HaKiElimu

Members
HakiElimu's Board members are responsible for overseeing the activities of the organization. They are the body to whom the Executive Director reports. The board is composed of people with a passion and broad expertise in education and governance issues in Tanzania. Some founding members of the organization remain on the Board to-date.

Board Profiles
Jenerali Ulimwengu, Board Chair
Jenerali Ulimwengu is the CEO and Chairman of Habari Corporation and a publisher of several English and Swahili newspapers. He has served the government in various capacities as Member of Parliament, Member of the CCM executive committee, District Commissioner, Chairman of the National Sports Council and at one time was Tanzania's representative to the Pan-African Youth Movement in Algeria. At the moment as a journalist, he also hosts a popular TV program which analyzes and debates issues pertaining to policy, politics, economics and social life in Tanzania. Mr. Ulimwengu has written and published several books and articles.

Bashiru Ally
Bashiru Ally is an Assistant Lecturer of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Dar es Salaam. He teaches Organizational Theory, Public Administration, and African Politics. Mr. Ally is also one of the researchers and consultants working with the Research for Education and Democracy in Tanzania (REDET) organization at the University of Dar es Salaam.

Helen Kijo-Bisimba
Helen Kijo-Bismimba is the Executive Director of the Legal and Human Rights Centre. A lawyer by profession, she is also known as a human rights activist. She has memberships in many prestigious organizations which include the Tanzania Women Lawyers Association, the Women in Law and Development in Africa Foundation (WILDAF) , the Women’s Legal Aid Centre. Ms. Kijo-Bisimba serves as a Chairperson and Board director to several civil society organizations in Tanzania. She has also written and published several books and conducted various researches projects.

Amandina Lihamba
Amandina Lihamba is a Professor in Theatre Arts who recently completed her tenure as the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of the University of Dar es Salaam. Her research and writing interests include culture, politics, communication, the arts, gender studies and education. She has been a pioneer of successful initiatives for gender equality in education and the arts. A recipient of the Rockefeller, Fulbright and other fellowship awards, she has also chaired and been a member of numerous regional and national organizations that work in theatre, culture, media, gender and governance. Ms. Lihamba has vast experience in community facilitation, strategic planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Her training credentials include a Masters degree in Fine Arts from Yale University and a PhD from Leeds University.

Elizabeth Missokia
Elizabeth Missoikia is the Executive Director of HakiElimu. Prior to this she worked for Care International in Tanzania, and also with USAID, Tanzania. Ms. Missokia is a sociologist with expertise in Community Economic Development. Her expertise and experience is focussed on organisational and institutional capacity development, education issues in relation to girls, program management and strategic planning, action research, gender, and participatory monitoring and evaluation.

Dinah Mmbaga
Dr. Dinah Richard Mmbaga is a senior lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam, faculty of Education. She lectures in Inclusive Education with the Department of Education (Psychology), and and also teaches Comparative and International Education in the Department of Education Foundations. Dr. Mmbaga has wide experience in disability issues both nationally and internationally. In Tanzania, she worked with the Ministry of Education as Head of Special Education for over twelve years. She was instrumental in establishing a Special Education Unit at the Ministry, where here work included policy issues, training and human resource development. During the course of her career, Dr. Mmbaga worked in coordination with the both the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and the Ministry of Health. She has experience in advocacy and has been closely involved in liaison with organizations of and for the disabled both nationally and internationally, for example - Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, FINIDA and British Council.

Rakesh Rajani
Rakesh Rajani is a citizen of Tanzania and was until recently the founding Executive Director of HakiElimu (www.hakielimu.org), which is an independent civil society organization in Tanzania that promotes public engagement and enables citizens to hold their government to account. Rakesh’s interests include the use of information in promoting citizen agency, the political economy of policy making, budget transparency and public engagement, and education governance. He has written and/or edited over 300 academic papers, popular publications, and op-eds in English and Swahili. Mr. Rajani serves on several national and international boards that include HakiElimu, The Foundation for Civil Society and the Media Council of Tanzania. He is a fellow of the Harvard Global Equity Initiative, and advises its Joint Learning Initiative on Children and AIDS. He also advises the Gates/Hewlett Foundations’ Initiative on Quality Learning Outcomes in international education and Google.org on its program development on information and governance. At the moment, Mr. Rajani is a senior associate with Hivos and works with several partners to develop an East Africa wide initiative on citizen agency and accountability.

Founders of HakiElimu
A group of 13 Tanzanian founding members established HakiElimu in early 2001. This group consists of some of the leading members of the civil society, academic, research, media, human rights and gender community in Tanzania. Collectively, the group represents over 20 years of experience in analysis, program development, activism and management, including specialization in education. At present, HakiElimu has 14 members.

Founder Members
Wilbert Kapinga
Member and Director, HakiElimu Board of Directors and Senior Partner, Mkono & Co.; former Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Dar es Salaam.

Helen Kijo-Bisimba
Director, HakiElimu Board of Directors, Executive Director, Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC); Human Rights advocacy.

Demere Kitunga
Member, HakiElimu,,and Director, E & D Publishers; writer and activist.

Elieshi Lema
Former Director and Chairperson, HakiElimu Board of Directors; Director, E & D Publishers; author of children's books and fiction.

Richard Mabala
Member, HakiElimu; Regional Advisor on HIV/AIDS, UNICEF; writer, animator and activist on gender and youth.

Japhet Makongo
Member and former Program Manager for Community Governance Program, HakiElimu: Education and Community Development Specialist.

Marjorie Mbilinyi
Member, HakiElimu; Professor of Education, Institute of Development Studies, University of Dar es Salaam; and Coordinator, Rural Food Security Program.

Elizabeth Missokia
Member and Executive Director, HakiElimu.

Martha Qorro
Member, HakiElimu and Head, Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics, University of Dar es Salaam.

Rakesh Rajani
Member and first Executive Director of HakiElimu; child rights researcher, analyst, author and activist.

Mary Rusimbi
Member and former Chairperson, HakiElimu Board of Directors, Executive Director, Tanzania Gender Networking Program (TGNP); gender activist.

Joseph Semboja
Member, HakiElimu; Executive Director, Research on Poverty Alleviation (REPOA); economist and policy analyst.

Suleman Sumra
Member and former Senior Program Officer Research and Policy Analysis, HakiElimu; Associate Professor (retired), Faculty of Education, University of Dar es Salaam.

Illuminata Tukai
Member, HakiElimu; Project Officer, Education, UNICEF Tanzania; child rights advocate.

Jenerali Ulimwengu
Member and Board Member, HakiElimu; Chairperson, Habari Corporation; independent thinker, journalist and publisher.