Meet Our Teams
Olowo-n’djo Tchala, President
Rose Hyde, Vice President
Vernice Jones, CCPC, MCC
GACE empowerment programs in West Africa are managed and carried out by the Togo office of our non-profit organization. In Togo, we have a team of 15 dedicated individuals led by Hortense Adjoavi Santos, our National Operations Director, to ensure GACE’s policies of complete transparence, honesty and anti-corruption are maintained throughout all our programs.
Board of Directors
After finishing high school, Ibada was trained as a midwife through the national midwifery school. Ibada has worked at GACE Togo for eleven years. She started as a coordinator for the maternal health program, using the skills she learned as a midwife to set up the expectations and operating procedures for the program. Today, Ibada is the deputy country director, dividing her time between managing and monitoring the health-related programs and covering the role of National Director when needed. Ibada’s goal is to expand the maternal care program to cover the health and nutrition of children from 0 to 5 years in the most impoverished communities.
Pearl Servat is the Head of Marketing at Wedgewood Pharmacy, the largest custom compounding pet pharmacy in the US. Prior to her role at Wedgewood, Pearl oversaw brand and demand gen at Visible, Verizon’s all-digital wireless carrier. Pearl spent the larger part of her career in the entertainment industry, where she represented and developed brands for a number of globally notable names. Born and raised in Tehran, Iran, she’s a steadfast champion of human rights. Pearl received her MBA from UNC Kenan Flagler and has been a supporter of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles for over a decade.
Maria Mason has served on the GACE Board since its inception. She traveled to Togo for the first shipment of Alaffia bicycles in 2006. Trained as an Osteo-Archeologist, her work has taken her to many parts of the world. Maria’s passion for health and environmental solutions led her to work on indoor air quality issues for over two decades, as well as Co-Directing the Coalition for Environmentally Safe Schools in Bainbridge, WA, and working with municipal executives and parks departments to implement pest management systems that reduce the use of pesticides. Maria was instrumental in developing the first set of Alaffia Foundation (GACE) organizational documents, bylaws, and press archives.
With over 20 years of experience working with global Fortune 500 companies and large nonprofits, Vernice Jones is a consultant and executive coach who creates experiential leadership development programs and leadership development solutions for senior leaders that both connect and drive business results. She has extensive experience coaching C-Suite executives and other corporate leaders, offering a host of services and comprehensive leadership assessments.
Vernice is a Director and Faculty of Adult Development at Georgetown University’s Institute for Transformational Leadership. She is an Associate (Coach, Facilitator, Consultant) at Cultivating Leadership, a global, deliberately developmental, complexity-based organization. Vernice designed and is currently co-faculty for the ground breaking Leading Inclusively Lab, Wisdom in Leadership and core faculty of Conversations at the Growth Edge series, through Cultivating Leadership. Through her executive coaching business, she has been an executive and professional coach for clients in the US, Europe, Africa and Asia. She is a Growth Edge certified coach and has been designated by the International Coaching Federation as an MCC (Master Certified Coach).
Vernice makes her home in the Washington Metropolitan area, with her husband and two sons. She graduated from the University of Maryland with an undergraduate degree in Economics and holds a Masters degree in Finance and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.
Rhobhi is a strategist, international development expert and global health specialist, entrepreneur and implementer of solutions with demonstrable impact. While healthcare remains her primary area of focus, her strategic experience covers multiple other sectors including technology, financial inclusion, agriculture/agribusiness, education, youth employment and disaster management. A fast-learning and adaptive leader, she has worked extensively with private, government and non-governmental sectors in over 20 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.
Prairie Rose Hyde is the lesser-known co-founder of GACE and Alaffia. As a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Central African Republic and Togo, she woke up to the disparity of opportunities and resources across the globe. At Alaffia, she used her expertise on the interrelations of plants and people to create simple, effective body care products, and with a dedication to serving those less fortunate, helped form an organization that empowered individuals and communities through fair trade of indigenous resources. At GACE, she uses her financial and managerial skills to liaise between US and West Africa operations.
Olowo-n’djo Tchala was born and raised in the town of Kaboli, Togo, West Africa where he shared an 8’ x 10’ room with his mother and seven siblings. He was inspired by his mother, who continuously found ways to demonstrate kindness and generosity to those around her and helped teach Olowo-n’djo the importance of community. When he was in sixth grade, he dropped out of school to support his family.
More than a decade later, Olowo-n’djo came to the United States where he was determined to continue his education. He earned his GED and went on to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in organizational theory from UC Davis. While studying, Olowo-n’djo could not ignore the yearning he felt to help improve the way of life for the communities like his home village by providing a more sustainable and equitable future. He was compelled to fight the injustices he faced and witnessed, including gender inequality and poverty in West Africa through sustainable health care, education and environmental initiatives.
Olowo-n’djo founded Alaffia with Prairie Rose Hyde in 2004, when armed with their understanding of the value of indigenous West African resources and an understanding of sustainable business ideologies, they launched Alaffia’s first collective. For nearly two decades, Alaffia’s mission has been to alleviate poverty and advance gender equality through the fair trade of indigenous African resources. In 2005, Olowo-n’djo and Rose created GACE to operate community empowerment programs funded through the fair trade sales and give other like-minded individuals and organizations a way to participate first hand.
Carla’s passion for international development began when she served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Comoro Islands. After Peace Corps service, she earned a master’s degree in International Affairs and Public Health and spent the next next 20 years living and working in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Malawi, Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, Togo, and Uganda. Carla’s background includes both program and operations management in multiple organizations, including Catholic Medical Mission Board and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) for over 17 years. At CRS she oversaw education, public health, agriculture, microfinance, water and sanitation, justice and peace, and humanitarian aid programs, building local capacity and improving social services systems by working in partnership with faith-based community and high-level government officials. Currently, she serves as Board Secretary for the National Peace Corps Association and as Vice Chair for the Youth Collaborative and is a member of the Advisory Group for the Christian Alliance for Inclusive Development.
Hortense Koffi Santos was born in Sokodé, the capital of the Centrale region. Her parents were health care workers who exposed her from an early age to several regions of Togo, a country of numerous ethnicities and dialects. She studied anthropology and sociology with a focus on community development and social change. Hortense is driven by human connections and her part in fighting for social justice. Today, she is a sociologist, counselor, and directs projects in human resources. Hortense is the National Director of Operations and Community Support for Alaffia.
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