Dave has been actively involved in Faraja since its founding. As Board Chairman, Dave travels to Tanzania frequently to participate in the school’s planning and monitor progress.

Dave’s professional career is in business management and private equity investing. Since 2001, he has been a partner with The Edgewater Funds, a private equity firm based in Chicago. Previously, Dave was CEO of Yesmail, a direct marketing company, and held executive positions with Bally Total Fitness, General Mills, and McKinsey & Co. He serves on the boards of numerous Edgewater portfolio companies and is active on nonprofit boards including Opportunity International, the Field Museum of Natural History, and the Chicago Entrepreneurial Center.

Dave received his BA from the University of Virginia and his MBA from Harvard Business School. He and his wife Tracy live in Lake Forest, IL.

Debi is the niece of Don and Joann Tolmie, founders of Faraja School, and the granddaughter of Mabel Swanson, whom the school is dedicated to. She has a lifelong passion for caring for children with disabilities and medical needs. Debi served as a Pediatric Emergency Room Nurse in San Diego for 29 years before retiring in 2020. During her nursing career, she specialized in pediatric trauma care and disaster preparedness.

Following in the footsteps of her beloved Aunt Joann, Debi took on the role of Sponsor Liaison for Faraja Primary School. In this role, she serves as the vital connection between students and their sponsors, delivering letters and messages between them during her twice-yearly visits to Tanzania. She takes the time to build meaningful relationships with each student, learning their stories and helping strengthen the bond between sponsors and children.

Debi has personally sponsored three students, forming lifelong connections with them and continuing her commitment to supporting the children and mission of Faraja School. She is honored to serve on the Board of Directors, as it provides her with the opportunity to continue advocating for and supporting the special students of Faraja.

For over four decades, Jean has combined a career in healthcare with an enthusiastic commitment to community service. Most recently, Jean has led clinical operation and transformation initiatives for a large multi-specialty provider group and integrated delivery system in the Boston area. In the non-profit sector, she was a founding partner of a small, women-led consulting group which provided leadership development and fund-raising support to several Massachusetts organizations, including the Sisters of Notre Dame and the Girl Scouts.

Prior to pivoting to volunteer activities associated with community youth sports and school
organizations, she served as Board President for both the American Cancer Society (Boston Chapter) and the Junior League of Boston. She was a Board member of the Arthritis Foundation of Massachusetts, as well as Senior Warden at her local Episcopal church. In each role, Jean strives to enhance team effectiveness and facilitate the collaboration of volunteers and staff to support organizational success.

After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry from Carleton College, Jean was awarded a Master of Public Health degree from Yale University and completed a program in Administration and Management at Harvard University. She and her husband Tom split their time between Westford, Massachusetts and Grantham, New Hampshire.

Hunter is from Baltimore, Marland and has worked for Under Armour in Global Supply Chain and Inventory Management for the last 10 years. He has visited the students at the school six times. He is the grandson of Don and Joann Tolmie who he was able to travel to the school with on multiple occasions with his wife, Lexi. Hunter and his wife have supported the school by leading various fundraisers as well as organizing holiday cards to be sent to the students. He was also responsible for having over 150 Under Armour shirts to be donated to each of the students at the school. Hunter has a great passion for supporting the students at the school and is dedicated to keeping his family’s mission alive for the years to come, including introducing his son, Griffin, to the students at Faraja in the near future.

Emmanuel Dunford Makala is a Tanzanian social worker, filmmaker, and entrepreneur passionate about using storytelling to create positive social impact. He graduated from Faraja Primary School in 2012, and assists the staff and BOD in its outreach to Faraja alumni and alumni event coordination. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from Kairuki University and is the founder of Ultimate Makala Studios, specializing in videography, photography, documentary filmmaking, and digital storytelling. Through his work, Emmanuel partners with organizations and communities to produce compelling visual stories that inspire change, amplify marginalized voices, and promote sustainable community development.

Pat has three decades of leadership experience in higher education and healthcare fundraising, marketing and communications. In 2014, she co-founded a nonprofit consulting firm, MPK&D, with three partners. The firm has grown to 15 consultants serving clients in education, associations, and other nonprofits nationally. During her career, Pat served as chief advancement officer for campaigns collectively raising more than $100M.

Pat has been active with the Faraja Fund Foundation since her first visit to Tanzania in 2008, and she joined the board in 2014. She holds a BA in English from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland. Pat and her husband Frank live in Hydes, MD.

Mitch and his wife Kris have actively supported the school since their visit in 2012.

Mitch retired from business in 2007 to write books and has since published five. He started his career in advertising at Chicago-based Foote Cone & Belding, which he ultimately ran for 8 years, before moving into the parent holding company as one of two operating presidents. He moved to the corporate side for the final chapter of his business career as chief marketing and strategic officer for the holding company, ServiceMaster. Along the way, he has served on numerous non-profit, industry association, and for-profit boards.

Mitch and Kris split time between Ocean Ridge, Florida, and Lake Forest, Illinois.

Paul is a dentist specializing in periodontics and surgical implantology. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology. Paul’s honors and distinctions also include Fellowship in both the American College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists, societies which recognize professional leadership and humanitarian service.  Paul is a graduate of the University of Richmond and Emory University School of Dentistry, and he completed his specialty residency training at Boston University.

In addition to his family’s commitment to Faraja, Paul’s interests include church ministry and civic service. He serves on the Board of the Directors for the Southminster Retirement Community. Paul and his wife Melissa live in Charlotte, NC.

LeAnn Pope had a distinguished career as a nationally recognized litigation attorney, retiring from law in 2015 to pursue a Master of Theology degree from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary at Northwestern University, which she completed in May 2020.

She has devoted much of her retirement to advancing social justice initiatives as a strong supporter of Faraja and the past Chair of the Board of Directors of Opportunity International, Inc., a global organization working in Africa that helps families living in extreme poverty build sustainable livelihoods and access quality education for their children.

LeAnn also works with young African American men on the South Side of Chicago who are making an effort to leave the street life through CRED (Create Real Economic Destiny), an organization dedicated to effecting transformational change in Chicago gun violence.

LeAnn lives in Winnetka, Illinois, with her husband, Clyde McGregor.

Scott joined the Faraja Board in 2026, a number of years after he was first introduced to this amazing organization through his parents who were longtime friends of Joann and Don Tolmie. Scott recently retired from a career in financial services, which included banking, capital markets, investment management, and insurance brokerage. He is a graduate of Washington & Lee University, and currently resides in Charlotte, NC with his wife Edie.

Scott has served on several non-profit Boards/Committees over the years, including Special Olympics North Carolina, Safe Alliance, Roof Above, Ascend Nonprofit Solutions, and Charlotte Family Housing.

Dave has visited the Faraja School several times and has a special interest in students’ medical care and long term physical independence. His own experience of living with a physical challenge led to his commitment to Faraja School.

David is co-founder and former President of TreeHouse Foods, one of the largest private label food manufacturers in the U.S., with $3 billion in revenue. Before co-founding TreeHouse, he was President of Keebler Brands for five years prior to its 2001 acquisition by Kellogg. After the acquisition, David became President and CEO of the Keebler Company. He currently serves on the boards of TreeHouse and Aéropostale. He is also on the Board of Advisors for the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.

David earned a BA from Georgetown University and an MBA from New York University. He and his wife Stacy divide their time between Lake Forest, IL and Naples, FL.

John has worked with Faraja School and other health ministries in Tanzania since 2001. He has assisted Tanzanian organizations with animal projects, water projects, capacity building, HIV/AIDS treatment, healthcare dispensary support, famine relief, hospital support, scholarships, and the distribution of 65,000 free mosquito nets to 19 villages.

John is a seasoned healthcare executive with more than 30 years of experience, including 15 years as a hospital CEO. John serves as CEO of VEDU, an education technology company. John received a BS from Virginia Tech and an MBA and MHA from Georgia State University.

John and his wife Lynn live in Baltimore, MD.

Clint received his divinity degree from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago in 1985 and for the next 38 years he pastored Presbyterian congregations in Kansas, Indiana and Illinois. He has embraced particular ministries including partnering with historic African-American Presbyterian congregations in inner-city Chicago, Native American Sioux congregations on the Plains of South Dakota and Montana, the Great Banquet Cursillo communities, leading mission trips to Ghana, across the Midwest and more than a dozen to New Orleans in the decade following Hurricane Katrina, mentoring future Presbyterian ministers, and joyfully leading bicycling trips across the Midwest while staying in churches along the way.

Clint, along with his wife Deb (who is also a pastor) are passionate about connecting with people from different cultures, backgrounds and economic means with the message of God’s never-ending love and grace. He believes the Faraja Foundation is a powerful and beautiful means of doing this.

Maddie is a Senior Brand Manager at Kimberly-Clark, where she has spent the past five years building brands and driving growth. Prior to her work in CPG, Maddie worked at a nonprofit consulting firm supporting fundraising and marketing efforts, and began her career as a middle school Special Education teacher.

She holds an MBA from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia.

Maddie’s connection to Faraja is deeply personal. Her grandparents helped found the Faraja School, and her father currently serves as the Chairman. She has traveled to the school five times and is passionate about supporting its mission and the incredible students it serves.