Leadership & governance

Led from the field, accountable everywhere.

Our work on the ground is run by Congolese leaders. A volunteer board in the United States sets strategy and holds every dollar to account.

Field leadership

The people who make the centers home

Portrait of Alain Bayongwa

Alain Bayongwa

Founder & Executive Director, World Hope Givers · Site Director, Goma

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Alain is a Congolese lawyer and the founder of World Hope Givers, a local NGO dedicated to safeguarding the women and children of eastern DRC from armed conflict. He met Dr. Nicolas Fesser during the 2019 Ebola outbreak in North Kivu, and the two have worked in close partnership ever since. Alain leads operations on the ground in Goma. When Goma fell in January 2025 he was forced to flee as a refugee, and he returned ahead of his own family because the need was too great to stay away.

Portrait of Freddy Moise

Freddy Moise

Site Director, Beni Center for Hope

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Freddy is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and leads operations on the ground in Beni, where he has run the Beni Center for Hope day to day since it opened in 2020. He also serves as Head of Child Education for the city of Beni, bringing educational leadership and deep community ties to his work with the children.

“This place is the last resort. Without us, I'm not sure these kids would still be here today.”

Freddy Moise, Site Director, Beni Center for Hope

Board of directors

Our volunteer board

Portrait of Nicolas Fesser, MD

Nicolas Fesser, MD

President & Founder

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Nicolas is an emergency medicine physician and Global Health Fellow at Stanford University. He completed his Emergency Medicine residency at the University of Washington in Seattle and is completing a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. He founded Fesser and Friends in 2020 after witnessing the devastating impact of armed conflict on children in eastern DRC while volunteering in the Ebola camps in North Kivu in 2019. He oversees all of the organization’s operations, strategy and partnerships.

Portrait of Kyle Ause

Kyle Ause

Treasurer

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Kyle holds a BBA and Master of Accountancy from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He began his career as a Strategy Consultant at KPMG before serving as a Product Manager at DoorDash, and is now a Staff Product Manager at Collectors in Denver. He oversees the organization’s finances, reviewing every transaction made by our implementing partner, to ensure responsible stewardship of donor contributions.

Portrait of Jackson Pavlakis, MUP

Jackson Pavlakis, MUP

Secretary

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Jackson holds a Master’s in Urban Planning and brings expertise in community development and organizational systems to the board. He oversees governance, documentation and strategic planning for Fesser and Friends.

Portrait of Boris Pavic, MD MPH

Boris Pavic, MD MPH

Director of External Affairs

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Boris is an emergency medicine physician and Global Health Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his Emergency Medicine residency at the University of Washington, holds an MD and a Master’s in Public Health in epidemiology from UCLA, and is completing a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. He manages the organization’s external partnerships, institutional relationships and public health programming.

Advisory board

The experts who make the projects possible

Portrait of Sachita Shah, MD

Sachita Shah, MD

Senior Global Health Advisor

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Dr. Shah is VP of Global Health and lead for Women’s Health at Butterfly Network, and Professor of Emergency Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Global Health at the University of Washington. For 20 years she has focused on innovative uses of point-of-care ultrasound in limited-resource settings, and directs the UW Global Emergency Medicine and Rural Health Fellowship.

Portrait of Sonia Kamineni

Sonia Kamineni

Grant Writer

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Sonia graduated from the University of Washington with degrees in Spanish and in Law, Societies, and Justice. She is the grant writer for Fesser and Friends and a GrantWriting board member with the Philanthropy Lab.

Portrait of Nora VanRees

Nora VanRees

Research Advisor

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Nora is a graduate student at the University of Washington’s Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies and a Human Rights Research Fellow at the UW Center for Human Rights, working on data sovereignty, urban inequality and international children’s rights.

Portrait of Duncan Favill

Duncan Favill

Water Initiative Advisor

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Duncan is an environmental scientist specializing in water quality, groundwater monitoring and wastewater treatment, and an Associate Environmental Analyst at Seattle Public Utilities. He advises on Fesser and Friends’ water projects.

Portrait of Georgia Petrova

Georgia Petrova

Beyond the Rhythm Events Lead

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Georgia leads Beyond the Rhythm, our music-event fundraising series.

How we're governed

Good intentions aren't enough. Good governance is how we keep them.

Fesser and Friends Inc. is a New York not-for-profit corporation and a US 501(c)(3) public charity. Our fiscal year is the calendar year.

Transparency
  • An all-volunteer board

    Every board member is a volunteer and receives no salary or compensation.

  • Spending controls

    Board approval is required for any land purchase or disbursement over $2,000. Our treasurer reviews every transaction made by our field partner.

  • Written policies

    Conflict of interest, whistleblower protection, and records retention policies, adopted by the board in 2021.

  • Child protection

    A child protection policy, a designated safeguarding lead, a zero-tolerance code of conduct on sexual exploitation and abuse, and confidential complaint channels.