Our Team

Kimberly joined Fistula Foundation in 2016, and is focused on growing overall fundraising and improving our donor’s experience. She is an experienced nonprofit fundraising professional with over 14 years’ experience working for some of the top nonprofits in the Bay Area, including Hope Services, EMQ Children & Family Service, Family Giving Tree, and Second Harvest Food Bank of Silicon Valley.
She continues to grow professionally through involvement with the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). Kimberly is active in the local community and spent several years volunteering with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training Program, helping participants become successful fundraisers and train for half marathons while fundraising and completing the events herself. Kimberly is passionate about women’s health and loves brining the stories of fistula survivors to donors. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking and playing with her young daughters.

Darren Blankenship is glad join Fistula Foundation as Database Administrator. Darren brings over twenty years of experience working with various Bay Area non-profits and educational institutions. His passion is for systems integration and data integrity, and he is excited to bring this to Fistula Foundation. He holds a bachelor’s degree from San Francisco State University. When he’s not working, he enjoys spending time with his family, reading science fiction, and catching up on recent developments in science and technology.

Jesse Dubow is thrilled to be part of the Fistula Foundation team as Program Manager. She learned about fistula while serving as community health organizer with the Peace Corps in Ethiopia, where she developed and implemented youth programs aimed at reducing risk factors for fistula.

She is passionate about gender equality and social entrepreneurship, and has worked on projects ranging from postpartum hemorrhage training in Guatemala, to recycling program feasibility studies in Indonesia. She believes philanthropy is critical to the resiliency and effectiveness of Fistula Foundation’s partners, and is excited to be part of ending fistula in a generation. Jesse holds a BA in International Studies from American University and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.

Mirabel Miscala joined Fistula Foundation in December 2015. As Digital Engagement Manager, Mirabel is delighted to communicate Fistula Foundation’s work through exciting and innovative means. Graduating from San Jose State with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Digital Media Art, Mirabel holds a background in web technologies, content management, and various digital skills in diverse fields. Prior to the Foundation, Mirabel has worked in multiple roles and projects relating to web and technology, including teaching for classrooms and content production for start-ups. Influenced by Silicon Valley tech culture, she holds a passion for the arts and technology, bringing start-up experience and creative skills to the team. Mirabel is excited to contribute innovative skills in supporting the Foundation’s excellent projects, while helping women in need.

Sajira Mae The is excited to be part of Fistula Foundation as Donor Relations Manager. Sajira is a graduate of Azusa Pacific University (MA, Transformational Urban Leadership) and the University of California, Santa Cruz (BA, Community Studies). She first learned about obstetric fistula in a global health class for her masters, when she was assigned Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. In joining Fistula Foundation, Sajira continues a career path in the nonprofit sector, supplemented by an impressive personal tradition of volunteer service.

Habiba C. Mohamed is the Country Director in Fistula Foundation’s Kenya office and has worked with the Foundation since 2014. In that time, she has been instrumental to designing the outreach and reintegration components of Fistula Foundation’s countrywide network—the first fistula treatment model of its kind.

Before joining Fistula Foundation, Ms. Mohamed had nearly a decade of experience working on fistula programming. She began her career as a veterinarian, assisting livestock farmers in western Kenya. Through her close contact with these rural communities, she became familiar with the socioeconomic challenges they experience and became passionate about working with marginalized women. In 2006, she founded Women and Development Against Distress in Africa (WADADIA), a Kenyan nonprofit that advocates for women’s rights and reproductive health. While serving as lead director of WADADIA, Ms. Mohamed also supported a UNFPA-funded community program for six years, and served as a consultant program specialist for One By One, a US-based nonprofit focused on fistula treatment.

Ms. Mohamed is currently working towards her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at Kenyatta University. She holds undergraduate and master’s degrees in the same subject from Mt. Kenya University, and has a higher diploma in Social Work and Community Development. Her research on the psychological effects of obstetric fistula has been published in the International Journal of Sciences, and the verbal screening tool she developed has improved identification of fistula cases. Under her leadership, Fistula Foundation’s treatment network has provided care to over six thousand women and counting.

Nelson Musa is Monitoring & Evaluation Officer of Fistula Foundation’s nationwide treatment network in Kenya. He brings fourteen years of experience in organizing and community health. Prior to joining Fistula Foundation, Nelson worked as an organizer for Jhpiego, and currently partners with WADADIA (Women and Development Against Distress in Africa), a key Fistula Foundation partner in Western Kenya.

Nelson holds a Higher Diploma in Psychological Counseling from the Kenya Institute of Professional Counseling, as well as a Certificate in Management from the Kenya Institute of Management.

Bwalya Magawa Chomba is the Program Director for the Fistula Foundation Zambia office. Bwalya is responsible for supporting referrals for fistula patients to partner hospitals, serves as key liaison between the hospitals and the community, and strengthens partnerships with government ministries and community and faith-based organizations.

Bwalya has been working as a Social Worker and Community Development Officer for 13 years, most recently based with the Ministry of Community Development and Social Welfare in Nakonde District. Bwalya has also worked with Caritas / Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Mpika Diocese, where she worked as a Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, coordinating revisions of project strategies with key stakeholders and ensuring a shared understanding of strategic and informational needs. During her tenure as District Development Facilitator with the NGO Africare Zambia, she learned about obstetric fistula and took up an active role in mobilizing suffering women, successfully referring 200 women for life-transforming surgery.

She has always believed that local community participation is an important way to achieve sustainable development, particularly in the fight against obstetric fistula. Bwalya holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Mulungushi University in Kabwe, Zambia.

Victor D.  Chibale is a motor vehicle driver in Fistula Foundation’s Zambia office. He provides reliable and safe transportation to Fistula Foundation staff and relevant officials, and delivers mail, documents, and any other Fistula Foundation cargo. He also ensures that all licenses and documents for Fistula Foundation vehicles are valid.

Victor has a class C driver’s license, a certificate in Defensive Driving from the National Institute for Productivity in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and more than 20 years of driving experience. Before joining the Foundation, he worked for Tanzania Zambia Railways Authority (TAZARA) for 17 years. Victor also has an International Certificate in Transport and Logistics and is currently studying for a diploma in the same field.

Martin Chiyana works as a Program Officer in Fistula Foundation’s Zambia office. He is stationed in Nchelenge District to cover programs in Luapula Province and some parts of Northern Zambia. Martin works with the Ministry of Health, assists in training and supervising Community Health Volunteers and Safe Motherhood Action Group Members (SMAGs), and holds sensitization meetings for local community leaders to spread awareness about fistula and treatment options.

Martin holds an Advanced Diploma in Computer Science and Information Processing from the Association of Business Managers and Administrators, a certificate in Monitoring and Evaluation from the University of Michigan, and a certificate in teaching methodology from Technical Vocation Teachers College Zambia.

Before joining the Foundation, he worked as a Monitoring and Evaluation Research Assistant on a maternal and child health project at Africare for three years. He also worked as an Engineering IT Planner at Mopani Copper Mines for 2 years and as a Network Benchmarking Engineer at Airtel Zambia and Nutek India for a year.

Martin has a heart for suffering and isolated women and believes there is a better tomorrow for these marginalized communities.

Kalumba Kaputa is a Program Officer at Fistula Foundation’s Zambia office. He collaborates with the Ministry of Health and local grassroots organizations, screening potential fistula patients and referring them to treatment centers for care in Zambia’s Luapula Province.

Prior to joining Fistula Foundation, Kalumba worked for 8 years as a Clinical Officer for the Zambian Ministry of Health, serving as a frontline health provider at Chilonga Mission General Hospital. He has also served in roles at the Mpepo Rural Health Centre and the Mpika District Health Office. Kalumba holds a diploma in Basic Clinical Medical Sciences in Mental Health and Psychiatry from the University of Zambia School of Medicine in Association with Chainama College of Health Sciences.

Kalumba strongly feels that unity and team work are essential for any organization to achieve its key objectives, especially in the fight against obstetric fistula.

Kelly Brennan is a Managing Director at Citadel Securities. She runs the global ETF business and specializes in helping clients to execute large trades in US and global exchange traded funds and equities. Prior to joining Citadel, Kelly managed several teams within Goldman Sach’s Securities Division in New York for nearly thirteen years. She joined Goldman Sachs in 2005 as an associate and was named managing director in 2010. Kelly started her career at Susquehanna International Group as an equity and equity derivatives trader. Kelly is an active member of Women in ETFs and served on Goldman Sachs’ Women’s Network. She was on the advisory council for Goldman Sachs Hispanic/Latino Network. She has served as member of Two Together, a mentoring program for disadvantaged youth in Manhattan and volunteer for Puppies Behind Bars.Kelly earned a BA in Political Economies with a concentration in Molecular Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2000.

Ling Yang Lew serves as senior legal counsel at Apple. She previously worked at the County of Santa Clara, where she served as an advice attorney to the County’s health and hospital system, which provides safety-net health services. Prior to law school, Ling worked in health economics research. Ling is a graduate of Stanford Law School and Duke University.

Gillian Slinger is a Midwife and holds a BSc in Health Management, an MSc in Public Health, and a Teaching Certificate. After completing her Nurse and Midwifery training in the UK, Gillian worked as a Midwife for 10 years in French speaking Switzerland, before joining Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF/Doctors Without Borders) and Save the Children as a field Midwife and Trainer in numerous countries, including Mali, Chad, DRC, Kenya and Sierra Leone. As part of her MSF duties, Gillian managed maternal health programs in more than 20 countries across Africa and Asia, and had an active role developing projects for women with obstetric fistula.

In the last 15 years, she has become an international activist for fistula and her involvement in fistula work has increased considerably, taking her to New York for 4 years to head the global Campaign to End Fistula with UNFPA, where she was instrumental in establishing the UN approved International Day to End Obstetric Fistula, and bringing her to the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) in London in 2014 to undertake her present role, leading the FIGO Fistula Surgery Training Initiative.

Gillian also teaches in the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and has recently served on the Board of Directors of MSF Switzerland

He has been a consistent major fundraiser for Democratic Senatorial Candidates and worked on fundraising committees for the Kerry and Obama Presidential campaigns. He started out doing pro-bono legal representation of draft resisters during the Vietnam War. From 2003-2014 Rob was a valued member of Fistula Foundation’s board of directors, helping guide the Foundation through profound change. He served for many years on the Executive Committee of the board, when the board was larger than it is today. He is currently volunteering as a mentor to fourth and fifth grade students at a public school in Manhattan.

Dr. Steve Arrowsmith has been working with Fistula Foundation for many years, but has recently become an official member of the staff. Currently based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Steve has treated fistula throughout Africa and Asia for nearly 30 years and is an esteemed mentor and trainer for new fistula surgeons. He received his undergraduate degree from Miami University, his M.D. degree from the Medical College of Ohio, and he is a Urologist by surgical training. Steve says his inspiration comes from the women he helps, starting with his first fistula surgery, and it has continued unabated.