Archive
25 Feb Tingo
| WITNESS Tingo Tingo is a Batéké (bah-teh-keh), or Congolese Hunting Dog. He hails from the village of Mvoula, just north of the equator in the Republic of Congo. As a puppy, Tingo met a researcher who was working with a team of local educators on a public health project that sought to protect villagers and wildlife from the lethal Ebola virus. Experiencing significant health issues himself, he befriended the team. His new friends moved him to Brazzaville to be cared for by a talented veterinarian with the Wildlife Conservation Society's Wildlife Health Program. Tingo regained his strength and grew from 2lbs. to well over 20lbs. His size, strength and natural agility proved invaluable. His innate capacity to protect human rights educators led him to WITNESS. Here, he is now responsible for protecting the physical security of WITNESS' Brooklyn office when he is not in the field assisting the team's filming efforts (his superior hearing makes him the perfect sound dog!). Tingo's tail wags are invaluable in ensuring daily smiles, as are his language skills. Tingo speaks English, French and Lingala (although he's forgotten the word "come" in all languages!).
01 Feb Bukeni Waruzi
| WITNESS Bukeni Waruzi Bukeni T. Waruzi currently works for a Family Foundation in Nairobi and is the former WITNESS Senior Program Manager for Africa and the Middle East. During his time at WITNESS, he was also the Lead of WITNESS’ Global Campaign on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, during which he specifically supported women's rights activists to create effective strategies to fight for gender justice through video and other technologies. Bukeni is an advocate with extensive expertise in the field of children affected by armed conflict and gender-based violence in conflict situations. He is originally from the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where he worked for over nine years on child soldiers and children affected by armed conflict. He founded and served as the Executive Director of AJEDI-Ka/Child Soldiers Project, an organization working to demobilize and reintegrate child soldiers in the DRC and he also implemented AJEDI-Ka's use of cell phones as a means of documenting child rights violations. Bukeni produced several videos on child soldiers and the spread of HIV/AIDS in the DRC. His advocacy and videos were instrumental in the International Criminal Court's first trial on child soldiers. Bukeni studied economics at the Evangelical University in Africa in Bukavu (DRC) and Human
31 Jan Jeffrey C. Walker
| WITNESS Jeff Walker Jeff Walker is Vice Chair in the United Nations Envoy’s Office for Health Finance and Malaria. He is a partner in Bridge Builders investment fund. He served as the Chairman of Millennium Promise, with the United Nations and Columbia University, an incubator to eliminate extreme poverty. Jeff co-founded and was chairman of Npower, an organization that provides shared technology services to nonprofits. Jeff recently co-authored a new book , “The Generosity Network”, about new approaches to gather resources to address causes each of us are passionate about. For twenty five years, Jeff was CEO and co-founder of CCMP Capital, the $12 billion successor to JPMorgan Partners, JPMorgan Chase & Co’s global private equity, Vice Chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Chairman of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation. He serves on the Board and Advisory Committees of numerous nonprofit organizations.