Our Team
Linda Jackson
Founder and CEO
Linda Jackson is a native Washingtonian and an explorer. That exploration has taken her to many countries, but her work has been in Colombia, Haiti, and Uganda, helping teachers improve the quality of education for children living in extreme poverty and teaching adolescents about reproductive health. As CEO of the Association of Community Empowerment Solutions, she manages ACESWorld programs and develops strategic partnerships with like-minded people and organizations to promote global education goals. She has conducted teacher and staff development workshops in the US, Haiti and in Uganda and continues to liaise and consult with several US-based and international organizations. Linda holds a graduate certificate in International Development and Social Change from Middlebury Institute of International Studies.
Leadership Team
Robert C. Williams
Business Manager
Robert C. Williams is a budding “Eduprenuer” with passion for social justice in heart. A Milwaukee native, he works in schools as a teacher, leader and in support roles to help the continuity, quality, and growth of the programs and services offered to students. He joined ACESWorld to help communities empower themselves abroad. He has also worked to build his professional self, completing a bachelor’s degree from Southern University, MBA at Trinity Washington University, and teacher certification from Teach-Now Graduate School.
Moses Baffour
Program Coordinator
Moses, a young community advocate, Google scholar, social activist, mentor, leader, educator , project facilitator, peers and youth counselor, moderator, public speaker and sustainable development goals facilitator ,from Ghana West-Africa, currently pursuing a BA in Accounting at University of Education Winneba, Ghana. It has always been his aspiration to work with both national and international NGOs , governmental and private agencies that work for the well-being of all people. .Moses works tirelessly to ensure that those in his community reach the Sustainable Development Goals, working with university students to develop service projects, visiting schools to teach youth about reproductive health. and advocating for the full participation of students with disabilities in society.
Jahna Paige
Administrator
Jahna holds a Master’s degree in Global Affairs with a specialization in Global Governance and Public Management and a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs. Her travels abroad and her observations of extreme poverty have informed her career choice, where she has experience in the nonprofit sector supporting campaign, development, and event planning operations. Passionate about human rights, gender issues, and sustainable development, Jahna seeks to restore dignity, empower communities, and build local capacity. As such, she is a strong advocate of inclusive community-driven solutions that give agency and ownership of development projects back to marginalized communities.
OUR INTERNS
Lana Sato
Data Analyst / Consultant
Lana was born and raised in Japan until 13 years-old and moved to the United States. Her strong desire to work in public health promoted her career change from biotech to non-profits. She enjoys analyzing and visualizing public health data and hope to use that talent to improve health and quality of life for underserved communities. Lana hopes to later work in an international humanitarian organization. Her hobby includes hiking, traveling, and working on miniatures.
Debjani goswami
Consultant
Born and raised in India, Debjani pursued a triple major in Psychology, Sociology and English at Christ University (Bangalore). This, along with her volunteering experience at the Centre for Social Action inspired her to work toward increasing access to sustainable and quality healthcare services around the planet through multi-faceted approaches. She graduated with an MSc in Global Mental Health from King’s College London and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, which she is currently augmenting with a Master’s in Health Administration from The George Washington University. At ACESWorld, she hopes to supplement what she learns at university and acquire the skills required to run pan-national programs.
Lixhene Dembe
Program Associate
Lixhene Dembe completed her bachelor's degree in International Affairs. Having lived internationally, she has learned about many cultures across Africa, Europe, and America, and she has been able to adapt to any environment. She has worked with international students, helping them through their college experiences while in Chicago. She is a fast learner, and she speaks French, Spanish, and Congolese dialects. Lixhene has always been passionate about international issues. She is sympathetic, determined, honest, patient, and diplomatic. She is also highly motivated and organized in what she does. She is looking forward to helping young women and girls achieve their potential.
MICHAEL CHANG
Program Associate
Michael’s passion for global health and health policy stems from a combination of coursework from his undergraduate studies as well as his professional experience in healthcare and other nonprofit organizations. He aspires to bring the disparities in health outcomes and equities in access to quality healthcare under the limelight and motivate community engagement to formulate a coalition for a better future.
Mohamed Hassan
Program Associate
Having lived in Egypt for more than 15 years, Mohamad has witnessed the discrimination and inequalities that women and adolescent girls face when it comes to receiving education and healthcare, as well as finding employment. His goal after graduation is to pursue a career in program management and contribute to combating discriminatory gender norms, promoting reproductive health, and increasing access to quality education for women and girls worldwide to improve their quality of life and well-being. His hobbies are playing soccer, painting landscapes, reading, and traveling.
Hermona Girmay
As a first-generation Eritrean-American and lifelong advocate for education equality, Hermona has fundraised to create scholarships for girls facing barriers to education, traveled the United States speaking to audiences as an ambassador for organizations promoting female leadership, and founded an education equality initiative of her own, through which she has donated over 10,000 books and school supplies to her family's village of Mendefera. With a goal to pursue a Master's in Public Health through a dual degree program in the future, she hopes to catalyze change through a career in health policy.
Grace Akor
Grace is passionate about improving the health of underserved communities and ending the barriers to health inequities. Grace lived in Nigeria for most of her younger years and moved to the United States in 2016. She has first-hand seen how barriers to education, access to resources, and medical care can limit the health of individuals and communities. She is passionate about the health of young girls and young women and would love to contribute to the restructuring of healthier communities for girls and women who have limited resources and barriers to improved health. At ACESWorld, Grace hopes to share her knowledge and be able to make an impact in the lives of women and girls served here.
Aliyah De Jesus
During her undergraduate years at Colgate University majoring in Molecular Biology and Women’s Studies, she discovered her passion for the intersection between reproductive health, human rights, gender equity, and the sociocultural factors shaping healthcare access. Aliyah cultivates this passion through community-based activism, serving as vice chair of an advisory council for an international menstrual equity nonprofit, and various internships. She plans to later attend medical school so that she can dedicate her life to protecting and serving those who are overlooked or underserved within healthcare as a physician.
Kyla Duggal
Kyla hopes to pursue economic development and inequality research. She brings experience in public service and community outreach as a former youth voter engagement intern. She is passionate about promoting women's empowerment on a global scale. She is currently on the executive leadership team of a national organization that promotes the health and well-being of women and young girls through fitness. In her free time, she enjoys staying active, traveling, and reading.
Yufei Zhang
Yufei majored in Psychology and minored in Biology at the University at Albany, State University of New York. She is passionate about improving the health of vulnerable communities all around the world and improving their access to health services. From her courses, she learned that there are many barriers for women and children to getting access to enough education and health services which lead to many diseases. She hopes she can apply her knowledge to reduce these barriers. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, reading, and cooking.
Jamie Pattara
Jamie’s background is varied, working for many years as a research technician in biotechnology. After completing a Bachelor's degree in Human Services, Jamie worked in a foster care adoption program, as well as case management for families in a transitional housing program. Jamie's professional interests are women's and children's health, postpartum mental health, and vaccine advocacy and education. After graduation, she hopes to work in the area of reproductive health. A resident of Washington State, Jamie enjoys spending time at the ocean and other outdoor adventures with her husband and three kids.
Hanrong Huang
Hanrong was born and raised in Chengdu, China, and is focused on social impact, innovation and investment. She is passionate about gender equality, women empowerment, LGBTQIA+ rights, etc., and has done and will do many projects focusing on gender-related issues. She enjoys working with people who have different cultural backgrounds, and in the future, she hopes to work in nonprofits that support women all over the world. She loves movies, cooking, and hiking.
Falan Kifle
Falan is a first-generation Ethiopian-American, her family specifically being from Tigray. As Ethiopia is plagued by civil war and ethnic division, she has devoted herself to advocating for peace and unity in the horn of Africa. Propelled by the crisis in her country of origin, she wants to use her degree to pursue a career in refugee resettlement. She seeks to one day establish a non-profit organization aimed at providing equal assistance to refugees regardless of their ethnic background.
Krishina Ramani
Krishina was born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand and has experience working in social media, marketing communications, and nonprofits. She hopes to use this experience in combination with her passion for women empowerment to close gaps and create social change. In her free time, she enjoys dancing and reading up on animal conservation.
Redeit Hailu
Redeit is passionate about addressing global inequality, but more specifically the role of gender within these issues. Growing up in Ethiopia, and witnessing drastic social inequities has shaped her passion for global issues and inspired her to pursue her future career in this area. She hopes to work in a nonprofit field devoted to creating global social change. In her free time, she enjoys baking, reading, and traveling.
Eve Pölkki
Eve is originally from Finland and has lived in Japan during her undergraduate years at Nagoya University. Her participation in the HeForShe student club in Japan, in collaboration with UN Women Japan, led to a passion for gender equality and women’s rights, which has been strengthened by the experience of living in countries with significantly different approaches to and levels of equality. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, reading, and exploring new foods.
Annika Peterson
Annika earned a Bachelor’s of Individualized Studies focusing on Public Health, Communications, and Biology from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She is from central Minnesota and currently works as a substitute teacher and coach, which feeds a passion for teaching and improving the lives of young people. Her passions do not end there: she dreams of working for an international organization that works towards developing sustainable societies, particularly focusing on climate change, reducing gender inequality and poverty, and empowering communities to create better lives for themselves. She is extremely excited about the opportunity to serve beneficiaries through ACESWorld.
Kate Haydon
Kate is passionate about improving global gender equality through the education and empowerment of women and girls. She has a particular interest in reproductive health, human rights, and early childhood education. Kate studied Sociology and Education at University. She looks forward to taking this time to intern with ACES World to explore her passions and discover more about how she can help make a difference in reducing gender inequality and improving communities globally.
Yaran Zhuang
Yaran majored in political science and psychology at The Ohio State University. Yaran is passionate about improving women’s rights and eliminating gender inequality, especially in developing countries. She hopes to further work in the nonprofit sector to strengthen women’s power worldwide. She loves movies, traveling, and exploring local food in her free time.
PROGRAM ASSOCIATES
Nouredine Mama
Program Associate
Nouredine Mama is a Medical student in the Faculty of health science in Cameroon. In 2015, he earns a scholarship exchange program offered by the United States Department to spend one academic year in the United States. He stayed in Washington DC and Homer, Alaska. This is one of his proudest accomplishments. While in the United States he put all his efforts to be one of the best ambassadors of his country through hours of community services. Also, he made several PowerPoint presentations in local communities and in schools to wipe away stereotypes that most Americans had about African countries. After returning to his country, he got involved in projects which will permit him to give back to the community what he has learned. Projects like “Eradicating poverty in Cameroon with know-how and let know”. He is currently working in a motivational book for young people to keep their dreams alive and never give up no matter what situation they face in life.
Linus Agbleze
Program Associate
Linus has a bachelor degree in Geography and Resource Development, postgraduate certificate in climate change management and currently undertaking his masters in Environmental risk and Human Security. Being versatile and analytical, his engagement in research and reporting as part of his professional life is rather diverse spanning from socio-economic, business and environmental researches in support of development oriented projects. Being of the view that research should be employed as a lifeline to engineer well-tailored measures for progress in humane life; he recognizes NGOs as active players in this arena hence his unwavering support.
Derrick Kwabena Agyapong
Program Associate
Kwabena is a final year-student at the Luxembourg School of Business offering Master in Management (MiM) with major in Finance. He is currently doing an internship at a fund administration company. Before starting his Masters programme, he was a trainee at the European Investment Bank for 1 year where he joined the Social Policy Unit. He did policy and operational work in the areas of gender equality, migration and climate action. He is interested in the inclusion of social development issues in finance. He enjoys reading, watching football and listening to music during his leisure time.
Kofi Aikins Amissah
Program Associate
Kofi is a Public Health Advocate, Clinical Researcher and an entrepreneur. He is the Executive Director of Goodhouse Health and Wellness Consult. His core aim is to promote Preventive Healthcare in Ghana. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Community Nutrition, an Advanced Diploma in Project Management and currently completing a Master’s programme in Public Health, specifically Population and Reproductive Health. Kofi is experienced in Community Entry and Mobilization and has served as a Health and Nutrition advocate in Communities in the then three Northern Regions and the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana.
UGANDA
Ithungu Peregia
Program Coordinator-Uganda
Ithungu is a member of opinion leaders in Bwera S/County Kasese District Uganda. She holds a B.S. Social and Community Development, a MSc. Public Health and a Certificate in Human Resource Management. Ithungu has served as the Woman Affairs Minister responsible for promoting information, education, communication and behavioral change campaigns targeting HIV in the district. She supervised ACESWorld Multidimensional Poverty Assessment in Nkoko and Kasindikwa Uganda and manages the Pads4Learning and Seeds4Seeds programs in Uganda.