executive directing camps and conference centers in Indiana, California and North Carolina and home schooling her two children, Ben and Mariah. Over the years, she has worked with nonprofits serving the homeless, children of war torn countries, a soup kitchen, and home schooling education and support services.  She has a B.A. in Sociology from Denison University with minors in African Studies and Studio Art.  (ALP Board 2005-present)

Deborah Freedman Lustig, Vice President

Deborah Freedman Lustig is a cultural anthropologist whose research has focused on gender and education in the United States and Kenya, where she was a Fulbright Senior Scholar in 2004-5. As a high school teacher in Kenya in 1988, she started a library in her school because she saw the "book hunger" in Africa.  She is currently a Research Associate and the Graduate Training Coordinator at the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues at UC Berkeley. She also volunteers as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for children in foster care and serves on the board of Six Seconds--The Emotional Intelligence Network.  She has a BA in economics from UC Berkeley and Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Michigan. (ALP Board 2010-present)

Jennifer Seidler, Co-Treasurer

Jennifer Seidler joined the African Library Project as Co-Treasurer after being impressed by the organization’s mission, structure and focus on helping to promote access to books throughout Africa. She has long been an active volunteer for organizations to promote learning and education, and for several years ran a chess program in inner-city schools in San Francisco. Being an avid library user herself, she feels that ALP plays an important role in bringing the ability to read and learn to so many throughout Africa while creating awareness through book drives in the U.S.   Jennifer has nearly 20 years of experience in banking and finance roles. She holds a MS in Financial Analysis and an MBA with an emphasis in International Business from University of San Francisco and a BS in Economics from Santa Clara University. (ALP Board 2012–present)

Jeffrey Sefa-Boakye, Co-Treasurer

Jeffrey Sefa-Boakye joined the African Library Project board as Co-Treasurer and Partner Liaison for Ghana. Raised in Accra, Jeffrey was attracted to ALP’s model of improving literacy in rural communities where he knows educational resources are limited. As Africa becomes an increasingly attractive destination for investment, Jeffrey hopes his work in Ghana and other African nations can help develop highly literate populations better suited to take advantage of and spur economic growth and development. Jeffrey is currently an Investment Associate at the Stanford Management Company. He began his career as an analyst with Goldman Sachs and holds a B.S. in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University. (ALP Board 2013-present)

Jagadha Sivan, Secretary

Jagadha Sivan is a retail management consultant with a strong focus on incorporating ethical practices in business processes. Her work has taken her to several villages and towns in the developing world where she was inspired by how resourceful people and communities are with what they have. She has a Master's and Bachelor's degree in Computer Science. When Jagadha learned about ALP, she felt the need to be part of building infrastructure and channeling resources to rural areas in order to impact the lives of thousands of children and teachers in Africa. And, she loves the fact that children's books in the US are being reused instead of being recycled or trashed. Jagadha is part time art teacher, part time accessories designer and full time mom to two little boys. (ALP Board 2013-present)

Laura Hill, Board Member

Laura Hill has had a lifelong passion for libraries and readers. She was drawn to ALP's ecosystem of US book drives partnered with specific African communities hungry for books. She specifically sought out a volunteer opportunity that would allow her to connect real volunteers to real results - ALPs all-volunteer model connects communities in the US with specific rural communities in Africa hoping to build a library. She has worked as one of two ALP book-drive coordinators for over a year and is thrilled to step up her involvement as a full board member. Laura has many years experience in the high-tech industry and is currently the Research Director at Oracle Labs. She has an M.S. in Physics from M.I.T. Never one to take it easy, she is also pursuing an MLIS degree at SJSU. (ALP Board 2011-present)

Alison Polkinhorne, Board Member

Alison Polkinhorne connects strongly with ALP’s ability to inspire activism in young Americans, and she has seen what a profound difference a book drive can make in a local life. After a career spent mostly in the high-tech start-ups of Silicon Valley, she is keenly aware of what can be accomplished by very small groups of very focused people and now spends her time volunteering for groups working for social equity and justice. She has a BA from UC Santa Cruz and an MA from Stanford in Modern Thought and Literature. (ALP Board 2011-present)

Gail Moody-Byrd, Board Member

Gail Moody-Byrd has been interested in development in Africa since a 1993 project with the World Bank, which explored commercial opportunities in five African countries. She now sees the tremendous opportunity to connect young people in the US to youth in villages in Africa, not only around books and literacy, but also learning about the culture and interests on both continents. Gail is currently employed by SAP, the largest provider of business software, as the Senior Director of Marketing for SAP Community Network. In her role she drives adoption of and engagement in SAP’s highly-regarded online community of over 2 million customers, partners and SAP experts, using social media. She has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.A. from Spelman College. Her interests beyond work include her eight-year-old son Brandon, classic jazz and Zumba. (ALP Board 2012–present)

Lisako Bridgewater, Board Member

Lisako Bridgewater began her involvement with ALP as a volunteer in 2009. From her experience traveling to 37 countries on 5 continents, she discovered her deep passion to help those in developing countries. In 2008 she left her corporate job at eBay Inc., and headed to Africa. With no itinerary or plan, except to visit her sister in Madagascar, the possibilities were endless. By plane, boat, and bus, she trekked across the continent, visiting and living in 11 countries. When she returned to the US, she wanted to continue being involved with the wonderful people she met, so she joined ALP. She currently works as a recruiting consultant to startups in the Bay Area. Lisako has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Colorado, Boulder. (ALP Board 2012- present).

FJ Cava, Board Member

FJ Cava, a former Peace Corps Volunteer in Gabon, has over twenty years of experience in designing, developing and delivering high quality/high impact learning products. He is highly skilled in managing diverse teams in multiple settings, including internationally. He has strong facilitation & presentational skills, with over twenty years of experience delivering workshops, trainings, and capacity development. He has worked with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, and Inveneo. These positions, along with an MBA from San Francisco State University, have provided highly transferable skills in conceptual planning, monitoring & evaluation and capacity development to work in a wide range of settings. (ALP Board 2013-present)

Penny Chu, Board Member

Penny Chu was drawn to ALP because of its mission of changing lives and increasing literacy through providing access to books in rural Africa. She has strong family ties to Africa, after having spent her childhood growing up in Ghana, with relatives living in Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Togo, and Nigeria. She is keenly aware of how important literacy and access to education is, and is excited about working with ALP to give back to a continent so near and dear to her. She is currently Director of Quantitative Marketing at Google, performing data analytics and research of Google’s consumers and advertisers. Prior to Google, she was a technology investment banker at Credit Suisse First Boston, and Director of Business Operations at Jotspot (a startup acquired by Google). She has an MBA from Harvard Business School and dual Bachelor’s degrees in Chemistry and Economics from Stanford University. (ALP Board 2013-present)

Sharna Fey, Board Member

Sharna Fey fell in love with Africa on her first trip to Tanzania in 2008 where she volunteered in an orphanage. The experience of passing out a dictionary and having kids look over each others’ shoulders to read the dictionary stayed with her until she arrived at ALP’s Harambee event in 2010. Sharna knew ALP was for her and quickly became the highest bidder for a trip to Swaziland and a chance to see ALP’s work first hand. She eagerly got involved with the Summit and got to know ALP’s partners through co-facilitating the Summit. Sharna’s social activism was born through her work with Girls For A Change where she has trained adult women volunteers to work with girls between the ages of 12-18 to create a social change project in their community. Sharna is an executive coach, leadership consultant and speaker based in San Francisco. She is a graduate of Washington State University with a BA in Hotel and Restaurant Administration, a graduate of the Coaches Training Institute Co-Active Coach Training Program and Co-Active Leadership Program, and a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach. (ALP Board 2013-present)

Board Emeritus

Mehul Rawal

Mehul Rawal's interest in Africa stems from his family roots in East Africa and a desire to improve lives in less developed countries.  In his recent travels, he saw firsthand how different Africa was from the family stories, photos, and movies he grew up with.  Mehul’s desire to become more active in helping improve the lives of the underserved, led him to a San Francisco Board Match event where he learned about the African Library Project.   He was drawn to ALP’s grassroots model to help communities in Africa and create an awareness and connection with volunteers in the US.  As an avid recycler, Mehul is energized by the chance to help redirect books that would otherwise go unused or end up in landfills. He is a graduate of UC Davis with a BS in Managerial Economics.  (ALP Board 2009-2012)

Meredith Miller Vostrejs

Meredith Miller Vostrejs joined the ALP board in 2010, after witnessing their support of libraries in Swaziland firsthand. While living in Swaziland Meredith worked to support national HIV/AIDS care and treatment and building on a career in global health and development to increase women and children's access to care. Meredith was attracted to ALP's literacy efforts in rural areas largely because of her belief that women's education is essential to international development, and a personal passion for books she shares with her two children. In addition, Meredith appreciates ALP's focus on volunteerism, having herself worked with the US Peace Corps and AmeriCorps.  Meredith has a M.A. from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a B.A. in Politics from UC Santa Cruz.  (ALP Board 2010-2012)

Carolyn Gannon

Carolyn Gannon joined the ALP board as Treasurer in January 2007 after seeing how impressive the passion, model, and success of this young organization is in empowering Americans to help increase literacy by providing books for children’s libraries in Africa. Carolyn maintains personal contact with several local people in the 15 African countries she has visited and is keenly aware of the difference that reading and education make in the lives of young Africans.  Carolyn transitioned from over 30 years in the high-tech world, where she held engineering vice-president and director positions at technology companies such as Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Join Systems, and others, to become a volunteer in education and mentoring areas.  In addition to ALP, Carolyn is president of the board of volunteers at Bechtel International Center, Stanford University, and for eight years was a trustee of Bennington College in Vermont.  She has also been a volunteer for Child Advocates, Hidden Villa, and TheatreWorks.  Carolyn’s undergraduate and graduate degrees are in Mathematics and Electrical Engineer/Computer Science.  (ALP Board 2007-2013)

Mira Foster

Mira Foster joined the board in 2010 and knows firsthand about the impact of libraries and literacy on African students. As a US Peace Corps volunteer in Namibia from 1999 through 2001, she was a school librarian as well as an English teacher. During her stay she was central in transforming a cinder block building with 300 books into a vibrant library with over 3,000 books. Her school was supported by book drives in Littleton, CO. and San Francisco, and cash donations to buy resources from local publishers. Mira has studied in Ghana, taught in China, has a BA in International Studies from Vassar College and a Masters in Library and Information Science from Rutgers University. She is currently a librarian at San Francisco State University with subject specialties in international relations, international business, political science, and public administration. Through helping students doing research on nonprofit management and international development, teaching workshops on web searching and information literacy, and fostering access to information Mira pursues her missions of advocacy for students, a focus on the learning process, and a constant look to the world.   (ALP Board 2010-2013)