Executive Project Team

Dedication. Expertise. Passion.

At our core, we are a group of passionate individuals driven by a shared vision of making a positive impact in the lives of the Tasso Island community. With great dedication, we have weekly convened since September 2022 to develop the Tasso Island project—this includes project goals, funding, and timeline.

Our core group organically formed, as in February 2020, Consult DSA (CDSA), a US-based management consulting firm visited the historic British slave castle on Bunce Island and the adjacent Tasso Island in Sierra Leone. At the time of the 2020 visit, Tasso Island residents (6,000 people) lived without clean water, electricity, or toilets. Therefore, with a desire to improve the living environment on Tasso Island, CDSA funded a solar power project that brought electricity to the island's medical clinic, schools, churches, and mosques. However, after the global pandemic, funding for the project was no longer feasible and CDSA began exploring funding avenues to continue the infrastructure development work on Tasso Island.

In 2022, a Booz Allen Hamilton executive and member of Baltimore Homecoming took an interest in the Tasso Island project, as he believed that Wi-Fi could be a catalyst for generational change and economic development on Tasso Island. With this dedication and knowledge that specific expertise would be required, he invited the founder of RowdyOrb.it to join the core group. RowdyOrbit.it, a Baltimore-based tech company, had already championed bringing internet to underserved communities and most importantly trained community members to maintain the resource. RowdyOrb.it's founder connected the team with the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health’s (JHUBSPH) Applied Environmental Health Practice course where one of the course projects was to complete a White Paper on Internet Access as a Social Determinant of Health on Tasso Island. A press release communicating the global project attracted the attention of a Sierra Leonean National who lives in the United Kingdom and served as a Trustee of Anti-Slavery Society and Anti-Slavery International.  Since its formation, our core team has expanded to include a professor and graduate students from JHUBSPH, a Lead Scientist from Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., and a Sierra Leonean National who resides in the United States.

The project is bolstered by the participation of the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN). Composed of five regional networks that comprise approximately 10,000 communities and related projects, GEN will uniquely advance the project by sharing the experience and best practices gained from the networks of ecovillages and sustainable communities worldwide. GEN Africa will engage the Tasso Island community in profit-making activities that leverage their unique strengths, geography, and community interests.

IslandAid Sierra Leone

IslandAid Sierra Leone, a local NGO established in 2010, will serve as the liaison to Tasso Island. Since its formation, IslandAid has worked to conserve and protect island environments and biodiversity; and to enhance the process for the sustainable livelihood of Island Communities. Since 2020, CDSA has cultivated and nurtured a relationship with the IslandAid Executive Director, Dura Korma (far right).

Join us on our journey as we continue to make a difference, one village at a time.

Together, we can build a brighter future for all!

Jonathan Moore

(RowdyOrb.it)

Jonathan Moore is the founder and CEO of RowdyOrb.it, a premier provider of internet access solutions in underserved communities. Currently, the organization has 22,500 networks and Wi-fi hotspots annually in Baltimore City which it aims to transform into community assets. RowdyOrb.it will serve as the private sector entity and primarily/lead grant applicant for identified donor funding opportunities.

Dr. Charles Johnson-Bey

(Baltimore Homecoming, Booz Allen Hamilton)

Dr. Charles Johnson-Bey, a central focal point for building our expanding team, is a Senior Vice President at Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., an analytics, digital engineering, and cyber consulting firm. He is also a part of Baltimore Homecoming, a mobilizing network that encourages social and private sector entrepreneurship to empower Baltimore residents in Maryland, USA. His expertise and contacts have brought key collaborators such as Dr. Shavonn Watkins to our core team.

Dr. Shavonn Watkins

(Booz Allen Hamilton, previously USAID)

Dr. Shavonn Watkins serves as a Lead Scientist at Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. and previously was an Agricultural Biotechnology International Research Advisor with U.S. Agency for International Development. She brings a wealth of grant-making knowledge and grant management experience having worked with USAID as well as much-needed contacts within the organization to navigate the grant application process. As someone with a technical background, extensive science diplomacy, Embassy, USAID Missions, and stakeholder engagement experience, she is uniquely positioned to assist the core team in securing donor organization funding.

Dr. Megan Weil Latshaw

(Johns Hopkins University)

Dr. Megan Weil Latshaw is the Director of the Master’s degree program in the Department of Environmental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (Baltimore, Maryland, USA). She also directs the Applied Principles of Environmental Health course which pairs graduate students with community partners to provide real-world experience in solving environmental health challenges. As part of the Fall 2022 course offering, students worked with RowdyOrb.it to construct a White Paper, develop an environmental empowerment course, and draft a grant application, all with the goal of supporting Tasso Island residents.

Errol Reid LL.M, BA (Hons.)

(Law Barrister of Gray’s Inn, Sierra Leonean National)

Errol Reid is a London-based Sierra Leonean National who is a practicing Barrister and Attorney in St. Lucia and the Caribbean with interests in international law and human rights. Errol received a Master of Laws (LLM) from the University of Essex. As an advocate, he has campaigned and organized meetings to protect Aborigines in Australia, Slavery in Sudan, and West Papua, and Child Soldiers in Africa. In 2022, Mr. Reid along with a group of others donated desks to Tasso Island schools. Mr. Reid learned about this initiative through a press release announcing the JHU students’ success. He has served as a valuable link to the funding community in the United Kingdom.

Dr. Ama Apenteng

(Johns Hopkins University)

Dr. Ama Apenteng is a practicing medical doctor from Ghana and a current Master's student at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. As someone with a strong passion for community service, she especially appreciates the project's commitment to helping an underprivileged community in West Africa, which is also home to Ghana. Dr. Apenteng was introduced to this project through Dr. Megan Latshaw's Applied Principles of Environmental Health course and serves as a key member.

Iman Habib

(Johns Hopkins University)

Iman Habib is currently a Master’s student in the Environmental Health and Engineering Department at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She was first introduced to this project through Dr. Latshaw’s course and served as an integral member of the grant drafting team. She enjoyed the experience so much that she continued to advance the project forward after the course ended as a core member of our team.

Marva Goldsmith

(Consult DSA)

In 2020, Marva Goldsmith and her former business partner visited Tasso Island. The visit served as the catalyst for this life-affirming project. Consult DSA funded the first phase of a solar power project that illuminated schools, places of worship, and a clinic on the island. Marva (named Chief Ya Alimamy Kapen by the Tasso Island leaders) marvels at the organic growth of the project. She is the CEO of Consult DSA, a management consulting firm that focuses on process improvement and leadership development.