Our Team
We are a trans-disciplinary team leaning into each others’ strengths.
In 2013, Courtenay Cabot Venton was asked to evaluate a Self Help Group model in Ethiopia. As an international development economist who has spent decades helping donors, governments and organizations to identify programs that have the biggest impact on reducing poverty around the world, she was blown away by the changes that these women’s groups were making in their communities – setting up schools, starting small businesses, advocating for access to services, and stopping childhood marriage. She founded the Share Trust in 2018 because she saw a mounting interest in the ability of SHGs to create transformational change in their communities, and she wanted to support the ecosystem of organizations working in this space by building the evidence base and facilitating collaborations between like-minded actors, influencing both policy and programming to amplify the approach.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Courtenay was asked to lead a team of experts advising on the UK government’s global COVID-19 response. This led her to experience firsthand that while millions of dollars of emergency funding were coming online, very little was going to local and national organizations on the ground because international systems were poorly equipped to support these community-led responses. She joined forces with Chilande Kuloba Warria from the Warande Advisory Centre in Kenya and Brendan Cullen, founding member of Co-Impact, to strategize how to structure a community based response that could also receive substantial government funding. Together they developed the Local Coalition Accelerator to build bridges between bilateral funders and coalitions of local actors - with SHGs and community based structures at their core.
This partnership broadened the Share Trust’s mission to more holistically support and strengthen the SHG ecosystem globally, taking into account the systemic barriers and opportunities these groups face to more effectively scale community driven collective action.
The Share Trust, Founder/Executive Director; LCA Co-Founder and Partner
Courtenay is an international development economist, and the Founder and ED of The Share Trust. She has worked with a wide range of UN agencies, USAID, FCDO, and other donors to evaluate the relative returns of social and environmental interventions, contributing to an evidence base for what works and what doesn’t when it comes to reducing poverty worldwide. Courtenay works to strengthen women’s Self Help Groups through building the research and evidence base, as well as co-leading on the LCA.
Warande Advisory Centre; LCA Co-Founder and Partner
Chilande is a co-lead of the LCA with eighteen years of strategic leadership and technical assistance program management for local, national and international development organizations. Passionate about supporting locally based changemakers to effect lasting change in the communities they serve, she supports organizations in sub-Saharan Africa to build effectiveness and resilience in how they govern themselves, guiding them to build strong systems, processes and cultures. In parallel, she works with donors to rebalance power, process and funding so local actors can have the resources they need to scale their visions and meet community needs.
The Share Trust, LCA Co-Founder and Partner
Brendan is co-founder of the LCA and brings significant experience as a collaborator and coach who has built and supported a diverse range of large-scale systems change efforts in the social impact and philanthropy sectors, both in the US and internationally. Most recently, Brendan was a co-Founder and Managing Director of Co-Impact, where he led efforts to source and support a portfolio of systems change grants in Africa, India and Latin America in the Foundational Fund. Prior, Brendan served as a Managing Director at Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation.
Arinolah Elizabeth-Nite Omollo
Warande Advisory Centre; Africa Programs Lead
Arinolah’s North Star is to inspire women, youth, and children to live a purpose-driven life, which she believes is where the source of wealth lies. Arinolah has worked with development partners and civil society in Kenya, South Sudan, Somalia and the UK, and uses her well-rounded skill set in institutional strengthening, training and team-building to support the Kenya LCA coalition. She is a Rotary Peace Fellow and East Africa Peace Activator, championing the mainstreaming of the positive peace framework to achieve sustainable development.
The Share Trust, Research Associate
Collins is an experienced researcher who is passionate about exploring new initiatives that are geared towards poverty eradication and self-sustainability. Prior to joining The Share Trust, he was a Senior Associate at KPMG Advisory, Project Consultant at United Nations-International Trade Center and Research Assistant at Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA-Kenya).
The Share Trust, Technical Support Lead
Imogen has worked in humanitarian project management and fundraising for the last decade. She started her career with the UK Stabilisation Unit, where she deployed to Mali and realised that London life wasn’t for her anymore. She then moved to Uganda to join ACTED as an intern, and eventually left 6 years later to join Give Directly in Goma. COVID brought her home to Uganda, where she joined the Share Trust. As Technical Support Lead, Imogen supports the coalitions and provides technical assistance to help them reach their goals.
Warande Advisory Centre, Executive Assistant
Koki is an experienced administration and operations professional with seven years of experience. She is driven by the desire to see work flow seamlessly across diverse multi-cultural teams and takes pride in providing the best solutions towards potential hiccups to ensure the team does not lose sight of their core objectives. As an Executive Assistant, Koki’s goals include supporting the Share Trust core team and LCA Coalitions with overall project management support.
The Share Trust, Bangladesh Country Representative
Mala is a feminist, women’s rights activist, and humanitarian professional with a decade of experience working on resilience, sustainable development, gender and climate justice, livelihoods, and public health. Passionate about promoting collaborative climate action and gender justice from the grassroots to the global level, she provides technical support to the Bangladesh LCA coalition. Mala leads national campaigns through women's activist organization Naripokkho and is committed to changing the lives of people in distress and challenging strong patriarchal culture, discrimination, exclusion, inequality, and disempowerment.
Warande Advisory Centre; Operations Director
Mugure's wealth of experience in international development and leadership within NGOs underscores her dedication to fostering collaboration and achieving strategic goals. With a history of streamlining operations and demonstrating efficiency, her evolved role as Director of Operations is poised to contribute significantly to the success of community-oriented initiatives in international development programming.
The Share Trust, Research and Learning Director
Sarah has over 25 years’ experience researching and advising on resilient development, climate change adaptation, disaster risk management, gender equality, social inclusion, and localisation across more than 40 countries. Previously, she worked with UN Women (in their Peace, Security, Humanitarian and Resilience team) and with UNDP’s Pacific Risk Resilience Programme. Sarah has lived and worked in the Pacific, where she saw firsthand the disproportionate impacts of disasters on women and girls; and is passionate about securing locally led, inclusive, and equitable humanitarian and development action.
Warande Advisory Centre, Uganda Country Representative
Selvan is an experienced institutional capacity development professional. Over 14 years, he has led on product development including program, strategy design, fund development, partnerships and general innovations for growth among local and national organizations in Uganda. Selvan is providing technical capacity to LCA Uganda through coordination, research and learning, and action plan design for effective locally led transformative actions.
The Share Trust, Communications Manager
Sophia is a communications expert with over 10 years of experience in strategic communications and digital marketing for nonprofits and organizations. Sophia has previously worked for organizations addressing social and racial equity for neglected communities in New York, Boston, and globally at Partners In Health, Urban Edge Housing Corporation, Boston Public Schools, the Center for NYC Neighborhoods, and most recently, New York City Housing Preservation and Development. Sophia is deeply passionate about providing clear and concise information for communities to use in order to improve their lives and thrive.
The Share Trust, Communications
Toscane is a founding member of the Share Trust and has played a key strategic and technical role in the development of the organization as it supports community resilience and strengthens the Self Help Group ecosystem globally. As an international development and humanitarian advisor, she has worked with local, national and international stakeholders to amplify community driven solutions across a range of sectors, especially around climate change, disaster risk and gender and social inclusion. Toscane leads on communications for the organization.
Our Board
Dr. Brooke Bailey has a professional background in pediatrics and publishing. She is the author of a series of books centered on female role models working across different fields. After researching these extraordinary women, Brooke decided to return to academics to study medicine and train as a pediatrician. Her philanthropic efforts focus mainly around ensuring educational access: through funding college scholarships; supporting a network of local organizations that use squash as a sport to enable and empower students to access and succeed in quality educational, athletic, and career opportunities; and supporting the work of the History Co:Lab, an initiative that uses history to engage young people to advance civic wellbeing.
Fanta Toure-Puri was born and raised in Cote d’Ivoire and holds a MA in International Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University and a BA in International and Public Relations from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Her thinking and the collaborative approach that she promotes in her work were shaped by her experience working in humanitarian relief at the grassroots level early in her career, and subsequently for a US-based grassroots grantmaker. Prior to joining the Girls First Fund, Fanta worked at the World Bank in the human development department. She firmly believes that progress in our field can only be achieved if and when communities are at the front and center of all discussions.
Grace Johnson Garrity is currently a graduate fellow in paintings conservation at the Whitney Museum of American Art. She previously graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Art History, and will earn her M.A. and M.S. in Art Conservation from SUNY Buffalo State in 2023. Though her professional work lies in the preservation of objects, she is equally interested in living cultural heritage as well as environmental conservation.
Dr. Marcy Kerr Yuknat is deeply engaged in non-profit work aimed at empowering individuals and organizations to address the needs of the most vulnerable. The mission of the Share Trust resonates deeply with her training as a Clinical Psychologist as well as her background in International Economics and non-profit management. Marcy is engaged in community based philanthropy as the Chair of the Grayce B. Kerr Fund while maintaining a practice as a psychologist and educator in Boston, MA. She is honored to support the collaboration between individuals and larger organizations who are at the forefront of successfully generating the type of transformative change at the heart of the Share Trust’s vision.
Pashtana Durrani is an Afghan feminist, activist, and educator. By the age of 21, she had already founded LEARN Afghanistan, the country’s first-ever digital school network. Forced into exile by the Taliban takeover in 2021, she is currently a visiting fellow at Wellesley Centers for Women while continuing to provide education for hundreds of girls in Afghanistan despite the current ban on them attending school. Known for her bluntness and courage, Durrani has been recognized internationally for her outstanding work to advance Afghan girls’ education. For example, she was named a Global Education Champion by the Malala Fund, nominated by the BBC as one of its 100 most influential women 2021, included in #Times100talks in 2022, and received a Global Citizen Award for Human Rights in 2023. During her time at Wellesley, Durrani is continuing her research on female education and maternal and newborn health.