Board Members
Gaoussou Peace SARAMBE
Executive Director
Luc YODA
Administrative and Financial Manager/ General Secretary
Lakhdar Boukerrou
Board President
Dr. Boukerrou’s main interests are international development, program management, institutional and human capacity building, and partnership development. Over the years, Dr. Boukerrou served on over 30 boards of civic and professional organizations including Advisory Boards for academic institutions and non-profit organizations. He brings a unique perspective and experience to the BARKA Foundation Board of Directors.
He used his extensive experience in training to develop numerous training programs funded by organizations such as UNEP, IFAD, USAID, and USDA for participants from Asia, Central and South America, Africa, and Eastern Europe representing some 30 countries. He also developed programs to enhance the capacity of academic institutions in North and West Africa and worked with universities’ leadership teams and faculty in Algeria, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Niger.
Having worked in several countries, Dr. Boukerrou has a wide-ranging multi-cultural experience and an excellent understanding of other cultural environments. The significant impact and the sustainability strategy implemented by Dr. Boukerrou resulted in an official recognition by the President of Burkina Faso for the success and the results reached by the $29M USAID WA-WASH program.
Dr. Boukerrou is currently a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Society for International Development. Dr. Boukerrou is a faculty member at Florida International University as such he holds appointments as Director of International Programs and Global Initiatives and Research Professor in the College of Engineering and Computing and Affiliate Faculty in the African and African Diaspora Studies at the Steven J. Green School of International Policy and Affairs. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.
Circey Trevant
Board Member
Circey is a seasoned Global Health professional with extensive field experience in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America. Circey has worked for several international organizations including Africare, Child Fund (formerly Christian Children Fund) and served as a Technical Expert in global health. She has implemented interventions to advance community development in health, food security, nutrition, etc. in many rural areas worldwide, including the eastern region of Burkina Faso where BARKA is based. She brings to the board a wide set of skills in program design, monitoring and evaluation and fundraising. Circey joined BARKA to apply her technical knowledge and skill set to a small organization focused on holistic rural community-led development with powerful impact. Her niche is thinking out of the box, and making things happen!
Circey graduated from Williams College in 1988, the same class as Tracy Heilman, Adam Ruderman and Esu Anahata, and she holds a Masters in Public Health from the University of Michigan and Bachelor of Arts degree from Williams College.
Adam Ruderman
Board Treasurer
Adam has been a lifelong entrepreneur, creating companies and organizations to help people, many with a social mission, some within the field of organic food and sustainable agriculture, and more recently within real estate and finance. Adam grew up in New York City where his award-winning restaurant and catering company, Herban Kitchen (1994-2004), was a pioneer in providing healthy and tasty organic meals, as well as educating the public about organic food and forging ties between local family farmers and restaurant patrons.
Adam is a creative thinker and problem solver who believes in the power of private and public enterprises to produce both financial and social returns, and to improve the world as part of their organizational mission. Adam believes that all organizations need to be responsible for their actions and create and promote sustainable practices. He also believes that non-profit organizations must provide real value and create self-funding mechanisms that provide streams of revenue which insure their long-term survival.
Adam received his BA in Political Economy from Williams College in 1988, and resides in Northeastern Pennsylvania with his wife, Katie, and children Jake, Phineas, and Gigi.
Lindsay Clark
Board Secretary
Lindsay began working with the BARKA Foundation as a volunteer in 2012, after completing a Masters degree in Human Rights and International Politics from the University of Glasgow in 2011 and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Williams College in 2010. She was inspired by BARKA’s mission to serve as a catalyst for sustainable development while building channels for cross-cultural communication and education between developing and developed nations.
An active member of the Boston innovation ecosystem, Lindsay works as the Director of Operations for a boutique innovation consulting firm. She has experience supporting all aspects of operational development: strategic planning, hiring, finance, sales and marketing, metrics, legal compliance, and service delivery. In a prior role, Lindsay led the crafting and submission of RFPs and independent proposals to federal, state, and local governments. She is excited to support BARKA in the next phase of its growth and development.
“To work alongside Esu and Ina is to feel their relentless passion, energy and drive to make the BARKA Foundation into a significant force for positive change. They do this 24 hours a day, 7 days a week because they are driven by a greater force which compels them to act. They work at this feverish pitch not for their own gain, but because they see the urgency of the situation and know that time is of the essence for the future of the children in this world.”
“Having met Ina and Esu in 2012, I was very impressed by the hard work that they were doing in Burkina Faso and by their passionate commitment and relentless efforts to help people in need in the Eastern region of the country. There is no doubt in my mind that the BARKA Foundation’s efforts under their leadership are making a difference in the lives of many.”