co-founders

DONNA REITANO

Donna is an advocate for social-impact and economic-development causes. She has acted at all levels: private enterprise, private and public donors, governments, and intergovernmental organisations.

She has directed an international trade association, and been responsible for strategic planning and fundraising in NGOs.

For the past 10 years as an independent adviser and consultant, Donna has been dedicated to social impact organisations involved with human, environmental and health rights. In 2019, she reached out to her talented colleagues to co-found em4, fulfilling her dream of building operational competencies in the sector.

Donna’s educational qualifications include a Master of Laws in international business law and an MBA. She is on the board of a grassroots development organisation and a member of the Swiss Alpine Club.

She has lived outside her native United States for 40 years, and now splits her time between France and Switzerland.

DONNA REITANO

Donna is an advocate for social-impact and economic-development causes. She has acted at all levels: private enterprise, private and public donors, governments, and intergovernmental organisations.

She has directed an international trade association, and been responsible for strategic planning and fundraising in NGOs.

For the past 10 years as an independent adviser and consultant, Donna has been dedicated to social impact organisations involved with human, environmental and health rights. In 2019, she reached out to her talented colleagues to co-found em4, fulfilling her dream of building operational competencies in the sector.

Donna’s educational qualifications include a Master of Laws in international business law and an MBA. She is on the board of a grassroots development organisation and a member of the Swiss Alpine Club.

She has lived outside her native United States for 40 years, and now splits her time between France and Switzerland.

AJAY MEHTA

Ajay is an organisational development and strategy specialist passionate about supporting the growth and sustainability of civil society organisations globally to increase their social impact.

With significant contributions in the social impact and public sectors he brings a breadth of experience to support the development of organisations in the areas of strategic planning and overhaul, income generation for sustainable growth, leadership development, and good governance.

The extensive portfolio of his work has ranged from large international institutions to smaller community-based organisations, supporting them to review and re-engineer their strategic interventions and maximise impact.

He has held non-executive director positions with national and international charities and with the UK’s National Health Service, and has headed up a charitable, grant-making foundation with investments to develop the health economy in sub-Saharan Africa. He has an MBA from the School of Business at Kingston University, London.

Ajay resides in London, England.

AJAY MEHTA

Ajay is an organisational development and strategy specialist passionate about supporting the growth and sustainability of civil society organisations globally to increase their social impact.

With significant contributions in the social impact and public sectors he brings a breadth of experience to support the development of organisations in the areas of strategic planning and overhaul, income generation for sustainable growth, leadership development, and good governance.

The extensive portfolio of his work has ranged from large international institutions to smaller community-based organisations, supporting them to review and re-engineer their strategic interventions and maximise impact.

He has held non-executive director positions with national and international charities and with the UK’s National Health Service, and has headed up a charitable, grant-making foundation with investments to develop the health economy in sub-Saharan Africa. He has an MBA from the School of Business at Kingston University, London.

Ajay resides in London, England.

NIALL BLAIR

Niall is passionate about helping people and organisations to fulfil their potential and, using technology, to make learning meritocratic, accessible and affordable for all. 

Since graduating from Dundee University with BSC (Hons) in Economics and Electronic/Electrical Engineering, he has headed up Change Programmes, Innovation, Operations, Business Improvement, Customer Service and Learning & Development, in FTSE 100 companies as well as startups across the UK for almost 30 years.

Finally giving in full time to his entrepreneurial spirit, and after forming a digital creative agency in 2004, Niall founded grapl ltd., in 2014, a digital-first consultancy practice delivering a broad range of organisational development services including Leadership and People Development, eLearning, Digital Transformation and Web & Graphic design.

Niall curates and manages our eLearning portfolio and digital platform.

Niall resides in Perthshire, Scotland with his partner and 2 youngest sons.

NIALL BLAIR

Niall is passionate about helping people and organisations to fulfil their potential and, using technology, to make learning meritocratic, accessible and affordable for all. 

Since graduating from Dundee University with BSC (Hons) in Economics and Electronic/Electrical Engineering, he has headed up Change Programmes, Innovation, Operations, Business Improvement, Customer Service and Learning & Development, in FTSE 100 companies as well as startups across the UK for almost 30 years.

Finally giving in full time to his entrepreneurial spirit, and after forming a digital creative agency in 2004, Niall founded grapl ltd., in 2014, a digital-first consultancy practice delivering a broad range of organisational development services including Leadership and People Development, eLearning, Digital Transformation and Web & Graphic design.

Niall curates and manages our eLearning portfolio and digital platform.

Niall resides in Perthshire, Scotland with his partner and 2 youngest sons.

ADVISORY BOARD
Dr Sheeba Harma

Sheeba has extensive international development experience covering South Asia, Europe and Central Asia, Southeast Asia and African regions. She is currently the Regional Gender Adviser for UNICEF in Europe and Central Asia based in Geneva, Switzerland, leading and advising 26 countries in the region towards the integration of gender in all aspects of UNICEF’s work across Adolescent Health and Nutrition, Girls Education and Skills, GBV in Refugee Migrant Response and Child Protection, Social Policy, Early Childhood Development, Addressing Gender Socialization, Responsive Parenting, Harmful Norms and Practices, as well as enhancing UNICEF’s institutional accountability, strategic leadership, programme planning, leveraging partnerships and evidence generation to advance gender equality outcomes. She provides the overall regional vision, technical expertise and direction on gender equality, human rights, diversity, and inclusion, in designing, strengthening, and executing at scale programmatic and institutional interventions. Impact of her work has been in institutionalizing and mainstreaming gender equality strategies and policies that optimize internal organizational standards, HR and accountabilities, developing normative guidance and practical tools, enhancing multi-stakeholder coordination in UN systems, leveraging partnerships and accountability with Government and Civil Society, advancing Gender Mainstreaming in National Programs and Policies, technical advisory to cross sectoral programme interventions that advance women and girls empowerment, transforming gender responsive services, systems, advocacy and public outreach. She has also worked for UNICEF in South Asia as Regional Gender Adviser and prior to joining UNICEF held various senior management positions in Afghanistan for 7 years leading the organizational restructuring and reform of the Afghan Women’s Ministry, support to implementation of the 22 National Development Strategies for Governance, Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction, managing Access to Justice, Women’s Safe Shelters, Girls Education and Women Empowerment initiatives across the country.

Dr Glenn O’Neil

Glenn is an eminent expert in evaluations. As founder of Owl RE https://www.owlre.com, he leads evaluations in the communications, advocacy, humanitarian and development fields from Geneva for large companies, NGOs, UN agencies and international organisations. Working in English and French, this has included onsite visits to more than 50 countries worldwide (Asia, Central Asia, Europe, MENA, Africa, Americas) for some 100 evaluations/assessments and support to M&E systems, research and strategies. Glenn holds a PhD in social research and methodology from the London School of Economics and an Executive Masters in Communications Management.

His areas of competency include: evaluation of campaigns, advocacy, public relations, communication, media programmes, knowledge management; conference/event evaluation; usage/communication of evaluation results; network mapping; media monitoring web metrics, evaluation of online/social media; risk communications; communication and humanitarian agencies, NGOs and international organisations; migration, humanitarian and human rights themes.

Rupal Mistry

Rupal is a sustainability professional with a background in corporate sustainability and social impact, particularly in Emerging Markets across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Her leadership experience includes being the Executive Director and Head of Sustainability and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) for the Ashmore Group, which is a FTSE 250 asset manager, overseeing the delivery of social impact programmes through its nine global offices. There she designed and structured innovative social investment products and prepared all grant and social investment contracts. She has technical knowledge of social development and impact programmes, with a track record of designing and structuring social impact investments across the global civil society sector. Prior to her work with the Ashmore Group, she managed an international grant portfolio for Comic Relief, a major funder based in the UK. There she Managed a £20 million initiative aimed at supporting UK-based and African-led diaspora organisations that were engaged in socio-economic development in Africa. She led the strategic review and reconfiguration of the funder’s approach to supporting and managing organisational development in the UK and Africa, designed and implemented learning strategies for civil society organisations, and developed reporting frameworks, data management, and onward reporting to ultimate donor agencies. With experience of working across diverse multi-stakeholder communities she is well versed in building sustainable capacity building initiatives. Rupal is qualified with a Masters in Business Administration and Masters of Arts International Relations.

Dr David Renz

Dave is an award-winning governance and management expert whose career has focused on helping public service organizations, especially nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations, develop their capacity for performance and social impact. Through strategic advising, consulting, teaching and research, Dave has served more than 300 nonprofits and governing boards and commissions. In addition to facilitating hundreds of workshops and educational programs, Dave has written numerous articles and book chapters on nonprofit governance, leadership, and board effectiveness in a wide range of magazines and journals, and he is the editor of The Jossey-Bass Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management. Dave is Director Emeritus of the Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership, the leadership development center of the Henry W. Bloch School of Management at the University of Missouri –Kansas City (UMKC), and his current research focuses especially on the governance and leadership of networks and community-wide initiatives. Prior to his consulting and academic career, Dave had the privilege of serving in senior executive roles for state and regional government agencies in the US. Dave earned his Ph.D. in Organization Theory and Administration at the University of Minnesota in the US.

Jackie Malomba

Jackie is a Social Entrepreneurship Specialist, and a certified Coach with passion for social transformation. Experience spans 30 years’, supporting the scaling and growth of the social enterprises, and linking entrepreneurs with potential partners and investors.
With an MBA in Global Business and Sustainability, and a strong background in women banking, she has played a pivotal role in advancing women’s financial inclusion. In 2016, she founded Afriwomen Connect, a consultancy practice focusing on social and economic empowerment of women and youth in the East Africa region.
She serves on the boards of several organisations where she influences policy and is a recognised speaker at various forums, including Management Africa University Leading Women Boot Camp and KEPSA/UNICEF.