The Team
TMS Ruge
Co-founder
As a budding social entrepreneur, he’s currently assisting several indigenous farmer organizations in Uganda move from subsistence farming to large-scale commercial farming of aloe vera and moringa. Teddy is also a mobile technology enthusiast and blogs frequently about the African ICT sectors and it’s effects on development. He has also served on several panel discussions related to Africa, the role of the African Diaspora and Africa’s emerging technology space.
Teddy received a bachelors in Communication Design from the University of North Texas; when he isn’t trying to mobilize the African Diaspora, works as a professional photographer and web designer.
Teddy is a Ugandan record-holder in the decathlon and pole vault and, formerly, the high jump. He was also a one-time Ugandan Olympic hopeful in the decathlon. Teddy was born in Masindi, Uganda to a Sudanese father and a Ugandan mother. He grew up in Uganda, Kenya and Dallas, TX.
Tracy PellCo-founder
A graduate of Texas Woman’s University with a BFA in Graphic Design she has worked in advertising and marketing since 1994. Currently employed with a large Beauty Distributor, her past experiences include work with RR Donnelley, Ernst & Young, Merrill Lynch, CNA Insurance, Ameritech, and Bowne.
Tracy is also a social entrepreneur currently assisting several indigenous farmers organizations in Uganda move from subsistence farming to large-scale commercial farming of aloe vera and moringa.
In her spare time Tracy is a blogger, Social Activist, general all around happy gal, who wishes she could travel more and work at a desk less.
Tracy was born in La Ceiba, Honduras to a Honduran-English/American father and an American mother. (yes globalization has been around for a bit) Thanks to the vagaries of her father’s employment with of Standard Fruit she had the pleasure of living in many parts of Central America as a child including: Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, plus various locals in the US including Pennsylvania, Florida and Texas.
>Siena AnstisSiena Anstis, is a Canadian-Swedish freelance journalist and Aga Khan Foundation Canada fellow currently based in Nairobi, Kenya. She is particularly interested in human rights and community-based development and has spent several summers working in Northern and Southern Uganda, as well as studying and writing in Denmark and Kosovo. As the recipient of the CIDA Journalism and Development Initiative Grant 2009, she will also be writing about a variety of social issues from the East African region. She graduated with a B.A. in Journalism and Anthropology from Concordia University in Montreal in April 2009.
Apolo’s passion is in moving Africa forward. Having worked for many years in the research grant management field, he knows where the money is. However, money is not what Africa needs the most for it is a continent filled with so much wealth. Our greatest wealth is our people and that is where Apolo’s passion really lies. In giving people hope and belief in Africa, investing in our human capital, cultivating relationships and connecting people. A man who believes in the impossible, in thinking things that never were into reality. Apolo was born in Kabale, Uganda. He spent his early formative years in Scotland, Kenya and Uganda where he attended Makerere University. He has lived in the USA for the last 15 years.
Pamela NyakatoPamela is a graduate of Makerere University Business School with a degree in Business Administration. She formerly a lecturer at Kabalega College Masindi, Uganda in the Business Department.
Pamela serves as the General Manager of Uganda Medicinal Plants Growers, Ltd., (UMPG), a farmers’ cooperative based in Masindi, Uganda, that’s being assisted by Project Diaspora.
