Board

Aaron Kirunda is a co-founder and CEO of enjuba. Born during the war and growing up in abject poverty, he was lucky to have an education as many of his childhood friends dropped out of school - a trend that has continued to date keeping many families in poverty. This experience fuels his passion to transform Uganda's education system. To-date enjuba has been able reach and impact 1.5m children in 1,500 schools and trained over 10,000 teachers. Aaron hopes that one day we shall be able to create a world of responsible citizens, authentic leaders and credible change agents, especially with enjuba's continued investment in Early Childhood Development. Aaron is a graduate of the London School Economics and a fellow of MIT’s Global Start-up Workshops, LSE’s Programme for African Leadership and Acumen. He was recently named as one of the 40 people under 40 making a difference in Uganda and is also a recipient of the Digital Innovation and Inclusion Award.

Henry is a co-founder of enjuba going back to 2006 when it started as a clothing company. Henry has stayed closely involved with enjuba over the years while it transformed from a clothing business to micro-finance to what it is today- a nonprofit organization entirely focused on improving education in Uganda. Back home, Henry co-founded a craft brewery in Boston called Mighty Squirrel in 2013. Mighty Squirrel’s taproom has become a multi-generational community gathering place with more than 16,000 monthly visitors. Henry was previously a Product Manager at a medical device company in San Diego called Alphatec where he developed spinal implant systems to help people with spine injuries regain their active lifestyle. In Boston Henry is currently on the board of SquashBusters, which provides athletic, academic, and leadership opportunities to low income youth. Henry lives in Waltham, Massachusetts with his wife and three-year-old son.

Jackson, born in the tiny village of Nyakagyezi in Southwest Uganda to unschooled parents in 1970, brings to ALI global leadership experience in human rights advocacy as well as a personal vision to utilize local leadership and resources to change people’s lives. He leads Nyaka Inc, a non-profit organization he founded in 2001 to tackle systemic deprivation, poverty and hunger in his home area of 500,000 through a holistic approach to community development, education, and healthcare. It currently provides free education and healthcare to 86,000 AIDS orphans and vulnerable children and financial support like micro-loans and entrepreneurial training for the 20,000 foster grandmothers who have taken them in. Kaguri has raised over $150 million for Nyaka around the world. He has published seven books and serves on the boards of Global Giving, Uganda Water Project and Enjuba. Kaguri was named CNN Hero of the Year, Heifer Hero, Global Citizen, Power of One in Time Magazine, and has spoken at the UN multiple times. He has also received three honorary PhDs. He is a father of four biological children.

Currently Kaguri is doing an advanced leadership fellowship at Harvard University https://www.advancedleadership.harvard.edu/2023-fellows-and-partners/jackson-kaguri

Gasta Kakaire Co-founded the National Debate Council Uganda (NDC) the country’s first and biggest Speech and Debate organisation in 2009. He continues to serve as the Executive Director. Through Debate he has mentored thousands of young people transforming them into confident and collaborative young leaders. As co-founder of Uganda Spelling Bee, and with background training in English language teaching, Gasta laid the much needed foundation for Spelling Bee training for both teachers and pupils. He is also board chairman of Fine Media Ltd a media and promotions company in Kampala. Gasta is a graduate of Education and MA Makerere University with over 7 years of teaching experience at King’s College Budo one of Uganda’s oldest and leading high school. He is currently an Election Officer at the Electoral Commission Uganda and a father of 2 daughters and 2 sons.