Akaraka was founded by a highly regarded and experienced team of senior executives with a breadth of knowledge and capabilities from diverse industries and regions. With a strong background in governance, financial and legal compliance our Board of Directors oversee every aspect of operations.
Our Board of Directors is supported by an active team of volunteers and mentors that span the Asia Pacific and beyond. If you would like to join our team please contact our Volunteer Coordinator today.
OUR DIRECTORS
About Chizzy
Until September 2013, he was the CEO of DHL Global Forwarding for Western Africa. He has also worked for 3M Company in Asia Pacific and Schlumberger in the Middle East – in various management positions.
Chizzy, his wife, Franca and their 3 sons – have over the years supported different charities in their home countries Nigeria and Canada, as well as in Singapore.
About Robert
Rob has worked in the Financial Industry for more than 30 years, holding senior management positions within multinational corporations in North America, Europe and Asia.
Rob is passionate about education being an enabler to help reduce poverty. The AkarakA volunteer experience has allowed his wife Liz and himself to visit these students and meet their supportive families in their home. We have seen first-hand in Singapore, Manila, Cebu, and Phnom Penh how a college education, supportive family and mentors can help change people’s lives. Education will benefit future generations of these families, not just the first graduate.
About Pascale
Pascale has held senior management positions in consumer products, hospitality and education for more than 20 years, in Europe and Asia. She has an exemplary record of building brands across multiple markets in a complex and fast-changing region.
She is currently the Chief Operating Officer of a K-12 college in Singapore, the largest of its kind in Asia.
Throughout her career, she has believed passionately transformative power of education, especially in Asia where so many are held back by its absence.
Pascale was a founder-member of Aidha iSingapore, a charity providing financial education for domestic helpers, equipping them with the skills and finance to run small businesses when they return home.
She joined Akaraka in 2012 and has been a Director in 2016, combining her extensive professional experience with her passion for learning to serve Akaraka students in Cambodia, Philippines and Singapore.
“People often ask what drives me. Perhaps the more difficult question would be: What would it take to stop me? I’m driven by opportunities to confront the problems before my eyes” Wangari Maathai
About Raghu
Raghu is the founder and partner of vVolve. He brings over 26 years of entrepreneurial and consulting experience. He is passionate about helping companies going digital and becoming intelligent enterprises. It is his 3rd start-up in the last 21 years.
Raghu is a well-known mentor and has helped several individuals to achieve progress in their professional and personal lives. He is also an avid believer in education – particularly education for children and is engaged in various charitable organizations that are active in ensuring that quality education is available for the children in poverty.
He loves reading, travelling and meeting new people.
Raghu is a graduate of the Annamalai University, India with a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering and Masters in Business Administration from Australia. He has earned a leadership certificate from the Harvard Business School, Boston, USA.
About Hitesh
Hitesh’s work has given him the opportunity to sponsor, support and engage with the community in many ways: getting school kids to learn water safety with the SwimSafer program (National Water Safety Council, Sport Singapore and Manulife); give kids education with the Street-to-School program (with Aviva and various charities); make art come alive for kids with Prudential Children First!, an annual festival sponsored by Prudential for many years.
He grew up in Kenya, went to university in London, became an actuary in the UK and New Zealand, got a professional director qualification in Australia. He now lives in Singapore (last 13 years), with his wife Reshna and son, Sohil.
About Elizabeth
Elizabeth is currently a Group Risk Manager at the Hollard Insurance Company in Sydney, Australia. Her main areas of expertise are in the finance, risk management, insurance and actuarial fields. She is Australian and has worked for the past twenty-five years in financial services in a variety of countries including Australia, France, Japan and in Singapore. She also has experience doing volunteer work in a microinsurance organization in India.
Elizabeth has had the opportunity to mentor a number of students as part of her work in financial services. She appreciates how the types of financial and other assistance that Akaraka provides, can enable students to gain an education that will allow them to have a rewarding career.
OUR ADMINISTRATION
About Meera
Meera Naidoo has over 25 years of banking experience covering a full spectrum of Retail and Corporate Banking in South Africa and Singapore.
She has been a volunteer with the Singapore Chapter of a charity that supports the education of young girls in South East Asia. Meera assisted and led fund-raising activities.
I believe that everyone deserves a chance at education and here at AkarakA, we make this possible for deserving under-privileged young adults. With both my children at university, I fully subscribe to Oprah Winfrey’s sentiment that “Education is the key to unlocking the world, a passport to freedom.”
CHANGE A LIFE TODAY
The privilege of having a university education is a gift that changed everything for my family – starting with my father.
It doesn’t take much to change a life, Get in touch today and start making the difference.
Chizzy Nnamchi • Director and Co-Founder