BOARD OF DIRECTORES
Hattie Smith-Bynes, President
Hattie was an educator for 38 years and after retiring as Principal of a local high school in Richmond, CA, she has dedicated her time to serving her church and other local non-profit organizations. She joined REACH Shirati (formerly AISCS) in 2009 and has served as our president since 2012. Hattie visits Shirati-Nyamagongo annually. |
Laura Mason, Ph.D.
Chief Financial Officer Laura is Clinical Professor Emerita, in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, where she taught for 28 years. She served on the Alameda County Mental Health Board for eight years and on the Board of Solar Roots for six. Laura has been the REACH Chief Financial Officer since 2006 and has led ten of our volunteer trips. |
Ezra Chacha, Ph.D.
Ezra grew up in the same remote Tanzanian region as his wife and our founder, Christine Nyanda-Chacha and has been involved with REACH Shirati (formerly AISCS) since inception in 2002. Ezra earned a Ph.D. in Paleontology at UC Berkeley and currently works on Diabetes products at a biopharmaceutical company. |
David Gordon, Ph.D.
David had a career as a technical writer in the software industry, and as a developmental psychologist doing research on language acquisition at UC-Berkeley. Since retiring in 2013, he has devoted his time to both local and global volunteer activities. He has served in our Board since 2006, and has traveled to Shirati many times. |
Jenny Abuya
Jenny grew up in Shirati, graduated from the University of Dar-es-Salaam with a degree in Economics, and is currently pursuing pre-med studies in the San Francisco Bay Area. Jenny's knowledge of the educational system in the Shirati region has been invaluable to guiding our graduates and help build our educational plans. |
Milton Nyanda
Milton grew up in Nyamagongo and immigrated to the U.S. after finishing high school. He joined our Board in 2010 and has worked with us on volunteer projects for the past several years. He is currently pursuing a masters degree in Nursing in the Bay Area, where he lives with his wife and five children. |
Camille Harris
Camille held the position of Telecommunication Manager for a major telecom company for many years. After retiring, she spent 10 years as an independent contractor specializing in IT testing. Camille currently leads our Computer Learning Project, providing OLPC computers to Tina's School. She has visited Nyamagongo twice since 2014. |
Stacie Vance
Stacie is young professional in the San Francisco Bay Area. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Conservation & Resource Studies, and a minor in Global Poverty & Practice. Stacie is passionate about serving local and international communities through her Rotary club and other non-profit organizations. She has traveled to Shirati twice since 2013. |
Diana Malin
A Berkeley resident, Diana has been an active volunteer with NGOs dealing with programs in post-conflict Bosnia and Croatia, reforestation in Guatemala, and supporting grassroots efforts of social healers in the DRC. Since joining us in 2009, Diana has worked on building critical partnerships, program development, and fundraising. |
Judy Bliss, M.D.
Judy is a family medicine physician who has provided obstetric, gynecologic and HIV care at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center for more than thirty years. At CCRMC she led the obstetric training of family medicine residents planning careers in global and underserved healthcare and she has been Chair of the Dept of OBGYN. She visited Shirati with her son in 2005 and joined the board in 2022. |
Steven Kahn
Steven is a retired technical writer who worked for several Silicon Valley technology companies. He has been a longtime supporter of REACH Shirati and is the co-founder of REACH Shirati’s Hospital Food Project, which he helped establish in 2008 with the goal of serving nutritious meals to the patients at the Shirati Hospital. |
Catherine (Kate) Brady
Advisory Board Kate is a retired professor of creative writing and the author of five books. A longtime supporter of REACH Shirati, she is a co-founder of our Hospital Food Project. She is a member of the Board of NAMI San Francisco (National Alliance on Mental Health), and a volunteer with Breakthrough, an academic program for 5-12 graders with limited educational opportunities, helping them to achieve college. |
Pamela Chacha, M.D.
Advisory Board Pamela, the daughter of Ezra and Christine, our founder, has been with our organization since the early days. She served as our Youth Volunteer President from 2003-06. Pamela is currently pursuing a Family Medicine residency program and plans on practicing medicine in underserved regions of Tanzania in the near future. |
Kara Obradovic, M.S.
Advisory Board Kara teaches mathematics at Middle College High School in Richmond, CA, and has served on our Board since 2008. Kara attended elementary school in Tanga and Mbeya, Tanzania, where her mother was teaching chemistry. She has recruited many young people to travel and volunteer with us, and has traveled to Shirati three times. |
Adeke Obbanya
Advisory Board Adeke transitioned to the non-profit world in 2013, after a 13-year career in corporate retail. She has been to Shirati every year since 2014 when she first visited Tina's school establishing an annual program of CA youth volunteering at Tina's school. Adeke is passionate about supporting underserved communities both in the US and in Africa. |
Tina's Pre and Primary School Tanzania Staff
Fred Hezekiah Chacha, Manager of Operations
Fred has been working full time for REACH Shirati since 2008. Born in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, he earned his diploma in Management and Information Technology at the Institute of Management and Information Technology (CATS) in Dar Es Salaam. As the Project Manager for all of REACH Shirati's Tanzania endeavors, Fred is in charge of the administration of Tina's School and the Hospital Food Project. He also takes excellent care of our volunteers when we are in the village, and is much loved in that role!
Fred has been working full time for REACH Shirati since 2008. Born in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, he earned his diploma in Management and Information Technology at the Institute of Management and Information Technology (CATS) in Dar Es Salaam. As the Project Manager for all of REACH Shirati's Tanzania endeavors, Fred is in charge of the administration of Tina's School and the Hospital Food Project. He also takes excellent care of our volunteers when we are in the village, and is much loved in that role!