KUSP BOARD OF DIRECTORS
KUSP builds critical relationships with individual students and teachers and with the community organizations which support them. Because each and every one of our Board members has traveled to Kobulubulu and connected with actual people in Kobulubulu, with names and faces and stories, we are compelled to do all we can as volunteers to help these deserving children.
Lois H. Stovall, President and founder of krma-US Partners, Ltd, is an attorney with over 30 years experience in family law, and a national trainer in family law and mediation. Stovall designed and conducted advanced mediation training course across the United States, and has been a frequent featured workshop leader for professional associations.
Stovall served on the Maryland State Bar and drafted legislation regarding emerging trends in family law, and has served on the boards of directors of several non-profits setting policy for providing community services for families and children. She is an accomplished public speaker at numerous venues.
As a professional mediator, Stovall used a multidisciplinary team model to address family business conflicts. She has served in roles with the National Council of Churches Commission on Justice for Children and Families, the United Nations Special Session on Children, and a Children’s Defense Fund task force.
Stovall received a JD from the Washington College of Law at American University and a BA from Wake Forest University.
Christine Poulon, Vice-President, is the head of legal and compliance for blispay inc., a financial services startup in Baltimore, Maryland. Previously, she was counsel at Paypal for eight years, where she was responsible for the legal aspects of consumer credit products. She also volunteered on PayPal’s Give Team, which coordinated volunteer drives for the company, and solicited and reviewed applications to provide grants to local charities in Baltimore.
Prior to joining Paypal, Poulon spent six years in law firms, most recently in the D.C. office of Mayer Brown. She has taken pro-bono cases for asylum seekers from Pakistan and Somalia, served as general counsel of a foundation and with many organizations. Poulon received her JD from the Washington College of Law at American University and a BA from Vassar College.
David R. Smock, Treasurer, is a distinguished scholar and peace advocate with more than 30 years experience in African cultural and political development. After a 15-year career at the Ford Foundation where he was the Regional Representative for Eastern and Southern Africa, Smock became Director of the Grants Program and Coordinator of African Activities at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). He served at USIP from 1990-2015 in several positions, including Vice President of the Centers of Innovation and Founder and Director of the Religion and Peacemaking Center.
At USIP, Smock was involved in peacemaking activities throughout Africa, including Uganda, Darfur and other parts of Sudan, South Sudan, Nigeria and Somalia.
The author of numerous articles on peace making in Africa. Smock has written or edited 11 books. He received a PhD from Cornell University and an MDiv from New York Theological Seminary.
Dayna Brown, Secretary, is the former Director of The Listening Project at CDA Collaborative Learning Projects and a co-author of Time To Listen: Hearing From People On The Receiving End Of International Aid. She began her career in international development as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kenya over 20 years ago, and has managed humanitarian, peace building and development programs for Mercy Corps, Habitat for Humanity and the US government. Brown has lived and worked in Indonesia, Kenya, Kosovo and Tanzania, and has undertaken short-term assignments in many other countries. She received a MA in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University, and a Bachelor’s of Business Administration from Texas Christian University. She is also the proud, busy mother of two young daughters.
ADVISORY BOARD
Lindsey Holaday, Advisory Board Chair, had a 20-year career in strategic planning and public affairs at Yale University with a focus on creating public-private partnerships and new media development. She has worked on a broad range of women’s issues including maternal and child health, women in international conflict situations and using new technology for education. Holady served as the first Vice-President of krma-USPartners and partnered with founder Lois Stovall in launching the first project in Kobulubulu with the women farmers of KRMA.
Holaday has volunteered extensively in the non-profit sector, and has served on numerous boards and commissions. She has a particular interest in East Africa, having lived and traveled widely there. She received a BA from Wheaton College, Massachusetts.
Mary S. Pence has been a life-long advocate for the interests of women and their families. When the issue of domestic violence and its impact on both its direct victims and on children was first being publicized in the early ‘70’s, Mary helped create a service project which assisted women in getting out of abusive relationships and which resulted in the founding of one of the first shelters for battered women in the country. In the early years of her career, Mary was a special education teacher, and an elected school board member. After attending law school, she practiced in the area of Family Law for 32 years, with a particular emphasis on protecting children from the conflict often created by divorce. Her faith community, Christ Congregational Church, continues to be a core part of her life. She and her husband have a daughter and son and three beloved grandchildren.
Consultant to KUSP
Arthur Kiiza, owner of an 800-acre crop and cattle farm in Uganda, is a farmer and community leader with substantial experience in land management and the business of farming. He helped establish a training center where villagers, farmers and local leaders learn how to manager community savings and loan groups, and are taught agricultural business skills and improved farming methods. Training includes how to form producer groups, select suitable products, improve the value of products and negotiate for better prices.
Kiiza also invests in his local community through microfinance, savings groups and market/value chain development. He earned a BS degree in international management and business from LA Roche College and a MA in economics and social development from the University of Pittsburg, where he specialized in agricultural and rural development.
KUSP Uganda Team
Juliet Apio Dipolah, KUSP Local Coordinator
Juliet started out as a translator for KUSP in 2016, working with us on our first project with KRMA. We quickly saw that Juliet, who was a radio journalist with an Associate’s degree, had many skills. Since being promoted to the role of local coordinator in 2018, Juliet continues to impress. She provides logistics for each and every one of the programs and we simply could not function in Kobulubulu without her. Since we haven’t been to Uganda since March of 2020, Juliet’s added the role as chief photographer to all her other tasks. She not only is competent and ethical, she does her work with great care and sensitivity.
Juliet is a first-born twin, and one of eleven children, raised by her paternal auntie who encouraged her in her studies through to the Institute level. She’s married to Olobo Thomas, and they have 4 beautiful daughters, Blessing, Bethel, Beulah, and Lois Bethany. She and her husband work together in their family farm.
Jackie Kiiza, KUSP Ugandan accountant and chief negotiator
Jackie is our newest addition. Jackie is married to our wonderful former country director, Arthur Kiiza and lives in the capital city of Kampala with her 3 children. Every KUSP board member has enjoyed Jackie’s awesome hospitality when we arrive jetlagged from the U.S. or return to Kampala from two weeks in Kobulubulu utterly exhausted. Beginning in 2021, she stepped in to take over the money management of KUSP’s funds’ delivery to various vendors, and programs. This year, she also visited nursing programs to determine which would be best for our students, negotiating with vendors to get their rock bottom price for books, solar lanterns, and school supplies, and many other tasks. She’s never been to Kobulubulu, but she’s quickly become indispensable to our work there.
Susan Kituyi Rose, KUSP Educational Consultant
Susan is a past President of the Rotary Club in Soroti. We met her in 2018 when coordinating the Kensington-Silver Spring Rotary grant with Rotary contacts in Uganda. She has been a wonderful addition as she travels to Kobulubulu from a couple of hours away to interview our applicants for the Girls Scholarship program. Beginning in 2021, she helped design, and is the lead of the team for Tutoring Camp.
Susan’s background is key to the success of her work with us. She has been a teacher for 23 years, a trainer for physics for 14 years, an examiner and counselling psychologist. She has taught at Kongunga High School, a rural mixed day school, and currently teaches at Teso College Aloet, an urban Boys Boarding School. She has vast experience in teaching and counseling students from all walks in life, and designs learning programs for various categories of learners. She has been a wonderful addition to our Uganda team.
