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Project Leaders:
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| Neema Mgana, social entrepreneur. Neema Mgana was the youngest of 1000 women from around the world jointly nominated for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize. In 2000, she co-founded an organization providing education, health and other services to over 200 children affected by HIV/AIDS in her native Tanzania. She then founded the African Regional Youth Initiative (ARYI) while a first-year graduate student in 2003. ARYI presently works directly with over 300 community and youth organizations to jointly develop, implement, and evaluate community, national and regional strategies and programs focusing on development issues in Africa. In an effort to foster innovative thinking on international development, she co-founded the Forum for Global Action in 2006. A leading program within the Forum is on women's leadership that is being implemented in Africa, Asia, and South America. She is currently a board member of several different organizations, and is spearheading projects to improve health delivery in Africa, including projects developing health and education facilities in rural Africa.
She received a Masters degree in International Health from Loma Linda University of Health Science in the U.S., a BSc. in Health Informatics from the University of Victoria in Canada, and is pursuing a business degree. She also has certificates in Humanitarian Assistance and International Peace Studies. |
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Amanda Koster, documentary photographer and media artist. Amanda Koster (http://www.amandakoster.com) is an internationally acclaimed documentary photographer committed to the advancement of human rights and cultural diversity in the arts. Her editorial work appears in Newsweek, Fortune, People, Fast Company and Metropolis in addition to working with non-profit organizations around the world. In 2004, she was awarded a Lucie Award and also 1st place: photo essay by The Society of Professional Journalists for her project “AIDS IS Knocking”, a documentary about AIDS orphans and widows in Western Kenya. Another award-winning long-term project “This Is Beautiful”, which has been exhibited around the world looks at body image and redefines the innate beauty of all women. Amanda has also worked extensively with youth media projects internationally, teaching photography as a tool for documentary storytelling creating a voice and outlet for underrepresented youth. Koster is a 2006 recipient of the GAP Grant and additionally “Money For Women In the Arts/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund” for her project Moroccan Women’s Song Project. The project, collaboration with Festival Fès, documents female Berber and Arab Musicians of Morocco with hopes to spark an interest in this region and also show that there is more than one image of Women in Islam. Amanda will be featured as 1 of 50 women in the upcoming book: "In Their Shoes." (by Deborah Reber, publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2007) The book will give teen girls the real scoop on different careers through profiles of women thriving in their fields. The book will inspire girls to make smart choices and realize their dreams. Koster studied photography in NYC at the International Center for photography and holds a BA degree in anthropology concentrating on women’s and religious studies from Southern Connecticut State University. She is faculty at the Photographic Center Northwest in Seattle, WA. |