Maendeleo is governed by a Board of 8 members. The day to day activities of Mandeleo are under two Co-excutives.
Co-Executives
Amani Jackson Kitali | Newark, NJ.
Amani Kitali has been a member of Maendeleo since 2005 and has served as Co-Executive Director and Board Member since 2011. He contributed in founding of TPC Parents against AIDS (TPC-PAA), an NGO headquartered in Northern Tanzania that addresses the socio-economic burden of HIV-AIDS to rural families in Tanzania.
Professionally, Amani works in clinical research management. He is currently a Director, US Medical Affairs at Celgene Corporation in New Jersey, overseeing various hematological malignancies & immuno-oncology studies. His past work experience has been in clinical lab research, epidemiology field research, and managing clinical trials, and has significant publication history. Apart from his work in clinical research, he has been involved in a few public health and development initiatives back in Tanzania.
Amani holds Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University, Masters of Public Health degree from Yale School of Public Health, and Masters of Business Administration from Rutgers, University of New Jersey. A native of Tanzania, he now lives in Newark, New Jersey.
Mwombeki Fabian | Los Angeles, CA.
Mwombeki Fabian is among the first beneficiaries of Maendeleo as a medical student. He currently serves as Co-Executive Director and Board Member. A medical graduate of Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Mwombeki has worked as physician and a public health project manager in his native country Tanzania promoting HIV/AIDS prevention, substance abuse and Human Resource for Health. He also holds a masters degree in Clinical Informatics and Healthcare Management from Duke University, North Carolina.
An enthusiast of Health informatics, Data analytics and Business intelligence, Mwombeki worked as a Clinical Informatics Systems Analyst for a hospital in Georgia.
Currently, he is a healthcare/IT consultant with Deloitte Consulting LLP in Los Angeles, CA where he also resides.
Other Board Members
Frank Minja | New Haven, CT.
Frank Minja is a current Board member and among the founding members of Maendeleo, which grew out of an effort to recycle used textbooks from Harvard Medical School to Medical Schools in Tanzania, circa 2002. Maendeleo has since become fully incorporated and sent many used textbooks to HKMU, MUHAS and KCMC Medical Schools in Tanzania. Maendeleo has also been involved in HIV/AIDS advocacy sponsoring the first ever AIDS Walk Dar in December 2006. Maendeleo now promotes excellence in medical education through merit based scholarships at Weill-Bugando Medical School. Frank is currently an Asst Professor of Neuroradiology at Yale in New Haven, CT.
Steven Wasira | New York City, NY.
Steve Wasira, Jr has been actively involved with Maendeleo initiatives since 2008. He is a Business Development Manager for Sithe Global, an infrastructure development company engaged in various markets around the world. Steve focuses on new business development in Africa. Steve is also an active member of AngelAfrica (www.angelafrica.org), a New York based not-for-profit organization whose mission is to promote entrepreneurship and private sector as a way for sustainable economic development in Africa. Steve is a native of Tanzania and a graduate of University of Maryland Baltimore County with a BS degree in Information Management Systems.
Steven Nkurlu | Newark, DE.
Steve Nkurlu is Director of Recreation and Respite Services at Easter Seals Delaware and Maryland’s Eastern Shore. A graduate from Lincoln University, PA, Steve has been involved in services and advocacy for disabled population for over ten years. Specifically, he has been in designing and implementing programs that promote independence and recreational opportunities to individuals with disabilities while providing respite to their caregivers. Steve has experience in program administration, marketing, strategic planning, organizational leadership in a medium-sized non-profit organization. He is a member of the American Camp Association (ACA) and enjoys most outdoor activities, traveling, theater and volunteering. Steve and his wife, Elizabeth, will soon be relocating to Newark, Delaware.
Estomih E Mtui, MD |New York City, NY
Estomih Mtui, MD, is an Associate Professor of Anatomy in Cell and Developmental Biology (Education) Dr. Mtui, Director of the Program in Anatomy and Body Visualization, is responsible for overall administration of the Anatomy Program and the development and implementation of the Gross Anatomy and Functional Neuroanatomy curricula. Under Dr. Mtui’s stewardship.
An innovative educator, Dr. Mtui designed the Anatomy curricula as a hybridization of Clinical and Gross Anatomy to portray the broad range of anatomical presentations students will encounter in their training and careers. He is Associate Director of the course design group for the Human Structure and Function course and the Brain and since 1999, the Program has grown to four full-time and ten adjunct faculty members.
Mind course, and is Director of the Anatomy Course for the Graduate School’s MSHS Physician Assistant Program. Seeing the need for innovative curricular resources, Dr. Mtui led the creation of an online teaching tool for Functional Neuroanatomy that has consistently ranked highest in student evaluations of the course units. Dr. Mtui has won several teaching awards here at Weill Cornell including the Elliot Hochstein Teaching Award and The Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society award and has played a significant role in developing the Anatomy Programs at WCMC-Qatar and at Weill Bugando College of Health Sciences in Tanzania. Dr. Mtui works tirelessly to arrange opportunities for medical students to participate in clinical research programs in Tanzania, personally arranging summer electives for students at medical schools and hospitals in Tanzania with the belief that greater interconnectedness in the healthcare community benefits all.
After receiving his MD in 1977 at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Dr. Mtui completed a Teaching and Research Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine, and received a Master of Medical Sciences degree in Neuroanatomy at the University College, Galway, Ireland. His research focuses on the investigation of neural networks within the central nervous system involved in the control of visceral reflex function during different phases of sleep-wake cycle and in response to pain and exercise. A major effort is underway to identify pathways in the nervous system capable of producing widespread activation of cerebral cortex and responsible for initiation and maintenance of conscious behavior.
Dr. Mtui is a member of the American Association of Clinical Anatomists, the Society for Neuroscience, and the International Brain Research Organization, among others. He is a co-author of Clinical Neuroanatomy and Neuroscience, of which the sixth edition has just been released.
Mange Manyama, MD, PhD |Ar-Rayyan, Qatar
Mange Manyama is an Assistant Professor of Anatomy in Radiology at the Weill Cornell Medicine in Qatar. He is the former associate professor of anatomy and associate dean at the Weill Bugando School of Medicine of the Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences in Tanzania. As the associate dean at Weill Bugando, he was involved in the coordination of Maendeleo activities including selection of Maendeleo’s award beneficiaries and compilation of their testimonials. Dr. Manyama holds a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and PhD in medical sciences from the University of Calgary, Canada. His research interest is in the areas of structural birth defects, birth outcomes and growth as well as improved strategies in the delivery of quality medical education. He has published extensively in these areas. Dr. Manyama is a member of several professional organizations including the American Association of Clinical Anatomists.