Berhanu Ambaw works with CDF Ethiopia Office as Country Manager, leading the implementation of a flagship program – 4R Nutrient Stewardship Project. With over 12 years of experience in a director position in INGOs. Mr. Ambaw has successfully led organizations from establishing in Ethiopia to growing new business opportunities, strategic leadership, and building high-performing partnerships and teams that contribute to impactful program results.
Mr. Ambaw has designed and managed development projects on food security, agriculture, microfinance, climate change adaptation, child protection, shelter, WASH, emergency response, and other thematic areas. He holds BSc and MA in Agriculture and Economics.
Lensa Takele is Administrative Assistance at CDF Canada Ethiopia Office since 2021. She Supports all finance and Administration activities and also manages all procurement processes. Before joining CDF Canada, Ms. Takele worked in the Ethiopian Red Cross society.
Endalkachew Mulatu is a driver at CDFCanada, Ethiopia office. He joined the team in 2019. Mr. Mulatu worked as operation assistant and driver for south Sudan refugee return under IOM, Gambella and as logistic assistance and driver at Zoa Pugnido refugee camp, Ethiopia.
Prior to CDF Ethiopia, he worked in different international organizations as a driver and logistics assistance and has more than 15 years of work experience.
Mekaele Assefa Woldasemayat serves as the Country Program Officer for CDF Canada, based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. With a diverse background in business and project management, strategic communication, and financial oversight, Mekaele brings a wealth of experience to the team. He is known for his expertise in civil society engagement, partnership cultivation, and high-stakes negotiations.
Mekaele holds an MA in Marketing Communication and New Media from Bologna University and a BA in Cooperative Business Management from Haramaya University.
Mekaele is passionate about leveraging technology for meaningful impact, particularly in digital communication and marketing. His commitment to women’s economic empowerment and gender equality is evident through his work on sustainable capacity-building activities, focusing on the rights of women and girls. He also supports the development and implementation of policies and procedures, including the Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Policy.
In addition to his role at CDF Canada, Mekaele has held leadership positions in various organizations like the General Manager of Medaf Delivery. He has also served as a Senior Program Advisor for STiR Education, driving policy advocacy and project expansion through innovation and collaboration. He also serves as a civil servant as COOP and SME Expert in Government office.
Christiana Yakubu, the Ghana Country Manager for CDF Canada, joined in June 2019 with over 22 years of work experience in community development. Ms. Yakubu coordinates the CDF Ghana team and manages the partnership relationships of the 4R-NSP to deliver on the project outcomes. She also contributes to business development for new projects.
Before joining CDF Canada, she has worked with other international and local development agencies on food security-related initiatives. Some of these organizations were Care International, Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), Winrock International, and Techno.
Isaac Opare Nyamekye is the Monitoring and Evaluation Lead at CDF Ghana Country office. He provides monitoring and evaluation support to the projects team in Ghana and Outside Ghana. He also supports in finetuning project reports and work plans for the donor. He joined CDF Canada in July 2019. and he has been working with project partners to ensure project implementation processes conform to the donor requirements.
Before joining CDF Canada, Isaac Nyamekye worked with International NGOs to implement projects around waste recycling to generate electricity, food security, and rural development.
Esther Mintah is a Gender Officer at CDF Ghana country office. She supports the design of gender and its related activities and implementation of CDF’s Ghana Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Strategy. Joined in 2020, Ms. Mintah has been working across all the 4R project districts focusing on promoting women empowerment and leadership in decision-making processes at all levels; ensuring equitable access to and control over the resources and benefits of co-operative development; providing gender-responsive capacity building for partners and co-operative networks and ensures the establishment of Gender Model Families (GMF), peer-to-peer initiatives.
Prior to joining CDF, Ms. Mintah has worked with national and international development organizations in mainstreaming gender, coordinating the design and management of projects in the areas of agriculture, women empowerment, and children wellbeing.
Joseph Darko is a Country Program Officer at CDF Canada’s office in Ghana. He supports mainly fields operation, guiding and supporting country-level partners to develop and improve their capacity to support international development volunteers. In addition, Mr. Darko provides technical assistance to many international development programs in Ghana. He also supports the design and implementation of programs to support the capacity development of coops, building their resilience to withstand socio-cultural and economic shocks.
Prior to joining CDF Canada, Mr. Darko has worked in international development in managing projects in education, agriculture, and health in collaboration with international development volunteers
Anne Ang’wech is a Country Program Officer at CDF Canada in Kenya. She supports the Voice for Women and Girls Program, aimed at strengthening the performance of Developing Country Partner (DCP) organizations to advance gender equality and economic empowerment of women and men from marginalized communities. Having joined in January 2023, Anne works in collaboration with two local partners, namely, The African Confederation of Co-operative Savings and Credit Association (ACCOSCA) and The Co-operative University of Kenya (CUK). Together, they identify and respond to the capacity building needs of co-operatives to support more inclusive, sustainable, and resilient growth.
Anne previously worked with various international and local organizations and has a track record of managing programs that drive gender transformation and inclusion, child protection, policy advocacy and influencing in inclusive education, financial inclusion and youth empowerment.
Rose Msosa is the Regional Coordinator for the VOICE project at CDF Canada. She supports coordination and implementation of the Volunteer Cooperation Program under the VOICE Project that focuses on the economic empowerment of women and youth in rural communities in Kenya, Malawi, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Senegal. She also supports CDF Canada business development through building and maintaining partnerships and finding opportunities within Malawi. Joined in May 2021, Ms. Msosa has been working with CDF Canada on other project partnerships championed by CDF in Malawi.
Prior to joining CDF Canada, Ms. Msosa worked for the Malawi Union of Savings and Credit Cooperatives, MUSCCO, in advocacy, promotion, and building capacity of producer, marketing, and financial cooperatives.
Chikondi Eugenio Chapola is a Country Program Officer at CDF Canada. He is supporting a volunteer-based project, ‘VOICE for Women and Girls,’ that focuses on the economic empowerment of women and youth in rural communities. Joined in August 2021, Mr. Chapola works in collaboration with a local partner, the Malawi Federation of Co-operatives (MAFECO). Together, they focus on improving the capacity of cooperatives, promoting gender equality, and empowering the marginalized.
Previously, Mr. Chapola has worked with local and international non-governmental organizations focusing on Climate change, agriculture, and Cooperative development. He is highly skilled in project management and MEAL.
Modrick George Chirwa is the Regional Finance and Administrative officer for CDF Canada. He supports Malawi, Senegal, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Kenya for the Voice for Women and girls project. Mr. Chirwa has been working with CDF Canada since August 2018 and has supported several other projects such as INVEST and IRFICTO.
Mr. Chirwa is a skilled Accountant with over seven years of working experience. Before joining CDF, he worked with local a NGO and SACCO in managing organization finances and expenditure records.
Maksym Filiak is the Ukraine Country Manager for the SEW Ukraine project (“Supporting Economic Prosperity for Women and Internally Displaced Persons in Ukraine”). He supports the implementation of the project that aims to enhance the employment and entrepreneurship of women who have been internally displaced by conflict and other traumatic events in Ukraine. In addition, the project facilitates the development of trade and business skills and market opportunities in the apparel manufacturing and garment industry. Dr. Filiak is also involved in designing related CDF Canada projects in Ukraine in climate change, agricultural and credit union cooperative development, and social infrastructure for vulnerable groups.
Before CDF Canada, Dr. Filiak held a management position based in Kramatorsk, where UN Women managed a project focused on governance, security, and women’s rights in the conflict-affected areas of Ukraine. Dr. Filiak has vast experience with development projects, including three years of prevention of irregular migration, five years of post-conflict program management, and over seven years of community and cooperative development project management. Dr. Filiak speaks English, Russian, Ukrainian, German, and Polish. He is a postdoctoral Fellow (Economics) with academic interests in program approach to the evolution of settlements and has a Ph.D. in National Economics (Ivan Franko National University, Ukraine).
Olha Luchka is a cooperative and economic development specialist at CDF Canada. She facilitates the process of cooperatives formation, capacity building, and training to support each project cooperative in its institutional, operational, and economic development.
She also supports the implementation of the organization’s communication strategy in Ukraine and advocacy activities within the project’s coop development through CDF Canada’s ongoing project in Ukraine.
Before joining CDF Canada, Ms. Luchka worked in international development and business consulting to manage projects and communication activities in cooperatives development, media relations, good governance, and agriculture.
Yuliia Hrytsaienko is a Finance and Administrative Officer at CDF Canada in the Ukraine field office. She maintains efficient financial and administrative systems and oversees control mechanisms to support smooth project operations in Ukraine. She also ensures compliance with financial and administrative rules and procedures and provides strategic support to local project partners on financial and administrative matters.
Prior to joining CDF Canada, Ms. Hrytsaienko worked in the EU-funded project of international technical assistance to the countries of the Eastern Partnership in the water sector and was involved in IDP support activities.
Vira Porovska is Gender Officer at CDF Canada in the Ukraine field office, responsible for implementing project gender strategies that reduce existing gender barriers and create equal opportunities for women’s participation in the economic life of Ukraine.
Before joining CDF Canada, she held the position of Gender Expert on the Canada-Ukraine Trade and Investment Support Project, which was an excellent opportunity to work with female-led small and medium-sized enterprises and female specialists from regional chambers of commerce trade and industry. For nine years, she worked in the all-Ukrainian public organization “Women’s Consortium of Ukraine” as a Project Coordinator, then as a manager of gender equality programs promoting women’s economic and political rights, and then as an Executive Director of the WCU network. She has seven years of experience as a corporate trainer for private companies and nine years of experience as a business trainer for self-employed women and women entrepreneurs in technical assistance programs implemented by international funds.