Nathalie Munyampenda is the Chief Executive Officer of Kepler. By innovating the university experience and providing targeting upskilling interventions, Kepler graduates distinguished learners and leaders who transform their lives, their communities, and their countries. Over 90% of graduates are employed within 6 months of graduation.

Nathalie is passionate about education and the future of work. Without new pathways in education that provide foundational 21st century skills, meets students where they are (equity) and leads to clear employment outcomes, African countries will lag in terms of the future of work. Kepler is building a global model of accessible higher education and upskilling.

Prior to Kepler, Nathalie was Managing Director at the Next Einstein Forum building Africa's community of scientists, curating the premier science and innovation conference and pushing for science driven industrialization through foresight and policy work.

Nathalie has also worked in the Canadian public and private sectors, and in international social media consulting before working to build the Government of Rwanda’s central communication unit as Coordinator (Director General) in the Office of the Government Spokesperson.

Nathalie has an Honors in International Development and Globalization from the University of Ottawa and a Master’s in Strategic Communication from Seton Hall University.

Prof Baylie Damtie is the Vice Chancellor of Kepler. He oversees the initiation and development of upskilling and regular degree programs at Kepler. He is also leading the region's  employability system change program of Ashesi University. Before joining Kepler,  Baylie was the President of Bahir Dar University for seven years (2011-2018). During his term, he initiated and led the expansion of  PhD programs that increased from 2 to 32, masters from 5 to 134, undergraduate from 45 to 75 and the publications of the University per year reached 586 from just below 10. He also initiated and led the establishment of one of the largest medical schools in Ethiopia with a teaching hospital. Prof Baylie Damtie  has also pioneered high skills oversea employment opportunities by forging innovative private-public partnership and enabling about 400 engineering graduates to secure overseas employment per year by establishing ISO certified and IMO recognized Maritime Academy at Bahir Dar University. The Washera Geospace and Radar Science Laboratory at Bahir Dar University, a leading space research laboratory in the region, is also the brainchild of Prof Baylie Damtie.

His educational background includes PhD in Space Physics from the University of Oulu (Finland), MSc in Space Physics from Tromso University (Norway) and BSc in Physics from Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia).

Christine was most recently the Acting Country Director, Sierra Leone for the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), a global health organisation committed to strengthening integrated health systems in the developing world and expanding access to care and treatment for HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. CHAI’s solution-oriented approach focuses on improving market dynamics for medicines and diagnostics; lowering prices for treatment; accelerating access to life-saving technologies; and helping governments build the capacity required for high-quality care and treatment programs. Her role is to ensure strong execution of the country programs to make sure that CHAI’s results meet and exceed targets. Prior to CHAI, she was the Deputy Country Director for Operations at GOAL Sierra Leone. She has also worked in Niamey, Niger for Concern Worldwide as an Assistant Financial Controller. Previously, she worked for an accountancy practice Houlihan and Cushnahan, where she progressed from the Real Estate Accountant to the Financial Controller over a 4-year period. She is a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA), holds a BA in Accounting & Finance and Master’s Degree in Finance.

Ashley is the Senior Director of Reporting and Humanitarian Initiatives at Kepler. Her team leads Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work across the organization and implements targeted programming for marginalized student populations. This includes Kepler’s tertiary preparation program (Iteme), refugee college guidance counseling, and bachelor degree scholarships. Ashley also collaborates with Kepler’s grant partners and manages external reporting.

As a member of Kepler’s founding teaching team, Ashley has helped design and refine our unique pedagogical model. She has also served as an academic leadership coach and led Kepler’s campus in the Kiziba refugee camp. Ashley enjoys mentoring young educators and supporting them to grow as professionals and leaders at Kepler and beyond. She represents Kepler in the Connected Learning in Crisis Consortium, of which Kepler was a founding member, and works closely with our partners at the UNHCR and Southern New Hampshire University’s Global Education Movement.

With over 15 years of experience as an educator and advocate, Ashley is passionate about the power of education to unlock potential and break down existing social and economic inequities. Prior to Kepler, she taught and supported other educators in the United States,Central America and the Caribbean. Most recently, she taught and developed blended learning instructional models at an innovative charter school in Chicago. Ashley holds a Bachelor’s degree with honors in Anthropology and a Master’s in Teaching, from the University of Chicago.

Jean Marie Vianney is the Country Director at Kepler Ethiopia. He leads the country strategy development and implementation of Kepler programs in Ethiopia, ensuring the creation and development of a strong team, building and maintaining strong partnerships in and out of the country, and ensuring the successful beneficiaries’ skills development and successful transition into decent careers. He led the expansion of Kepler to Ethiopia and the launch of the Graduate Employment Program in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Previously, Jean Marie Vianney served as the Director of Careers and Alumni affairs where he contributed in the creation and refining of different career development initiatives for students, supported in building strong employer partnerships that led to the achievement of a 90% employment rate and the first Kepler refugee graduates with full time employment, and he supported in the initiation of the Kepler alumni association that impacts the community. Prior to that, held different academic positions at Kepler, leading the contextualization and delivery of Kepler courses, and he supported the successful expansion of Kepler in Kiziba refugee camp.

Before joining Kepler, Jean Marie Vianney worked with the Rwanda Agriculture Technology Demonstration Center where he supported cooperatives of smallholder farmers in adopting new agriculture technologies and using agriculture mechanization to increase their harvest. He also worked with the Rwanda Private Sector Federation’s Chamber of Agriculture, working in farmers’ capacity building. Jean Marie Vianney holds a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness from University of Rwanda and is pursuing an MBA in Project Management at Mount Kenya University. He is passionate about youth skills development and career development, and supporting access to quality education for marginalized communities.

Jean Pierre is the Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academic and Research Affairs at Kepler. He oversees all academic programs in Rwanda where he ensures the development of strong academic leaders and promotes a dynamic research culture. Additionally, his role is to build an outstanding academic experience for students and to deliver excellent academic and employment outcomes. Prior to his current role, Jean Pierre served as the Founding Dean of Faculty and held several other different roles before that including Academic Campus Director, Lead Course Facilitator, and Course Facilitator.Since joining Kepler in 2013, Jean Pierre has developed and initiated a variety of projects such as establishing the academic advising team, developing systems and tools for effective student support, devising strategies and policies aimed at improving student readiness for the workplace, building and maintaining academic partnerships with other institutions, contributing to improving continuous professional development for the academic staff, and leading the development of the BA Project Management program for the accreditation of Kepler College.Jean Pierre is passionate about innovative and disruptive education models that positively impact disadvantaged communities. Throughout his career, his work has involved teaching as well as development of academic programs and systems to improve student learning experiences among other things. He holds an MBA in International Business from Amity University and a Bachelor of Arts with Education from the University of Rwanda.

Aloys Baziga is the Deputy-Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance at Kepler College.

With more than 14 years of experience, prior to joining Kepler in 2018, Aloys was the Chief Finance Officer (CFO) at Cronimet Mining Gmbh, overseeing the company’s two subsidiaries in Rwanda: Minerals Supply Africa Ltd and Cronimet Metal Ltd.

He also worked in other different senior managerial positions in finance and audit with different companies in Rwanda. His areas of expertise include Finance, Accounting, reporting, taxation, budgeting, cash flow management, auditing, compliance, operations and Human Resources management.

He holds a BBA in accounting with Distinction from AUCA, and he is currently pursuing his MBA. Aloys is also a qualified CMA (Australia) Member and ACCA finalist.