Who We Are

School Ventures brings together a dynamic team of people with expertise in a diverse range of activities including corporate and project finance, education research and development, strategic development, data collection, information analysis and communication and digital development.

The members of the team include:

Mubuso Zamchiya, Executive

Prior to founding the Company, Mubuso worked as an Investment Officer at the International Finance Corporation, Director of Special Operations at AES Corporation and as a Strategic Consultant at Barclay's Bank in London. Mubuso is also Founder of the BOOST Fellowship (www.theboostfellowship.org), a nonprofit organization that equips university students to be purposeful people who can serve Africa 's needs for sustainability through the principles of possibility-oriented living, entrepreneur intelligence and servant leadership. Mubuso has an LL.B, and LL.M in Commercial and International Law from Bristol University, England. He also read for an MPhil in Development Studies at Wadham College, Oxford University, as a Rhodes Scholar.

Sawa Nakagawa, Development

Sawa was formerly an Investment Analyst in the Health and Education Department of the International Finance Corporation, where she worked on university investment projects in Pakistan, student financing facility in Indonesia, equity/loan financing of an education SOFOL (specialized non-bank financial institution) in Mexico and various other health and education investment analysis and portfolio management in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, Indonesia, Eastern Europe and the Russian Federation. Prior to IFC, Sawa was an Associate with UBS Investment Bank, where she worked in Tokyo and London on a range of transactions which included a US$487 million South African privatization of Telkom SA. In addition, Sawa has worked for a number of organizations as a consultant/intern in Africa, including the Millennium City Initiative in Blantyre, Malawi, the development-consulting firm Khulisa Management Services in Johannesburg and Glenhove Fund Managers (the Women Private Equity Fund) in Johannesburg.

Sawa has a Bachelor of Arts in the Division of Humanities from the International Christian University in Tokyo. Sawa is currently completing her MBA and Masters in International Affairs (MIA) at Columbia Business School and the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University, New York. She is on the Board of the Social Enterprise Club at Columbia Business School.

Samuel Imende, Development [Kenya]

Prior to joining School Ventures, Sam was a KIVA Microfund Fellow, scaling their operations in Nairobi, Kenya. His various microfinance experiences include work with the International Republican Institute as an Assistant Program Officer and participation in the Microfinance Club at John Hopkins University. Previously, he was General Manager for Kweli Kenya, where he implemented an entrepreneurial start up, as well as founding member and Chapter President of Students Against Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC).

Sam graduated from Wake Forest University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, where he participated in a Global Business Studies program focused on corruption and its impacts on social welfare and a Business & Accountancy summer graduate program.

Dudzai Saburi, Technology

Prior to joining School Ventures, Dudzai was Managing Director of Africom Internet and Founder and Director of Operations of Cyberplex Africa, a multinational web development company. At Cyberplex Africa, amongst other things, Dudzai developed a Knowledge Management System for the WK Kellogg Foundation Africa Office. He was a volunteer lecturer at the Zimbabwean Institute of Vigital Arts ("ZIVA"), teaching students the elements of web design. He also sat on the board of the International Virtual University developed to deliver education on an e-learning platform. Dudzai is also a Board Member of the BOOST Fellowship in Zimbabwe. Dudzai's career started as a Founding Employee of Africa Online Inc. He has extensive Internet and technological business development experience across Africa and has worked on a number of architectural projects. Dudzai graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology ("MIT") with a Degree in Architecture.

Laurel Higbee, Communications

Prior to School Ventures, Laurel was Communications Manager with the Museum of Photographic Arts. She was previously a Contributing Writer to 944 Magazine, a Communications Consultant with La Esperanza Granada, a Marketing Coordinator with Graham Downes Architecture, Inc., and an Account Executive with Kutch & Company, Public Relations. Laurel has a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California.

Melissa Richer, Social Innovation

Before joining School Ventures, Melissa worked for Ashoka: Innovators for the Public on the search, selection, and support of leading social entrepreneurs in Latin America. While working with at-risk youth in Ecuador and the Netherlands, she began thinking about the needs of older youth as they transition to adulthood. In order to address this issue she founded The Ayllu Initiative, which is focused on helping young adults in East Africa found social businesses that tackle social problems in their communities. Melissa is from Philadelphia and earned a Bachelor of Arts from Duke University, where she designed an interdisciplinary major in Human Identity that focused on international relations, primate behavior, and comparative literature.