OUR TEAM

US & DRC Boards of Directors

Godi Godar Moteke Molanga, Founder & US Board

Born and raised in the remote village of Ikoko Bonginda, in the Lac Tumba region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Godi founded GCEarth in response to village reports of nearby rainforest destruction. Son of a community leader, he is intimately familiar with his people and the challenges they face. An accomplished mechanic and gifted woodworker and carpenter, Godi is passionate about rainforest conservation for the benefit of all beings. Read more about Godi.

Dr. Richard W. Carroll,
US Board

Known as ‘Old Man of the Forest’ to his BaAka friends in the forest of Central Africa, Dr. Richard Carroll completed his Doctorate at Yale on the ‘Feeding Ecology of Lowland Gorillas in SW Central African Republic (CAR).’ Richard worked three years as a wildlife biologist in CAR studying black rhinos and elephant ecology. He also completed a master’s on the birds of CAR. Richard eventually joined WWF as Sr. Program Officer for Central and West Africa and became the WWF Vice President for Africa and Madagascar. Richard was instrumental in developing one of the first Integrated Conservation and Development Programs (ICDP), founded on the principal of bringing together indigenous peoples needs and rights into a conservation program. DRC was a significant part of Dr. Carroll’s portfolio at WWF. He has visited Lac Tumba, and worked there with local people, NGOs, and government officials. After a 35-year career in African conservation, Richard retired from WWF, and turned his attention to his own backyard.

Idriss Bayuba,
President, DRC Board

Idriss Bayuba is from the Ikoko Boginda village on Lake Tumba. He lives in Kinshasa with his wife and seven children. He attended university at l'Institut Pédagogique National (IPN) and manages a successful retail company. It is Idriss’ connection to his homeland that drives him to work relentlessly on behalf of GCEarth. As president of GCEarth's partner-NGO in Kinshasa, he coordinates between the two organizations. Idriss works closely with the DRC government on behalf of GCEarth, coordinating logistics and management, and acting as a liaison to other regional NGOs.

Sandra Jova,
US Board Chair

Ms Farmer-Jova obtained her Masters degree in counseling from UNC-Chapel Hill followed by thirty years in the field of brain injury. As retired Executive Director of the Brain Injury Association of North Carolina (BIANC), she worked to increase public awareness of the causes and consequences of brain injury and oversaw the operations of this nonprofit organization representing thousands of North Carolina brain-injured citizens. Ms. Farmer-Jova and her husband were founding members of Go Conscious Earth.

Susan Sgorbati,
US Board

The Director of the Elizabeth Coleman Center for the Advancement of Public Action at Bennington College, Susan is a professional mediator and educator whose creative research has led to collaboration across disciplines ranging from dance improvisation to biology to visual arts, as both an artist and a driver of social change.

In addition to teaching, Sgorbati is focused on several projects. She has co-founded, with Dr. Asim Zia, TWIN: Transboundary Water In-Cooperation Network, to facilitate collaboration and cooperation in five river basins on five continents (the Kabul River, the Mekong River, the Jordan River, the Amazon River, and the Congo River). She has co-founded, with Michael Philipp, the Southern Vermont Regional Food System Network, to promote the creation of and full access to healthy food systems in the region. She has initiated a new program at CAPA — Building Regenerative and Resilient Communities — that will bring together areas of study in food systems, water quality, renewable energy, social justice, and sustainable finance.

Anthony Minikulu A.,
Vice President, DRC Board

Anthony is a member of GCE – DRC. In his position as VP of the Board, he assists the president, participates and supports on issues of coordination of administrative and financial policies and technical orientations of GCE-DRC and its relationship with GCE US. Residing in Kinshasa with his wife and their two boys, he has experience in the African Great Lakes Region in support of associations and international financial partners. He has worked in the Brewing industry, Telecommunications, local NGOs and Consulting and Audit Firms. His professional experience has allowed him to intervene in various fields: Community development, Commerce, Marketing, Accounting and Finance. Interested in issues of Governance, Public Policy, International Development and Local Communities, Organizational Administration, he graduated in Management and Law (University of Liège - HEC Lg and ISC Kinshasa), in International Economics (Kinshasa) and is preparing a GEMBA (Paris Sorbonne 1 University – IFG EE)

Michael Philipp,
US Board

Co-Chair of the Bhutan Foundation, Michael is also a Managing Partner of Ambata Capital Partners, a merchant bank that seeks to develop businesses as a positive force for change for the communities and environments in which they operate, and to advance sustainability as a core competency.  Mr. Philipp is also a board member of Reykjavik Geothermal and Bhutan for Life. He has a BA and MBA from University of MA in Amherst and lives in Gloucester, MA with his wife, Sherry. Mr Phillip also serves on GCEarth’s Advisory Council.

John Bradley
US Board

After graduating from UNC in 1969, John served in Peace Corps in Paraguay, where became Baha’l. He then traveled extensively in  Brazil and Portugal just before the Portuguese Revolution. After marrying  Anamaria Esteves from Mozambique/Portugal, John returned to the US, started a family and in 1977, he founded Chemtech Roof & Insulation, Inc. in Winston-Salem, NC, which is still in operation. In 1992, John founded Eco-Ag Service, a 501©3 that matches youth, primarily Baha'i, to work/learn as volunteers at working organic farms in the US, Canada, Costa Rica, Ireland, England and South Africa. John and his wife have raised 3 sons and now have 5 grandchildren. They moved to Chapel Hill in 2012 upon retiring from Chemtech in 2013. John is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese. He now enjoys his free-time writing primarily historical fiction, publishing Joara in 2021, Ghost Fields in 2021, and Belmonte is scheduled for publication in 2022.