Our Team

MEET THE GEC FAMILY

Board of Directors

Lauren Fine

Co-President

London Moore

Co-President

Lauren Fine was raised in Aurora, Colorado. She attended Claremont McKenna College and majored in Psychology. She joined Teach for America and spent two years in inner-city St. Louis teaching 3rd and 4th grade. Later she moved to Ghana to volunteer at a school for street children. Upon returning, she moved back to Colorado, attended graduate school at Regis University, and majored in Elementary Education. Lauren trained educators through Teach for America, as well as returned to Ghana with education-consulting work, before deciding she wanted to return to the elementary classroom. Lauren believes that all children deserve access to a quality education and she advocates for those rights both locally in Denver as well as through being Co-President of the Ghana Educational Collaborative. Lauren has worked with America Achieves, Collaborative for Student Success, Student Achievement Partners and Stand for Children working on the intersection between the classroom and education policy. Lauren's passion for equal opportunities in education both locally and abroad led her to co-create the Ghana Educational Collaborative and the Mate Masie Program in Ghana with London Moore. In recent years you could find Lauren working in Denver Public Schools, specifically with Turnaround schools. Currently, Lauren is a Learner Advocate with the Donnell- Kay Foundation based in Denver.

London Moore is the Principal of THRIVE Baton Rouge, Louisiana first public boarding school. She was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She attended Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts. She is currently working on her PH.D in Curriculum and Instruction at Louisiana State University. She began her teaching career in Ghana, West Africa where she has since co-founded a non-profit, the Ghana Educational Collaborative, that sends children to school and gives them leadership and development training. She taught in Baker City Schools, becoming Park Ridge’s Teacher of the Year. She also worked for Teach For America helping recruit and train new teachers at the University of Southern California and the University of California-Irvine. London Moore is also a member and lead fellow of America Achieves and works on the intersection between the classroom and education policy, as well as has given recommendations to the U.S Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan on the RESPECT Project. She has worked on supporting the work of the Common Core as a Student Achievement Partners fellow. Further, she has been recognized as one of Baton Rouge's 40 Under 40. Ms. Moore strongly believes that all children have the right to a quality education and is committed to ensuring students and teachers reach their full potential. This conviction consistently drives her work.

Rosie Krieger

Executive Board Secretary

Rosie Krieger was born and raised in sunny Los Angeles, California and spent the last 10 years living in Northern California. She attended UC Santa Cruz for college where she studied African and U.S. History and Education, then moved to Oakland for her first teaching position with AmeriCorps. She has been teaching in a wide-range of learning environments for the last 6 years! From public to private schools, preschool to 4th grade, Rosie values her time spent in diverse school settings. In June 2016, Rosie finished graduate school, gaining her Masters in Education and Multiple Subject Teaching Credential. After graduating, Rosie and her boyfriend, Mike, and their little chiweenie dog Sunny, packed up everything and moved to New Orleans! Having fallen in love with the city during their first visit in 2012, Rosie and Mike decided to see what the world outside of California was like. She is currently teaching at a magical preschool and enjoying getting to know her neighborhood of Bayou St. John and tasting all of the incredible food that New Orleans has to offer. She is thrilled to be a part Ghana Education Collaborative because when she studied abroad in Ghana in 2009, she fell in love with the country and specifically connected to the incredible children. Rosie is passionate about education, social justice, and the beautiful West African country of Ghana!

Lauren Davis

Treasurer

Lauren was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. She received her B.S. in Accounting from Metropolitan State University of Denver. Upon graduating, Lauren began working at an accounting firm in Denver, where she is currently a manager of assurance services. Lauren has held an active Colorado CPA license since 2009 and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants (CSCPA). Although her career path led her to accounting, Lauren has always had a passion for children’s education, which she has been able to maintain through her work with the Ghana Educational Collaborative.

Akilah Edgerton

Board Member

Akilah Edgerton received her Bachelor of Social Work and a certificate in Global Studies from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. In 2007, she studied at the University of Ghana, which ignited her passion and love for the country. At the age of 13, Akilah founded Youth Alive Step, Dance, and Drum teams, a performing arts group that teaches the participants that education breaks the cycle of poverty and enables them to become independent and responsible adults. She is a member of 2013-2014 cohort of L.I.P.P.I (Leadership Institute for Political and Public Impact). L.I.P.P.I equips women to become civic leaders in their communities, to impact policy on the local, state, and national levels, and to seek and hold on to elected positions. Currently Akilah is employed at Berkshire Art and Technology Charter School as a paraprofessional and is the Pastor of New Generation Global Ministry.

Brit Havey

Board Member

Brit Havey grew up in Chicago, Illinois. She attended the University of Colorado at Boulder where she worked on legislative efforts to make college more affordable and accessible for low-income students. In 2010, Brit joined Teach for America in New Orleans and taught sixth and second-grade. Teaching in Nola, she observed the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the effects of systemic poverty, and the incredible resilience of kids. After moving back to the mountains, she contributed research and content to 50 seminars and four textbooks about student success and an iPad app aligned to Common Core math. She also continued to work with students by serving as a learning specialist for 15 students in the Denver area. Brit is currently Director of Outreach for Climb Higher Colorado, a statewide coalition committed to improving K-12 education for all students through high expectations. She is also America Achieves Fellow and helps educators become more informed and involved in Colorado's education policy. Brit is thrilled to be the newest member of the Ghana Educational Initiative.

William yakah

Board Member and GEC Alum

William Yakah hails from Ghana and is currently majoring in Neuroscience a student at Michigan State University. He attended University Staff Basic School in Ghana wherein 9th grade, was amongst the first cohort of students to receive a full scholarship from Ghana Educational Collaborative (GEC) that enabled him to attend High school in 2011. As a GEC scholar, William was not only passionate about his success but was deeply concerned about the success of other scholars. He served as a peer mentor, tutor and a big brother to the lower grade scholars and regularly checked in on their school work and at their respective homes until he left in fall 2015 to study in the United States. Now as an alum and mentor, William works with Jenna to connect donors with stories and updates from GEC scholars.

William is super excited to serve on the board of the non-profit that changed his life. More especially, he’s excited to work towards advocating for more students who’re brilliant yet financially challenged to have the opportunity to attend school or further their education to the highest level and pursue their dreams.

Richmond Boakye

Advisory Board Member

Richmond Boakye hails from Ghana and has lived in Westminster, Colorado since 2011. Richmond has a Bachelors degree in Computer Science from Metropolitan State University of Denver and currently working as a Senior Software Engineer for Travelers Haven in Denver, Colorado. His African Heritage and focus on African SeIf Empowerment has led him to a number of volunteer opportunities and numerous leadership roles in the community. Richmond served as the Speaker of the Metropolitan State University Student Government and the President of the African Student Union. He also helped form and served as a executive board member of Support Africa Empowerment Foundation International. Richmond loves sharing nuggets of wisdom with his friends which makes people sometimes call him as an old soul. When Richmond is free, he spends his time either cooking, playing soccer, watching movies or playing games. In all, Richmond loves to learn and help others. He believes failure is not failure if he learns from it. He is empowered to climb high with the sky not the limit.