Board and Executive Team

Board of Directors

Executive Team

Noella Coursaris Musunka
Founder and CEO

Noella Coursaris Musunka was born in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo. At age 5, she sadly lost her father, and her mother, lacking the resources to raise her, sent Noella to live with relatives in Europe. Noella was educated in Belgium and Switzerland, and after achieving a degree in business management, she moved to London and embarked on a career in international modeling. Her successful modeling career brought Noella to New York where she started the Georges Malaika Foundation in 2007 in tandem with her active modeling career.

Fiercely proud of her African heritage, her determination to help improve the lives of Africa’s youth has made her an international advocate for their welfare. She has addressed UNICEF and the Congolese Parliament about issues confronting underprivileged girls, was a panelist in the Global Creative Leadership Summit in 2009 and was a featured speaker at the United Nations’ Investing in Women and Entrepreneurship Solutions to Address the Millennium Development Goal 3 on International Women’s Day 2011. Noella has also been featured on CNN’s Connect the World and CNN’s African Voices and in various international publications like Vanity Fair.

Noella’s true passion lies in developing relationships that will support the girls of her homeland. To encourage the international community’s interest and involvement in Congo, Noella has facilitated organized visits to Congo for many influential people, including students from Columbia University, Khaliah Ali (daughter of Muhammad Ali) and the Ben Affleck Foundation. Noella also works tirelessly to encourage the Congolese youth to work for peace, gender equality and poverty reduction for their continent. With that goal in mind, she has helped organize and present at screenings of documentaries that reveal the horrific impact of war and rape. She also actively volunteers for numerous projects independent of her work with GMF, such as KickStart, an organization that offers efficient irrigation systems to farmers, and Doc to Dock, a program that ships surplus medical supplies from the U.S.

With passionate dedication, Noella works to further any cause she believes will empower the Congolese people to bring socio-economic development to their country, allow children the opportunities they all deserve and ignite positive change throughout Africa.

Yamandou Alexander
Director

Yamandou is Founder and CEO of ASG Telecommunications, an international voice, internet and satellite service provider. Mr. Alexander is an international telecommunications expert holding vast and empirically derived knowledge of virtually all aspects of the industry. While personally overseeing ASG’s early growth, he witnessed the myriad of difficulties facing Africa. In part, this experience has prompted Yamandou to pursue and negotiate agreements to develop an extensive and long-term communications network to benefit African businesses, organizations and communities. Yamandou has been an essential component of the Georges Malaika Foundation from its inception. Not only is he the liaison to studioMDA, our pro bono architecture firm, but he also oversees construction of the GMF school in the Democratic Republic of Congo where he has met with leaders from the village, the government in Katanga, and local NGOs during his frequent trips to the country. Yamandou’s vision and dedication are integral in all of GMF’s successes.

Alain Pakabomba
Chief Program Development Officer

Alain joined the Foundation in July, 2008, after 14 years in the investment-banking world where he gained extensive leadership experience while maintaining a strong involvement serving in a number of local and national non-profit organizations. Passionate about the power of education, Alain strongly believes that Africa must commit to improving education standards so that economic growth can be sustained. Alain brings his wealth of experience and passion to help shape GMF’s strategic direction and structure in supporting and managing its future growth.

Alain works as a Senior Director in Investments and Capital Markets for a fortune-500 company. Alain has an MS in International Management/Finance and an MBA from the University of Maryland.

Majda El Bied
Education and Fundraising Officer

Majda El Bied has experience in fundraising, education and media. She worked in the charity sector in London for three years and also worked for the BBC and for the Africa Liberal Network.

After volunteering in an orphanage in Ghana, Majda promised herself that she would donate her time and talents when she found an organization dedicated to improving education in Africa. She believes that GMF is focused on this goal, so she joined GMF in November, 2010. Majda strongly believes that through education livelihoods are improved for entire communities.

Anthea Gray
Secretary and Communications Coordinator

Anthea currently attends Columbia University’s Teachers College, where she will obtain her M.A. in Clinical Psychology. She also works with survivors of rape and domestic violence in New York City.

A firm believer in education as the tool that will set one free and an advocate of the women’s empowerment movement, Anthea lends her previous marketing experience to GMF with great stride.

Sonya Shannon
Football for Hope (FFH) Program Manager

Sonya Shannon holds a B.A. in International Relations and is currently a M.S. candidate in Conflict Analysis and Resolution. Over the years, she has worked as an advocate to end extreme poverty in Africa through promoting the message of women’s and girls’ rights and empowerment. She has interned for various international organizations and believes strongly in the approach of development through partnering with and empowering communities on the ground. A global citizen, committed to working toward a peaceful and just world, she believes a firsthand account can be a powerful tool for change and has lived abroad and visited numerous countries to better understand different perspectives, conditions and solutions.

Adriana Henriquez
Chief Financial Officer

Adriana has six years of experience in the development and implementation of the telecommunications sector of Africa. This background led her to further involvement and interest in the educational sector of many of the African countries, including the DRC. She maintains a strong conviction for education as the catalyst instrumental in making positive changes in the economic and cultural environment of the DRC by empowering tomorrow’s potential leadership.

Ms. Henriquez has volunteered with various NGO’s that have solidified her understanding on the issues of greatest importance to the African cause. She also acquired extensive knowledge on the special operational concepts related to development and implementation of successful programs of foundations.

Fabrizio Morello
Budgeting & Planning

Fabrizio is a dynamic professional with 20 years of rich experience and a strong background in finance and analysis of financial processes, advising top managers within airline and airport organizations. Globally, he has 23 years of experience in delivery consulting services across Europe, North America and the Middle East, working for major companies such as Arthur Andersen, IBM and Deloitte.

As an active contributor to the GMF effort, he has found a passion for GMF’s causes complementing his previous experience of providing volunteer service for the S. Egidio Community in Italy. He plans to utilize his professional skills to serve the GMF by defining a financial plan that will ensure that the girls of the Democratic Republic of Congo receive proper educational opportunities.

Fabrizio is a firm believer that girls represent the backbone of their societies and are responsible for the survival of children: their education can improve their health, life skills and entrepreneurship.

Carl Andrew
Web Master

Carl lives in London and has been working with Georges Malaika Foundation since its inception. Drawing on over six years’ experience in the Web/Graphic Design and Multimedia industry, his expertise in branding and promotion, and his passion for African history, culture and people, Carl is a key developer of GMF’s media image, identity, and accessibility. Carl believes that many people working collectively can make a difference for the good of Africa. He is motivated by the direct impact he sees GMF having in individual young women’s lives. He works enthusiastically and sees himself a small cog in a bigger machine generating positive change in Africa.

Pierre Ilunga
Education Advisor in the DRC

Pierre started his career in 1987 as a teacher in the second year of a new primary school established by ADRA Zaire, in Kitenge, 950 km north of Katanga. Later he would become the principal of the school. In 1989, he was appointed to start a new project for education and health care in Malemba Nkulu on the Congo River. In 1994, he was transferred to Lubumbashi, as a liaison officer for REACH (Render Effective Aid to Children).

Currently living in Lubumbashi, Mr. Illunga is working as the principal of a public school. Impressed by the values of GMF, he has been assisting and advising the Foundation since the start of its projects in the Lubumbashi area. Pierre actively helps GMF in the preparation of the school curriculum and organization.

Innocent Batunzi Lunanga
Education Planner in the DRC

Innocent Batunzi Lunanga is in charge of education at the ISP, Director of Studies at the IDAP/ISP, Education Advisor at the French Alliance of Lubumbashi and is a delegate of the Association of French Teachers.

Innocent, born in Kalebuka, DRC, obtained the Certificate of Primary Education, a State degree in General Pedagogy, and graduated in Pedagogy Applied in French Linguistics from the Higher Pedagogical Institute (ISP) in Lubumbashi. He also has an M.A. in French Foreign Language from the Grenoble 3 University in France, and he is preparing the brief of the Master2 in Teaching French in Saint Etienne to support his PhD in France.

Mr. Lunanga believes that quality education will guarantee a better future for the impoverished young girls in DRC. His experience, expertise and training in pedagogy are a great asset to GMF’s educational work.