From left to right: Ranita Charania, Dr. Kelechi Ohiri and Dr. Jennifer Tamas
Ranita Charania
Ranita Charania is the Education Programme Officer for the Social Welfare Department of the Secretariat of His Highness the Aga Khan. Her role involves supporting the Aga Khan Education Service (AKES) school system and education programmes in 13 countries across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
In her previous position as the Management and Programme Liaison Officer for the Diplomatic office of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in Uganda, Ranita worked with bilateral agencies, government entities and ministries; the donor community; and civil society organisations with a view to enhancing diplomatic and programmatic relations.
Prior to joining the AKDN, Ranita worked in the non-profit sector in Calgary. Through her role as the Manager of Volunteer and Community Engagement at Volunteer Calgary, she worked with sector leaders, private companies and non-profit organizations in program development and the delivery of community-based initiatives aimed at active engagement of marginalized, at risk, and diverse ethnic communities in civic life.
Ranita started her career in the private sector in the field of Human Resources within the Oil and Gas industry where, as part of a larger Organizational Learning Team, she facilitated the development of employees in areas such as change management, leadership development, and team building.
Ranita's passion for working in areas of youth development has led her to volunteer in a number of areas, including as a Board Director for AKES in Uganda, Child and Youth Friendly Calgary, and the Calgary Bridge Foundation for Youth; as an international trainer and facilitator for youth programs in India and Pakistan; and as curriculum developer and teacher training within the Ismaili community in Canada.
Ranita holds a Masters Degree in Education and Community Development from the University of Toronto and a Bachelors Degree in Human Resources and Strategic Management from McGill University.
Dr. Kelechi Ohiri
Dr Kelechi Ohiri is the Senior Special Adviser to the Honourable Minister of State for Health in Nigeria and the Head of his delivery unit. In this position, he serves as the senior adviser to the minister and the lead for driving the Minister's agenda including most recently, the Saving One Million Lives Initiative.
Prior to this, he was an Engagement Manager with the London office of McKinsey and Company, where he served a broad section of health sector clients, including Payors, Providers, Health Systems and Pharmaceutical clients in Europe, Middle East and Africa. His functional areas of focus were in Strategy and Organization Design.
Prior to joining McKinsey and Company, Kelechi worked with the World Bank, having joined through the Young Professionals' Programme. His focus was on strengthening health systems in emerging markets in Asia (India, Vietnam, and Pakistan), the Middle East (Iran, Egypt, Middle East regional programmes) and Africa (Zambia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Rwanda), through the design, implementation and evaluation of various health and social sector projects. He also worked on priority diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Malaria, TB and Avian Influenza.
Kelechi has written policy papers, academic publications, and has co-authored books in health systems, namely ‘Working in Health: Financing and Managing the Public Sector Health Workforce' which focuses on addressing the Human Resource for Health crises and ‘Clearing the global health fog: integrating priority health, nutrition and population programmes into Health systems in low and middle-income countries. Dr Ohiri has also served on global expert advisory panels for the Institute of Medicine and the World Health Organization.
He also worked as a Healthcare Management Fellow at Harvard University and as a Primary Care Physician in various settings.
Kelechi has a Medical degree from the University of Lagos. He also holds a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard University, as well as a Master of Science degree in Health Policy and Management, from Harvard University.
Dr. Jennifer Tamas
Dr. Jennifer Tamas holds a PhD (summa cum laude) in French Literature and Stylistics from the University of Paris IV-Sorbonne (thesis title: "Dire et ne pas dire: du silence éloquent à l'énonciation tragique des déclarations d'amour chez Racine". Mention Très Honorable avec les Félicitations du Jury à l'Unanimité).
Jennifer is a PhD candidate in French at Stanford University and is also a Fellow of the Stanford Humanities Center. She holds a Geballe Dissertation Prize Fellowship. Her project is entitled: "A Revolution in Rhetoric: Declarations in Old Regime and Revolutionary France".
After high school and preparatory classes (hypokhâgne and khâgne) at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, Paris, France, she studied at the University of Paris IV - Sorbonne. She taught linguistics and literature for six years at the Sorbonne where she obtained her Master in stylistics by writing two dissertations: "The Force of Persuasion in Zola's Faute de l'abbé Mouret" (mémoire de maîtrise), and "Pragmatic of the Declaration of Love and its Enunciative Functionings" (mémoire de D.E.A). She also earned the French National certificates for teaching: the CAPES and the Agrégation de Lettres Modernes.
She was granted a Fulbright award to study in the USA in 2006 and has also been teaching at Stanford University, including French stylistics, literature and cinema.
Jennifer is regularly invited to deliver lectures and to speak at conferences, and she has published or edited several articles, book chapters and volumes. Besides French and English, Jennifer also reads German, Latin and Greek.
Her interests include history, stylistics, rhetoric, medieval French, Latin, grammar and all kind of literatures. She also nourishes a deep passion for theatre, creative writing, cinema, cooking / eating, ballet, classical music, and especially the piano.
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