Paul Ryumugabe is an active member of the Rwandan Community in the UK, a devoted husband and a father of two. He grew up in the same Kigali neighbourhood of Nyamirambo as Eric Eugene Murangwa – they have known each other since they were teenagers! Paul was one of the key community members who supported Eric with the idea of setting up FHPU back in 2009 and in 2010 served on the first ever executive committee as Vice Chair. Paul holds a BSc in Biology, General from the National University of Rwanda and currently works as a Head of Pricing at STA Travel. Like many Rwandans he is also a very loyal Arsenal fan.

Naila is a victim of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda which took place when she was only 12 years old. An active member of the Rwandan Community in the UK, she believes in the power of community and compassion, combined with personal empowerment, to bring about meaningful, positive change. She has experience speaking in schools, universities and other settings, sharing her experience of the effects of genocide, raising awareness of the unspoken impact and ongoing trauma experienced by survivors and other victims. Naila has a BSc in Psychology and Criminology from Coventry University and a Masters degree in Social Work from the University of Salford. She is a professional Children and Family social worker and the proud mother of two sons.

Joel Freedman is the former Youth Trustee who has now become the secretary to the board of trustees. Joel is currently studying for a Masters in Human Rights at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Joel comes from a Jewish background which has grounded him in Holocaust education and anti-semitism awareness. This background led Joel to expand his study and interest to other genocides and forms of hatred generally. Joel is passionate about combating hatred generally and enjoys organising cross-communal, unifying events.

Evariste Habimana is a Geography and Sports teacher at Nyanza Secondary School in Rwanda. He is also the Head of Community Impact Coaches Program and Southern Region Programme Coordinator for Ishami Foundation in Rwanda. Evariste joined FHPU (now Ishami Foundation) after successfully completing three years of training through the Play For Hope: Rwanda 20 programme. He has a Level 2 Certificate in Sport for Social Impact and is a qualified International Community Impact Coach (ICIC) under Coaches Across Continents (CAC) and FHPU training standards. He has also 2 years experience as a Youth Trainer on Mind Education and Leadership skills gained at International Youth Fellowship (IYF) training programme in Rwanda. During the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda he lost local friends and a teacher. As a result he became motivated to fight discrimination and promote reconciliation amongst young people in Rwanda through fellowships and education. He is also a football coach at Future Sound Football Academy in Nyanza district.

Dr Zoe Norridge is the inaugural Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Ishami Foundation. She works with Eric on all aspects of Ishami, in particular public communication, partnerships and strategy. A Senior Lecturer at King’s College London, her research explores cultural responses to the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. In April 2014 she curated the exhibition Rwanda in Photographs: Death Then, Life Now with Mark Sealy MBE in the Inigo Rooms, Somerset House East Wing (London) and presented the BBC Radio 3 documentary Living with Memory in Rwanda. Zoe is also an Associate Editor at Wasafiri literary magazine and a member of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust Expert Reference Group.

Junior Sabena Mutabazi is a public policy professional working with policy formulation, implementation, and advocacy. He also writes a weekly column for Rwanda’s leading newspaper, The New Times. Junior has been involved with Ishami’s constituent organisations, FHPU and Survivors Tribune, for a long time and was also the Youth Representative for the Rwanda Community Association in London before returning to Rwanda to live in 2017. He now works as the Strategic Advisor to the CEO of the Rwanda Development Board. Junior has spoken at youth conventions, schools and universities; shared a platform with president Paul Kagame; represented Rwanda at Buckingham Place; and worked on campaigns to raise awareness of genocide, peace building, HIV and AIDS. He holds an MSc in Public Services Policy & Management from King’s College London, University of London.

Laura Apol is a poet and associate professor of literacy with a focus on literature for children and young adults and creative writing at Michigan State University, East Lansing. Her poetry has appeared in a number of literary journals and anthologies, and her most recent full-length collection, Requiem, Rwanda, draws on her work using writing to facilitate healing among survivors of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. Requiem Rwanda was translated into Kinyarwanda under the title Emwe N’imvura Irabyibuka (Even the Rain Remembers). She has spoken at UK events with Eric Murangwa Eugene and assists the team with writing and editing.

Sean Ndiho Obedih was born in Rwanda and has lived in the UK since 2000. He was one of the founding members of Survivors Tribune and holds a BSc Business Enterprise from the University of Buckingham. Aged only 14 in 1994, he lost most of his friends and members of his extended family during the genocide against the Tutsi, an experience that has had a huge effect on his life. Obedih is involved in several Africa-focussed enterprises in London and is passionate about development in Africa. He assists the Ishami Foundation with strategic structural support and advice.

Adam Usden is an award-winning scriptwriter for television, theatre and radio, recently named in Prolific North’s 2018 list of the top 50 scriptwriters from the north of England. His first BBC play The Book of Yehudit, won the Imison Award for Best Script for a Writer New to Radio, and his second, Sophie’s Lights, was nominated for Best Drama at the BBC Radio and Drama Awards. He provides editorial support for the Ishami Foundation, and recently visited Rwanda to interview survivors for the “100 Stories for 100 Days” project, having previously collected testimony from Holocaust survivors.