Keeping the Tradition of Faraja Alive
The Faraja Fund Foundation was founded in 2006 to help administer charitable donations and financial support to Faraja Primary School and its graduates. Donations collected by the foundation have helped build new classroom facilities, purchase life-changing healthcare equipment, and support dozens of alumni as they move on to secondary school, vocational training, and college. Their goal is to ensure that no Faraja student is left behind, even after they graduate.
Our Team
The Faraja Fund’s founders, Board of Directors, and staff have worked tirelessly to make a lifetime of opportunity available to the students of Faraja Primary School.

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.

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 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.

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.


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.

Debi has practiced as a RN for 29 years and currently works as a pediatric emergency room nurse at Rady Children’s Hospital. Debi is a Certified Level One Trauma Nurse and holds a certificate in Pediatric Emergency Nursing. She also serves as chairman of the hospital’s Disaster Preparedness Committee.
Debi lives in San Diego, CA.

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.

Curt holds an MBA from Harvard and a BA from Middlebury College. He and his wife Cissy reside in Chester, New Jersey and on Cape Cod.
Kristin holds a BA in Sociology from Wittenberg University. She lives in Raleigh, NC.
Terri has a BA in Journalism from Bowling Green State University. She lives in Lake Forest, IL.
Support the Faraja Fund
Your donation will help provide the students and graduates of Faraja Primary School with a lifetime of opportunity.