Our Team

Board of Directors and Trustees

Tiffany Cheng Nyaggah | Co-Founder

Prior to Dignitas Project, Tiffany worked at Harvard University as a researcher with the Public Education Leadership Project studying leadership and organizational change in partnership with urban school districts. Her case studies on entrepreneurial efforts in the education sector have been published in books and currently used in graduate courses in business and education at Harvard and Stanford University. She began her career as a teacher, admissions counselor, and school developer in Oakland public schools and later worked in Boston public schools. She has consulted on a number of youth-led and faith-based organizing activities promoting education equity in urban communities. Tiffany holds an Ed.M in School Development from Harvard University and a B.A. in Cultural Psychology/Education from Wellesley College.

Bobby Lee | Chairman, Co-Founder

Bobby is currently the President and CEO of Pioneer Circuits, Inc., a leading manufacturer of printed circuit board technology. He has previously served as the Founding/Lead Pastor of Convergence, an Evangelical Covenant church in Oakland, California as well as a Worship and Executive Pastor for a church in the Silicon Valley. Bobby has extensive experience and education in leadership, strategy, theology, and organization design and is passionate about leadership empowerment of the emerging generation. Bobby holds an BA in Economics from UCLA, an MBA from USC’s Marshall School of Business and a MA in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary.

Dr. C. S. Sheth

Dr. Sheth is a retired medical practitioner with 40 years experience. He is now an active philanthropist focusing on health and education. He has been involved in more than twenty not-for-profit organizations and charities which include: Chairman of Spinal Injury Hospital, Kenya; Board Member of Kenya Community Development Foundation (KCDF); Patron of St Ann’s Gichocho Girls School, Kiambu; and Board member of Association for Safe International Road Travel (ASIRT), Kenya.

Smita Sanghrajka

Smita is currently a Director in the International Development Advisory Services (IDAS) unit in KPMG Kenya. She has had significant consulting success working with public sector, donor agencies, private foundations and non-governmental organizations. She has contributed to the progress and achievements of programs and organizations in a variety of sectors including governance, health, land, urban development and community development. Smita is a graduate of the London School of Economics (LSE) and a qualified member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales.

Dr. Perry Devani

Dr. Paresh Devani joined the Dignitas board in 2014. He is a retired maxillofacial surgeon and lecturer, having practised and taught for 30 years at several hospitals. He has been actively involved with various health and education charity and philanthropy organisations and initiatives. These include Smile Train International, a children’s charity for cleft lip and palate healthcare provision in developing countries; Future Faces, which supports training of cleft heathcare professionals; rural schools such as St. Ann, St Peter and Paul schools in Kiambu; and Spinal Injury and Mathare Hospitals. He is a member of the Medical Advisory Board of the Hyderabad Cleft Society in India, based at the GSR Institute of Craniofacial Surgery, which provides free healthcare and also runs a unique on-site education initiative in the Cleft School Project, providing free education using innovative teaching methods for children with treated cleft defects.

Atia Yahya

Ms. Atia Yahya has worked in various senior positions at AON Minet Insurance Brokers and APA Insurance. She has vast management experience in the insurance industry with diverse contacts and networks. She was instrumental in setting up Health Insurance Divisions for AON and APA Insurance. She is qualified as an Associate of the Australian Insurance Institute in General Insurance with specialization in Marine/Aviation classes. Ms. Atia is currently engaged by GA Insurance Ltd as a Management Consultant to develop its Health Division. She is a member of Rotary Club of Nairobi where she has held various senior positions, undertaken numerous projects and served as its Vice President from 2016 to date. She is an active member in a number of philanthropic initiatives among them a Trustee for Friends of Spinal Injury Hospital in Nairobi. Ms. Atia also serves as a Trustee of Kenya Community Development Foundation- KCDF and Non-Executive Director and Chairperson of KCDF Investment Holding.

Joseph Kahenya

Joseph is a business executive within the financial services sector and has experience spanning over 15 years in the areas of strategy formulation & execution, operations excellence, business planning, risk & governance frameworks, balance sheet optimization, team coaching & mentoring amongst others. Joseph possesses a Bachelor of Science(Accounting & Finance) degree and an MBA(Strategic Management) degree both from USIU-Africa and is also a qualified accountant and member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya.

Amit R. Gadhia

Amit is a dual qualified lawyer by profession (advocate in Kenya and a solicitor in England). Amit is a director in his own family-owned education consultancy in Oxford, UK and has vast experience of serving on boards of various private companies, both in Kenya and in the UK. He has spent a similar amount of time in the last 20+ years working in the legal profession and the education sector. His legal specialisms are commercial and company law, business documentation and data protection law. In the education field, his education consultancy has worked with over 1200+ private tutors over the last 10 years. Amit is also a corporate governance professional and a graduate of The Chartered Governance Institute, UK and a Certified Public Secretary in Kenya.

Dr Karen Edge – Research Advisor

Dr Karen Edge is currently an academic at UCL Institute of Education and recently served as Pro-Vice Provost (International) at University College London, UK. Karen has conducted research in over 30 countries including a 6-jurisdiction study of teacher motivation and retention. Karen's Global City Leaders Project worked with Generation X (under 40-year-old) school leaders in London, New York City and Toronto to understand more about their work, lives and ambitions. Karen is also preparing two books on Generation X leaders (Routledge) and City-based education policy contexts and the influence on school leaders (Bloomsbury). She sits on ESRC (UK), Danish and Swiss National Research Review Panels and the Advisory Panel for International School Leadership Principals [http://internationalschoolleadership.com/] in Ontario. She is Past Editor-in-Chief of Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability (EAEA) and a current Editorial Board Member for EAEA, School Leadership and Management and Leadership and Policy in Schools. She completed her PhD in knowledge management and educational reform at the Ontario Institute of Education/University of Toronto. Karen is a highly sought-after keynote speaker. She is known for being able to blend theory and practice with insight and humour.

Management Profiles

Deborah Kimathi – Executive Director

Deborah has led Dignitas' strategic growth since late 2017, building on 19 years of experience in the development sector with a particular focus on education and child protection. Deborah also serves on the Leadership Team for RELI Africa, a member driven organisation bringing together 70 education actors from across East Africa, all focused on improving learning outcomes for children furthest behind, and on the Advisory Board for EGER (Evidence for Gender and Education) Kenya. Deborah is also Founder and Trustee of Raising Futures Kenya, an award winning training program for out-of-school youth, based in Nairobi.

Ng’ang’a Kibandi – Advocacy and Development Director

Ng’ang’a is a development practitioner with 10+ years' experience in program design, implementation, and evaluation. Over the years he has demonstrated great strength in quality program implementation, generation of evidence for policy, and establishing relationships with key policy and implementation agencies within Kenya and Somalia. His is driven by his love for transformational change and empowerment of the most marginalized. He currently co-leads a learning network with a strong focus on improving learning outcomes in Kenya.

Nancy Gikandi – Learning & Evaluation Manager

Nancy is a monitoring and evaluation practitioner with 6+ years in research, program design, monitoring and evaluation. At Dignitas, Nancy leads the monitoring, evaluation and learning team and is responsible for the design and implementation of programs monitoring, evaluation and learning frameworks. She is also responsible for the design and maintenance of Dignitas' dashboards, evidence-based program design and implementation, and program reporting. Nancy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics, M&E Certification and is currently enrolled for her Masters degree in Development Studies.

Team Profiles

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Team

The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Team develops and implements effective and efficient systems for learning and evaluation that allows the Dignitas team to ensure evidence-based program design, delivery and reporting. The MEL team leverage their experience and expertise to drive the utilisation of data and evidence across the team. To facilitate organizational learning, the team periodically shares trends and insights for team reflection and action. Real-time data dashboards are maintained by the MEL team to guide timely action in the field, and efficient reporting to partners, donors and stakeholders.

School Support Team

The School Support Team is at the forefront of delivering program activities to Dignitas school partners – from school recruitment and partnership due diligence, to training and coaching. All School Support Team activity is planned and implemented with the goal of improving teaching and learning across Dignitas partner schools. Our work is designed to strengthen the ability of school leadership teams to build the trust, systems, and leadership competencies necessary for all schools to be places for learners to thrive and succeed. The School Support Team design and deliver high quality Leadership Academies and Professional Development Workshops across cohorts of Dignitas school partners, and provide individualised coaching to school leaders throughout our partnerships.

Programs and Advocacy Team

The Programs and Advocacy Team is involved in designing, delivering and supporting programs. They work closely with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Team, and the School Support Team to ensure program excellence. The Programs team works with a range of partners, donors, and stakeholders to keep program delivery and impact on track. They are instrumental in understanding and communicating program impact, including reporting the same to donors, and to our wider community.