Our Team

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Lynne completed her PhD in Ethnomusicology at The Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY) with a Certificate in Africana Studies in 2021. Her dissertation research focused on children’s rights and musical activism in Senegal, and was supported by Fulbright-Hays DDRA, the American Association of University Women, and The Graduate Center, CUNY. Lynne also teaches as an adjunct assistant professor of music at Brooklyn College in New York. While researching in Dakar, she first learned of the work of Ashinaga; the connection between education and leadership potential for African youth was especially inspiring. She is passionate about children’s and youth participation in social and economic development, and is excited to be a part of the Ashinaga Africa Initiative.

Heran is an education and global development professional with experience in program management, strategic communications, and youth empowerment across Sub-Saharan Africa and the U.S. Originally from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, she holds an M.A. from Clark University’s department of International Development, Community, and Environment, where she focused on education, youth development, and refugee studies with a regional focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. She also holds a B.A. in Sociology and Global Environmental Studies, with a concentration in Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies.

Heran has worked on USAID projects in health, clean energy, and famine across more than ten African countries, and with organizations including the United Nations Foundation, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of State, HIAS,  Brown University, African Community Education Center, Inclusive America, Mansa Colabs, and the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership (MACP), Yale University’s Young African Scholars Program and has worked across D.C. public charter schools.

Through a Princeton in Africa Fellowship with the Kucetekela Foundation (KF) in Zambia, she supported vulnerable youth in accessing secondary and tertiary education. During her time at KF, she first learned about Ashinaga and was inspired by its belief in the transformative power of education and leadership for African youth. She is honored and excited to be part of the Ashinaga Africa Initiative! Heran’s work is driven by a deep curiosity and passion for community organizing, storytelling, decolonial approaches, and building inclusive systems of education and development within Africa and the African diaspora.

SENIOR ADVISOR

Dr. Duarte-Silva graduated from the Université de Genève, in Switzerland, and completed graduate degrees at Georgetown University and CUNY-Graduate Center. For over 18 years, she was a faculty member at Princeton University, and Director of the Office of International Programs. She has devoted much of her free time to advocate for access to education for high-achieving low-income students from around the world. She has been advising Ashinaga since 2012, when she supported the first three Ugandan students in their application to U.S. universities, which they attended with full scholarships.

"I believe that talent is distributed equally around the world, and opportunity is not. Our work at Ashinaga is about tapping hidden talent and matching it with opportunity -- there is no more rewarding or joyful work!"