Our Team
Our team of Korumo Associates are experienced leaders in their field. We combine ‘soft’ skills in facilitation, coaching, and counselling with ‘hard’ skills in rural development, agribusiness, mining, and media and film. We have a footprint in Africa, and can offer services in English, French, Swahili, Xhosa.
Mo Salomon (PhD)
Chief Navigator | Founder of Korumo
Strategic facilitator, coach, and yoga teacher. Passionate about people as drivers of their own development. Mo has a background in anthropology, a PhD in participatory rural development, and worked on assignments in Africa, Asia and Europe. Novice surfer, running yogi, and mindfulness blogger. Pronoun: they. Ennea 7.
Home base: Durban, South Africa
Languages: English, Dutch
Proudest achievements:
Leading the NGO that I was Director of into participatory management. Coaching a multi-country team in gender-transformative change in the agrifood system in Africa.
Leadership philosophy:
Inspiring people and organizations to explore their edges and stretch to make a difference in the world.
Atafeinam Abalo (PhD)
Gender Coach, Trainer
Coach, consultant, teacher, project manager, city councillor, and NGO president. I work for a better world. I’m Ata for friends. Ata is a gender coach in KORUMO’s partnership with GIZ for gender-transformative leadership.
Home base: Lomé, Togo
Languages: French, English, and Togolese languages (Kabyè, Ewé, Kotokoli)
Proudest achievements:
As President of the Association for Women in Mining (AFEMET) and member of grassroots network (RADEB) I obtained 107 ha land for young people and women in Togo’s ZAAP-Pya agricultural development. As gender coach for GIZ in Benin making men and women realize that gender has economic benefits.
KORUMO Associate because…
As Paulo Coelho says in The Alchemist: it is an opportunity to walk with partners from diverse backgrounds towards each one’s personal legend, by building a model of growth for a continent!
Leadership philosophy:
Everyone can make a difference. Often people want to hear it in a special way to boost their energy.
Thembela Njenga
Gender Coach, Trainer
Transformational coach and development practitioner. Passionate for justice. Aspiring to see women live their truth, show up authentically and take up their place without fear. Thembela is a gender coach in the GIZ partnership.
Home base: Johannesburg, South Africa
Languages: English, Xhosa, Zulu.
Proudest achievements:
When I discounted my fears and gave myself permission to explore deeper what else lied within me beyond what I was comfortable with. I walked away from formal employment to start my own organisation, Womaniko Transforming Spaces which seeks to see women thrive in and out of work.
KORUMO Associate because…
I believe in what KORUMO stands for – inspiring people and organisations to organise for impact. When I joined, I knew this was a great opportunity to be stretched in areas I have not been before, and was proven me right.
Leadership philosophy:
You cannot lead others when you can’t lead yourself.
Akizou Bataba
Development Facilitator
Business analyst, investment officer. Thirteen years of experience in business and project analysis. Helped to set up a state-owned holding company to attract direct investments in Togo.
Home base: Lomé, Togo
Languages: French, English and Togolese Languages
Proudest achievements
Being part of the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) 2014 program where I launched my vision to improve young African entrepreneurs’ conditions by assisting their start-ups.
KORUMO Associate because….
I joined as translator and process observer in GIZ’s project on Gender Makes Business Sense.
Christine Guchu
Integral Coach
Passionate about people and real results. Great at creating space and the freedom to identify new ways of being, while remaining simple, practical and fun.
Home base: Nairobi, Kenya
Languages: English, Kiswahili
Proudest achievements:
Doing a bungee jump at the Vic Falls… Birthing and Mothering of Five Women. As WMG Management Consultants Ltd establishing the Beyond Your Edge Program – a strong and rigourous personal development program for leaders.
KORUMO Associate because…
We were pioneering gender-coaching with GIZ in ATVET in Africa.
Leadership philosophy:
It all starts with me
Wambui Njuguna
Gender Coach, Stakeholder Facilitator
Development professional with vast experience in leadership, development management, capacity enhancement, and value chain analysis. Strategic thinker and facilitator of multi-stakeholder processes. Worked on assignments in the wider East Southern African region. Wambui is KORUMO’s impact monitoring lead.
Home base: Nairobi, Kenya
Languages: English, Kiswahili
KORUMO Associate because….
I joined as KORUMO gender coach and trainer for GIZ.
Rebecka Henriksson (PhD)
Stakeholder Facilitator, Virtual Navigator
A Swede in South Africa who is creative, down-to-earth, diligent, positive and passionate about exploring the interface between people and the earth. A sustainability scientist with a PhD from Stockholm Resilience Centre, currently involved in trans-disciplinary research in Malawi and South Africa. Rebecka is process lead of KORUMO’s stakeholder facilitation team.
Homebase: Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Languages: English, Swedish
Proudest achievements:
Raising happy and fulfilled children and completing my Doctorate thesis.
KORUMO Associate because…
I see KORUMO as the perfect organisation to contribute to making a difference outside of my usual academic pathway.
Leadership philosophy:
To lead others by inspiring and guiding them to see their potential and achieve what they want to achieve.
Karen Engel (PhD)
Stakeholder Facilitator, Virtual Navigator
Facilitator, researcher, lecturer and project manager. Expertise in community resilience and disaster risk management, inter-organizational learning, sustainable and inclusive development, and climate adaptation. Karen is content lead of KORUMO’s stakeholder facilitation team.
Home base: Paris, France
Languages: English, Dutch, Spanish
Proudest achievements:
The projects in which I was able to ensure intercultural learning on an international level, and the PhD project through which I gained in-depth understanding of earthquake and tsunami resilience and vulnerability in Greater Concepción, Chile.
KORUMO Associate because….
KORUMO‘s approaches, drive, energy and values are in line with my professional outlook and pursuits. And it is a pleasure to be part of a team that can inspire, is creative and brings together ample and diverse experience and knowledge.
Leadership philosophy:
Collectivity, preparation, imagination, and improvisation.
Phumzi Manana
Virtual Navigator
An audio-visual specialist. I use media to tell stories that inspire social change. I specialise in documentary film Research, film publicity, and video editing.
Home base: Johannesburg, South Africa
Languages: IsiZulu,English
Proudest achievements:
Researcher for two international award-winning films -“I want to see for myself” a film about Arthur Ashe, and “A new country” a film exploring the socio-economic state of South Africa after 25 years of democracy. Working as the directors’ key researcher and music supervisor on the biopic about Nelson Mandela – Long Walk to Freedom.
KORUMO Associate because…
KORUMO’s vision is to inspire leadership and well-being. I believe my skills can benefit the organisation while I too benefit from a stimulating and mindful work environment.
Leadership Philosophy
For a leader to find balance in the world and in their work, they must first find balance within themselves.
Ojong Enokenwa Baa (PhD)
Gender trainer, Stakeholder Facilitator
Cameroonian-born Scientist in South Africa, passionate about exploring the nexus between gender, climate change and livelihoods in rural context. I support organisations and institutions to mainstream gender at nested levels, and I facilitate multi-stakeholder processes. Ojong is a gender trainer for the GIZ partnership and part of the stakeholder facilitation team for the CGIAR
Homebase: Makhanda, South Africa
Languages: English
Proudest achievements:
Finishing my Doctorate in a pandemic with two toddlers.
KORUMO Associate because…
KORUMO’s drive to support organisations and institutions engender projects and programs inspires me. Gives me an opportunity to gain virtual navigation skills as many are moving towards remote work.
Leadership philosophy:
To support others, pursue their dreams, dare to be different and never to conceal themselves.
Sinegugu Ngcongo
Virtual Navigator, Comms Geek
Extraverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Prospecting personality. “Umuntu umuntu ngabantu”, I believe we can learn through each other’s experiences to build a society where all members can benefit. Sine is virtual navigator and communications geek for our on-line processes.
Home base: New Germany, South Africa
Languages: English, isiZulu
Proudest achievements:
My biggest act of bravery was to silence my fears and pursue my dream of being an entrepreneur.
KORUMO Associate because….
I love working with an organisation that is people-focused. The opportunity to advance my PR experience was an added advantage.
Leadership philosophy:
Lead from behind. Create a safe space so people can freely express themselves, and you’ll be amazed at how far your team will go.
Simone Dale
Coach, Strategic Facilitator
NPO leader with 17 years experience. Coach, facilitator, NPO organisational development consultant, and aspiring writer. Curious observer of the human-nature connection, and the inner work needed for social change.
Home base: Hilton, South Africa
Languages: English
Proudest achievements:
Always coming back to love in all my relationships – in life and work, being a steady mindfulness practitioner, and achieving cum laude in my master’s degree while working full time.
KORUMO Associate because….
Synergy, diversity and intention. KORUMO lives the philosophy that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. It’s a collection of people working for something bigger than us, about change for good.
Leadership philosophy:
Leading from the inside out – “The success of an intervention depends on the interior condition of the intervener” ~ Bill O’Brien. Leading from a systems perspective and leading with love.
Spring
Associate
Mo Salomon is an associate of Spring, a global organization that supports and accompanies social and climate justice leaders to thrive in complexity and and forge powerful new pathways.
International Support Group
Associate
Mo Salomon, Karen Engel, and Wambui Njuguna are members of the International Support Group, an international network of experienced facilitators for social innovation and multi-stakeholder learning and collaboration.
Thoughtsmiths
Associate
Mo Salomon is an associate of Thoughtsmiths, a coaching company that offers high quality strategic support and coaching skills training. Through this partnership, KORUMO seeks to promote coaching as leadership skill in the social justice sector.
