Melissa is retired and has lived in Ottawa for most of her life. She spent her professional career working in financial services for two of Canada’s major banks. Prior to joining the Board of TEMBO, Melissa spent 8 years on the Board of Habitat for Humanity Greater Ottawa including 3 years as Chair and 3 years as past Chair. She visited Longido, Tanzania in 2014 where she met with girls being sponsored by TEMBO, visited schools and walked with Maasai women for water. Melissa is currently completing a certificate in Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Management at Ryerson.
Arlene is a retired lawyer, and has been a member of the board of TEMBO in Canada since 2005. She has travelled many times to Longido District to support TEMBO’s work in Tanzania including as the guide for numerous Traveling with TEMBO groups. Today, her passion for the work only grows.
Virginia has been a Board member since 2010, drawing on over 28 years of teaching and academic management experience to support the work of TEMBO. Her ‘community-based’ approach to teaching inspired her engagement with TEMBO’s academic support programs for girls including TEC and PASS. Prior to COVID, Virginia spent periods of time in Longido supporting volunteer teachers and visitors, as well as leading the Traveling with TEMBO program.
After Margaret’s first visit to TEMBO in 2010, she was convinced that she wanted to do something more to help the girls and women she had met there to achieve their dreams of education. Margaret’s career in medical education provided her with opportunities for national and international travel and to see how education can make a difference! She joined the TEMBO Board in 2018 and is honoured to be able to help achieve her original goal, set in 2010, to help girls and women in Longido to have greater educational opportunities.
Nancy retired after 30 years of teaching at the elementary and secondary school levels. She enthusiastically embraced teaching in Longido in the PASS program (Primary and Secondary Success) and shortly afterwards, joined the TEMBO Board of Directors. When she is not busy with TEMBO, she is an active quilter and cycling tourist.
Clarissa Brocklehurst started her career working on the water and sanitation needs of indigenous communities in Canada and the US. As the former Chief of UNICEF’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Section, she was responsible for overseeing water and sanitation programming in 100 countries and playing a role in development of strategy and advocacy for the global water supply and sanitation sector. Clarissa is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering of the Gillings School of Global Public Health of the University of North Carolina, and an affiliated faculty member of the university’s Water Institute. She is a member of the Supervisory Board of IRC, a water and sanitation NGO headquartered in the Netherlands, and a member of the Strategic Advisory Group of the WHO-UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program, which tracks global progress on water and sanitation. She works in a consulting capacity with several water and sanitation sector agencies.
Jenn retired after a 30 year career as an elementary teacher. She enjoys cooking, baking, hiking Hamilton’s waterfalls, and has discovered a new love of gardening. 
Dennis is a retired Federal Government Senior Executive with a history of diverse work experiences. Dennis enjoyed being a long-term mentor in the Federal Government providing advice and direction to young professionals. Dennis is a life-long volunteer running a softball league in Kanata for over 25 years and playing for over 40 years, establishing a fitness centre at Global Affairs Canada in the 90s and being the chairperson of the volunteer executive committee for over 20 years, running a men’s hockey team in the RA Hockey League for over 30 years, joining the RA Board of Directors in 2013 and also presiding as the President of the RA Board of Directors.
Elizabeth is an operations manager for a CivicTech software company and is experienced in UX design, digital marketing and product management. Prior to her entry into the technology sector, Elizabeth worked in program evaluation in the Federal Government and in teaching and curriculum development at Queen’s University. She holds an MSc in Management from the Smith School of Business and has prior not-for-profit governance experience in the gender-equity space through her tenure on the management board of The Well/La Source.
Mary works at TEMBO as the Community Facilitator. She joined TEMBO in 2007 after completing her Certificate in Secondary Education. She has since taken many professional development courses in community development. Mary likes teaching seminars in the community and working with the children at schools.
Christina works at TEMBO as a Program Support Officer. She joined TEMBO in 2019 after completing a Diploma in Community Development. She likes teaching the women and children, and works hard to prepare material for teaching before going out into the community for outreach programs.
Rosie joined TEMBO as a housekeeper in 2010 when the TEMBO Inn opened. She has over 12 years of experience greeting the staff and guests and keeping the offices and rooms clean. One of her favourite activities is cooking for the guests.
My name is Leah Kisambu. I serve as the Executive Director at Learning in Longido (LiL). I have a diploma in community development from Monduli CDTI. What I like most about working at LiL is trust from LiL employers to have the ability to do our organization responsibilities and make them a success. They also support us by giving us suggestions, advice and use of participatory approach and also make resources available which makes our work easy. I spend most of my time in the office making sure all activities are well executed in each program as planned.
My name is Grace Mremi. I have a Certificate in Tailoring and Sewing from the Marangu Kilimanjaro Vocational Training College. I am a tailoring facilitator at the Longido District Learning Centre. I spend time teaching and guiding tailoring students. I like working here because the Centre empowers women, especially Maasai, who are underprivileged for a long time in educational matters and I have an opportunity to be part of this service.
My name is Joyce Wakari. I have a B.A. in Education from Open University in Tanzania. I work as a secondary school teacher at the Longido District Learning Centre. What I like most about working here is a team approach and also the availability of working resources. I spend most of my time teaching and guiding students especially in June and September to November with Pre-Form 1students which keeps me busy and enjoying my work.
My name is Judith Mollel. I have a Secondary Education Certificate attained here at Learning in Longido where I joined the QT and PC program (independent studies). I also have a Certificate of Early Childhood Education and also Special Need Education Certificate. I work as a preschool teacher here at Learning in Longido. I like working at LiL because it promotes education for the people in different age groups and I like the cooperation between staff and taking care of each other. I spend most of my time in the classroom to teach and guide the children.
My name is Namynak Mereso. My job title is a primary teacher in the primary program. I have a form six certificate (equivalent to Grade 13). What I like most about working at LiL is the way staff cooperate as a team to work hard in order to make our programs successful. I spend most of my time here teaching primary students and directing them to get the books they need from the library.