Founders &Directors
The academic qualifications and vast expertise of both the directors and founders are critical to the success of a company, as they bring a wealth of knowledge, experience, and innovative ideas to the table.
Chris Smoot
Chief Executive Officer:
Chris has specialized in leading international humanitarian efforts that engage communities, build infrastructure, and restore a sense of normalcy so that families and individuals affected by unforeseen disasters, health epidemics, social injustices, and economic upheaval can begin to heal, rebuild and thrive.
For more than two decades, directing day to day operations, funding support and large-scale programming for global and US based humanitarian initiatives. Alight (formerly the American Refugee Committee), World Vision Africa/Somalia/Mauritania, Youth Hope Foundation, and the Adventist Development & Relief Agency. Through his efforts a great deal of success by fostering ownership and collaboration among diverse community groups and interested parties to affect meaningful change. He has solidified skills in planning, implementing, and evaluating day to day operations and humanitarian programming with a solid foundation in international management, faith and development issues, team dynamics, and leadership development issues in multiple geographic regions including Bangladesh, Kenya/Southern Sudan, Mauritania, and Somalia. His personal management skills encompass leading, training and developing teams of from 450 individuals to 1,500 at all levels of an organization.
Gideon Odhiambo
Chief RIDMEAL Officer
Gideon Odhiambo: Chief RIDMEAL Officer: Mr. Gideon Odhiambo is an expert in mixed methods research, monitoring and evaluation as well as training in leadership and human development sectors with a cumulative 17 years experience mostly in sub Saharan Africa. During this period he has successfully designed numerous programs and measurements and tools to address Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL) needs of organizations and market system in fragile socio-economic ecosystems. A few examples include Norwegian Church AID – NCA (Reconciliation Program in Rwanda) and FINN Church AID – FCA(Psychosocial Support for s of Gender Based Violence in DRC Congo and Burundi), The World Bank/UNICEF/UKAID (Biometrics data enrolment of 42,000 Cash Transfer Beneficiaries in Kenya in 47 counties), World Vision International (Food Security Programs in Warrap State; Value Chain Analysis in Juba; Resilience Programs in Somalia and Livelihoods Program for youth and VSLAs in Uganda), ADESO (Vulnerable Livelihoods in Kenya), UNHCR/GIZ (Entrepreneurship training for Women refugees SMEs from Somalia and Ethiopia) Help a Child Africa (CCCD Savings and Loans Program in Kenya for community SMEs), Technoserve Inc (Mobile Technology and Change Management and Needs Assessment for Agribusinesses in Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique) , Catholic Relief Services – CRS (Labour Market Survey in Ethiopia; Entrepreneurship Training for SMEs in Liberia), SOS Kinderdorf (TVET Education program in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, DR Congo and Burundi) and Ukuhani Wa-Kifalme LTD (Entrepreneurship training for SMEs and program monitoring data, Cash Transfer for Women with Children with disability in Kenya ), World Vision South Sudan (Resilience programming on HIV/AIDS and War affected Children) Among others. Gideon combines gender sensitive and responsive policy development and program design with social innovation and enterprise development at community levels to improve resilience in the context of emerging technologies as well as financial sector deepening for poverty programming.