Our Team
US & DRC Staff
Tess McLoud Mpoyi
Executive Director, US
With a cross-cutting background in anthropology, ecology, and international development, Tess has spent her career advocating for gender equity, indigenous rights, and community health while conserving nature and fighting climate change. She has worked to advance reproductive rights and gender equity in Africa with Ipas and PRB, highlight indigenous climate change adaptations in the Pacific Islands with UNESCO, and support community development initiatives in northern Thailand as a Peace Corps volunteer. She and her husband spend their time between North Carolina and the DRC. Tess holds degrees from Dartmouth and Middlebury and speaks six languages.
Taylor Lompoko Mpela Provincial Coordinator, DRC
Taylor is a multidisciplinary sociologist and community development coordinator. Since 2004, he has worked as an educator and facilitator with proven experience in collaborative projects management and fundraising. His primary objective is good governance driven by the principles of participatory management, accountability, and gender equality, with the ultimate goal of improving living conditions for all. Taylor is currently working on his PhD in sustainable development from the Université Pédagogique Nationale in Kinshasa.
Pétro Ebembe Bobea Bokolona Project Manager, DRC
Pétro earned a graduate degree in rural development with a focus on environment and sustainability in 2006 from the Institut Supérieur de Développement Rural in DRC. He completed his Master’s Degree in Environmental and Sustainable Development with Honors in 2024, from the same university. As a specialist in climate change mitigation and adaptation, he brings many years of experience to community organizing, advocacy, project management, and effective local forest governance. As a leader and change-maker, Pétro works to improve the living conditions of Congo Basin communities through sustainable management of natural resources.
Pablo Longale Bonsei
Finance and Administration Advisor, DRC
Pablo Longale holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and business administration from the University of Mbandaka. He has worked in accounting, administration, and data management for several national and international nonprofit organizations, including Caritas Development, the National Electoral Commission, and the Institute for Rural Development. He is competent in the use of several accounting and management software programs.
US Board of Directors
Sandra Farmer-Jova,
GCE Co-Founder, US Board Chair
After obtaining her Master’s degree in counseling from UNC-Chapel Hill, Sandra devoted thirty years to the field of brain injury. She was the Executive Director of the Brain Injury Association of North Carolina (BIANC), a nonprofit organization representing thousands of NC brain-injured citizens. She worked to increase public awareness of the causes and consequences of brain injury and oversaw the organization’s operations. She now brings her organizational expertise to GCE, of which she and her husband were co-founding members.
Godi Gadar Moteke Molanga
GCE Co-Founder
Born and raised in the remote village of Ikoko Bonginda in the Lake Tumba region of the DRC, Godi founded GCE in response to village reports of nearby rainforest destruction. As the son of a community leader, he is intimately familiar with the challenges his people face. He immigrated to the US in 1988 to develop networks to protect the DRC rainforest. He now lives in Durham, NC, working as a mechanic, woodworker, and construction carpenter. See Our Story to read more about Godi.
Barbara Holloway
US Board Secretary
Barbara has held leadership positions in corporate business, education, and independent marketing and outreach. She obtained degrees in economics and German from the UNC Chapel Hill, and an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona. After her corporate career and while raising her four children, Barbara served as Director of Marketing & Outreach for the Emerson Waldorf School in Chapel Hill, NC. There she merged her teaching experience in Benin, West Africa with her corporate experience. She served as the GCE Board Secretary for three years, then as Executive Director from 2022-2025.
Jim Herne
Jim Herne spent two years as a secondary school teacher for the Peace Corps in the town of Bikoro on Lake Tumba, DRC. On his return to the US, he began a career in international development with long-term assignments in Ghana, Rwanda, Romania, Afghanistan, Serbia, Moldova and Bosnia. Since retiring in 2016 Jim has served as a board member with a DRC Peace Corps group and a local NGO in south-eastern Poland. He has volunteered for a number of farmer-to-farmer projects in the DRC, Tanzania, Rwanda and Ethiopia. Jim and his wife Irin live in Romania.
Jim Thomas
Jim Thomas worked for two years as a nutritionist in the northern DRC after graduating from the University of California, Davis. He obtained an MPH and PhD in Epidemiology from UCLA. He was a professor of epidemiology and public health ethics at UNC Chapel Hill for 33 years. Jim founded and directed Africa Rising, a non-profit network of mutual aid among East African community-based organizations. He has worked as an epidemiologist and ethicist in more than 40 countries. In 2025 he published But I Meant Well: Unlearning Colonial Ways of Doing Good with Ethics Press. He lives with his wife in Carrboro, NC.
DRC Board of Directors
Paul Loma Lotuli
President
Mr. Loma Lotuli holds degrees in Philosophy and Theology. He has held roles as a coordinator of humanitarian and peacekeeping programs financed by the World Bank and the EU in DRC, and has held a post as the Permanent Secretary to the Child Protection Community Network of Équateur. Currently, he is the program manager for the Peace and Justice Commission of the Archdiocese of Mbandaka-Bikoro.
Daddy Nsaba Ikete
Vice President
Mr. Nsaba Ikete was born in Lubumbashi, DRC, holds a degree in International Relations. Previously, he has worked as an accountant for the transportation department of the town of Mbandaka. Currently, he holds the role of Division Chief in charge of cooperation with the National Commission to UNESCO.
Guy-Noé Tango Bayengando
Treasurer
Mr. Tango Bayengando holds a degree in applied pedagogy with a focus in biological sciences. He is currently the Division Chief for scholastic programs and didactic and pedagogical materials in the provincial government of Équateur.
Ariel Koko Bayuba
Public Relations and Advocacy
Ms. Koko Bayuba was born in Kinshasa, DRC. She holds a law degree with a focus in criminal law from the University of Kinshasa. She is certified in forestry law and is passionate about the protection of DRC’s natural resources.
Daddy Saba Moteke
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene
A native of Bikoro territory in Equateur, Mr. Saba Moteke holds a degree in forestry and has expertise in the installation of solar energy projects.
Jocelyne Mabgianda Lumana
Legal and Compliance
Ms. Mabgianda Lumana holds a law degree and has served on GCE’s board of directors since 2023. She supports legal issues and compliance for several nonprofit organizations across the DRC.
Advisors
Michael Phillip is Co-Chair of the Bhutan Foundation and a Managing Partner of Ambata Capital Partners. He has over 25 years of experience as a senior banking executive for Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank and is a board member of Reykjavik Geothermal and Bhutan for Life. He earned an MBA from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and lives in Gloucester, MA with his wife, Sherry.
Inès Ayari is the Programme Advisor for Sustainable Food Systems at Oxfam Belgium, supporting rural development and gender-just programming across the Sahel. Her work addresses community rights, sustainable land management, and conservation and rural development. As former Programme Director at Go Conscious Earth, Inès acted as a bridge between GCE’s US board of directors and operations in the DRC.
Richard Carroll was a senior program officer for the World Wildlife Federation (WWF) in Central and West Africa and the WWF vice president for Africa and Madagascar. He was instrumental in developing one of the first Integrated Conservation and Development Programs (ICDP), founded on the principle of integrating Indigenous peoples needs and rights into a conservation program.
Through his company, TS Philanthropy, Tim Sharpe consults with nonprofit organizations on strategic fundraising planning. Prior to founding his consultancy, Tim directed strategic philanthropy for the World Wildlife Fund. He holds a BA in History from Swarthmore College and an MBA from Johns Hopkins University.
Susan Sgorbati is Director of the Elizabeth Coleman Center for the Advancement of Public Action at Bennington College in Vermont. She co-founded the Transboundary Water In-Cooperation Network to facilitate collaboration in five river basins on five continents to promote full access to healthy food systems. Susan served on the GCE US Board of Directors for three years.
Shane Jones initially worked with non-profit agencies addressing poverty and children’s issues. In 2000 he founded Keever and Jones, LLC., an employee benefits consulting firm. An avid mountain climber, he established Worldwide Adventure Guides in 2015 and now leads treks, safaris, and mountain climbs on six continents. Shane was on the GCE Board for six years. He lives in Durham, NC with his wife Barbara.
Julie Claussen worked as a fisheries research associate with the University of Illinois Natural History Survey for 30 years. She was one of the founding partners of the Fisheries Conservation Foundation where she now serves as their Director of Operations. Her work now focuses on ways to share science-based research with stakeholders so that decisions can be made for the long-term health of aquatic ecosystems
After completing his formal education, R. Dean Deboer became a carpenter and formed a partnership with an architect. He has traveled widely and has worked with Habitat for Humanity in the DRC and in Guatemala. He now works as an artist in Durham, NC with GCE founder Godi Godar.
Anthony Minikulu obtained degrees in Management, Law, and International Economics from the University of Liège in Belgium and the Hautes École de Commerce (HEC) in Kinshasa. He has experience in community development, commerce, marketing, and accounting and finance. Anthony lives in Kinshasa with his wife and two sons.
Nina Pfifer is a corporate finance and investor relations advisor who has worked in a wide variety of countries. Her particular interest is in investments that are impactful and sustainable such as renewable energy and infrastructure. She is the co-founding partner and Executive Director of The Conduit Capital.
Claire Parfondry is a specialist in community-led natural resource management, driven by the belief that the most enduring environmental solutions are those owned and authored by the people closest to the land. She is the technical advisor at WeForest for livelihoods, gender and governance in forest and landscape restoration programs. Claire has contributed to GCE’s strategy for protecting community forests in the DRC.
As a founding member of GCE, Candor Bourne served on the board for six years prior to serving as Executive Director from 2018-2022. She has worked in alternative education program development in NC and Ecuador, run two successful businesses in personal development and leadership coaching, and as a childbirth support services provider. She lives with her daughters uphill from the Eno River in North Carolina.
Ariel Rogers received her undergraduate degree from the University of Auckland, New Zealand and her MBA from the University of Edinburgh, with a focus on marketing and non-profit management. She is experienced in community building, organizing, and fundraising around a cause, having led successful grassroots campaigns. She lives in Durham, NC, with her two daughters.
Dechen Dorji oversees World Wildlife Fund programs in Asia. He received the National Order of Merit, Gold, from His Majesty the King for the Bhutan for Life initiative and his services to the Bhutanese environmental sector. He seeks innovative solutions, advancing partnership and advocating for greater engagement with the corporate sector and governments to deliver conservation impacts at scale and across borders.