Board of Directors

Rebecca Michell, Founder & Board Member

Rebecca Mitchell founded SpanAfrica in 2005 after volunteering at an orphanage and HIV/AIDS clinic in Kenya. Her dream was to create a more personal and effective method for supporting social entrepreneurship and grassroots development in Africa. She is an honors graduate from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and is currently a medical student at the University of California-San Francisco, where she is an advocate for health system reform and an overhaul of intellectual property policy and university licensing to increase global access to essential medicines. In recent years she received the Harry Truman Scholarship for public service and a Fulbright Fellowship for research on humanitarian aid in India, and was named a Glamour Top Ten College Woman and to the USA Today All-Academic First Team.

Cameron Dunkin, Board Member & Director of African Operations

Cameron Dunkin has spent extensive time in Kenya over the past three years teaching and completing agricultural, marketing, and medical projects for various SpanAfrica placements, including the development of three libraries. Recently he assisted SpanAfrica Regional Director for Kenya Amos Otieno in co-founding Baobab Branch Educational Programmes, an NGO designed to provide holistic and vocational education services to youth and young adults who have no other access to them. Cameron has a degree in Political Studies from Queens University, and has worked under Right Honorable Herb Gray in the International Joint Commission, and at the microfinance NGO Opportunity International Canada. Cameron recently served as SpanAfrica’s first full-time staff member during the spring of 2009, and is currently living and furthering his studies in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Brad Beherns, Board Member & Legal Advisor

Brad Beherns graduated with a B.A. in political science from the University of Minnesota in 2005, where he was active in various community organizations. He tutored English to recent immigrants and refugees with the Minnesota Literacy Council and FIRE before spending extensive time traveling in Asia. Upon returning, he began working with the Center for Victims of Torture, speaking to the public about the issues of interrogation and how to ease the acclimation of torture victims into the Minneapolis/St. Paul community. He interned with the Amy Klobuchar’s U.S. Senate campaign, graduated from California Western School of Law in 2010, and is currently working as an attorney in San Diego.

Kai Staats, Board Member & Systems Architect

Kai Staats graduated from the College of Architecture, School of Industrial Design, ASU in 1993. In 1995 Kai ventured to rural Poland where he designed and managed the construction of a 2,000 sq-ft playground for the children of Salmopolska. In 2001 Kai rebuilt a high school computer lab in northern Namibia, Africa. In August 2007, May 2008, and July 2009 Kai volunteered through SpanAfrica in Kenya, Africa. Kai is now the Principal of Over the Sun, LLC , an innovations and business consulting firm. Kai brings to SpanAfrica a decade of experience in web-based technologies for the management of communications and data to assist Directors, Volunteers, and Grassroots Partner Organizations.

Amos Otieno, Board Member & Regional Director in Kenya

Amos Otieno Ahenda is an experienced educator and trainer who has worked with different education- based organizations. A Bachelor of Science graduate of the University of Nairobi, Amos has also taken various courses in education and human capital development. He has great experience in rehabilitation of street children and designing alternative education to disadvantaged youth. He has held various administrative positions in educational institutions, the latest being Deputy Principal and Head of Human Resources Department of Nakuru College of Health Sciences and Management. He left this institution to help found Baobab Branch Educational Programmes, a registered NGO dealing with education and capacity-building programmes for holistic development of various cadres of young people. He currently also works as the Director of Baobab Branch Educational Programmes.

Grace Proctor, Board Member

Grace Proctor lived and worked in Kenya for six months as a volunteer for both Red Cross and SpanAfrica in 2009. Upon return to the United States, she became more involved with SpanAfrica’s leadership team and in January of 2010, joined the Board of Directors to help guide and grow Span’s web presence.

Meredith Newlin, Board Member and Director of Volunteer Operations

Meredith Newlin holds an honors degree in child psychology from the University of Minnesota- Twin Cities and a master’s degree in health psychology from University College London and King’s College London. After graduating in 2007 Meredith spent several years in the Twin Cities working as a recruitment coordinator, counseling adolescents on college and career planning. In 2010 Meredith traveled to Kenya with SpanAfrica and upon return began serving on the Board of Directors and supporting the Volunteer Operations Team. Currently working as a researcher in London, England, Meredith’s research interests include psycho-social approaches to sustainable development, women’s health promotion in underdeveloped countries, evaluation of community-based support, health and social policy reform.

Yaw Adu-Gyamfi, Board Member

Yaw Adu-Gyamfi lives in Kumasi, Ghana where he works as the Development Coordinator for the Suame Magazine Industrial Development Organization (SMIDO). In this position Yaw works to ensure the provision of market access to artisans in order to relieve poverty, provide training and advocacy, and to bring attention to challenges the communities face. Yaw enjoys creative problem solving, technical assessments, and strategic planning as applied to for-profit and not-for-profit and volunteer opportunities. Yaw lends SpanAfrica his industrious, energetic team spirit and extensive knowledge on Ghana and other West African Countries. Yaw is currently enjoying a one year fellowship in Washington, D.C.

Cameron Dunkin

Cameron Dunkin holds a bachelors in political studies from Queens University in Canada, and a cum laude honours and master’s degree in international studies from Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Outside of school, has spent extensive time living, working and traveling in Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, and other African countries over the past number of years. Amidst his numerous education, capacity building, environmental, construction, and child development projects, in 2008 he co-founded Kenyan NGO Baobab Branch.Additional work experience includes research, PR, writing,, project development, and marketing work with the International Joint Commission, Opportunity International Canada, and New Directions Canada. Having stood on SpanAfrica’s Board of Directors since 2006, he also serves full time as the Director of African Operations.