SEEKING PURPOSE?

Our Board of Directors and Advisory Board are united by at least two elements. The first is our belief that education is, as Nelson Mandela often said, the most powerful weapon we may use to change the world. We believe education empowers and provides a sustainable pathway to economic and personal freedom. The second is our compassion. We hear people’s stories and work to bring opportunity to those who have been long-denied. Some of us know well the experiences of those we serve in South Africa; others of us are learning each day. We all, however, recognize the structures that have systemically subordinated others, and we are working to eliminate those in the name of equity.

Please contact us to learn more about joining our team.

BOARD COMMITTEES

FINANCE & AUDIT
Chair Alex Hill, Kim Finnerty, Zuki Mbuli

FUNDRAISING & MARKETING
Chair Meg Pickering, Martha T. Cummings, Siyabulela Rabie

GOVERNANCE, NOMINATING & REVIEWS
Chair Mike Fontaine, Charlie Josephs, Risa Weinrit

BOARD CHAIR/PRESIDENT

Risa Weinrit, Psy.D. is a psychologist and a psychoanalyst in private practice in the Boston area. Risa graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1980 with a major in psychology and subsequently received her doctorate in clinical psychology at Hahnemann University. Risa completed her psychoanalytic training at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. She is now on the faculty there, at the Massachusetts Institute of Psychoanalysis, and at the Psychoanalytic Couple and Family Institute of New England.

BOARD SECRETARY

Alex Hill is a native of small-town Ohio, and now divides her time between Colorado and central Mexico. She holds degrees from Bryn Mawr College and Harvard Business School. Alex’s professional life included equities analysis and management consulting positions. She has been active in various educational and faith-based boards and committees, and now focuses on providing educational opportunities in Mexico and Kenya, in addition to her work with Universal Promise.

BOARD TREASURER

Kim Finnerty was raised in the suburbs of Boston and lived in Southwestern Connecticut for 30 years before heading south to Virginia. After earning degrees from Yale College and Harvard Business School, Kim spent most of her career building consumer brands at both manufacturing companies and marketing services agencies. She recently founded her own strategy consultancy, DataBards, which is dedicated to helping marketers create inspiring stories from the data they collect.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (NON-VOTING)

Martha T. Cummings is a native of Southboro, Massachusetts, and an alumna of Bryn Mawr College, the Università Italiana per Stranieri in Perugia, Italy, and the Dante Alighieri School in Florence, Italy. Upon her graduation from Bryn Mawr in 1980 with a degree in Anthropology, Martha entered the field of education. For 42 years, she served as an administrator, a teacher, a coach, and a tutor. Martha won the Anti-defamation League's Golden Teacher Award and is a published author, including two books and several articles and speeches. Martha is the UP founder and Executive Director.

BOARD MEMBERS

Charlie Josephs, who was born and still lives in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, is a descendant of the Khoi San and has an extensive academic background and well documented leadership qualities. He speaks three languages (Afrikaans, English, Xhosa) and has studied Public Administration, Personnel Management, Law, and Property Valuation. For several years, Charlie was the manager of the Mayibuye Ndlovu Development Trust (MNDT), an organization that oversees eight townships in the Sundays River Valley. His background in farming, land reform projects, rural development, and health services reflects his devotion to sustainability.

Meg Pickering was born in Washington, DC and grew up in a diplomatic family, living in Europe, East Africa, and the Middle East. She retired in 2022 after 38 years of federal government service, mostly as an attorney at the Department of State where she worked on numerous issues including UN affairs, ethics, foreign assistance, and refugees. She is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College (A.B.), Harvard Law School (J.D.), and the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium (LL.M). 

Michael Fontaine grew up in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and studied Music History and Theory at the University of Massachusetts before earning a Bachelor’s in Business at Johnson & Wales. Mike then received his MBA at Northeastern University. Mike held senior HR roles in defense and technology at Raytheon and IBM before serving as the National Partner of Human Resources at KPMG US. Mike is currently a Principal in KPMG’s Human Capital Advisory Practice and is focused on helping KPMG clients evolve their business and people strategy, culture, and digital HR solutions. 

Siyabulela Rabie was born in Slagboom, South Africa, and grew up there with his Xhosa grandmother, aunt, three uncles, and cousins before relocating to Addo with his grandmother in the mid-1990s. There Siya attended school, including Vusumzi Primary School and Samkelwe Senior Secondary School, the very schools with which Universal Promise has partnered over the years. Denied a proper education herself, Siya’s grandmother, a major force in his life and an unwavering advocate of education, lived to see her grandson enroll at Nelson Mandela University (NMU) in 2010 and complete his Bachelors in Social Work degree in 2014. He subsequently worked in the Social Work Department at NMU, Cape Town Child Welfare Society, and the Department of Social Development in Cape Town. Siya now works as a Forensic Social Worker (Captain) at the South African Police Service.

Zukiswa (Zuki) Mbuli grew up with her grandmother, grandfather, and cousins in the rural village of Healdtown in the former Ciskei, South Africa. Zuki’s grandfather and mother were passionate about education, which inspired Zuki to pass her matric before heading to University of Fort Hare, the alma mater of Nelson Mandela. Zuki ultimately earned her degree, a Bachelors of Arts, majoring in Education, at The University of South Africa (UNISA) in 1993. Zuki worked at Fort Hare for 19 years, first as a fee clerk, and then as an Admissions Officer, a Senior Officer in Academic Administration, and a Faculty Manager, until she was offered an admissions position at Nelson Mandela University, where she now serves as a Senior Manager in Admissions.