The Officers
Andrew Klaber, Founder, President, and Partner The Board
OAA China Project Director  Sam Dixon graduated from Oxford University with a degree in Modern History in 2007. His interest in helping youths affected by HIV/AIDS was augmented by working at a Tanzanian orphanage that provided care for HIV/AIDS victims during a year in between high school and college. Sam also worked at a school in Uganda in which a large number of the local children and adults had been affected by HIV/AIDS. Sam is now studying for an MSc in Violence, Conflict and Development at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. Following his graduate education he hopes to return to East Africa and continue volunteering on the continent.
OAA China Project Director  ChiWing “Jessica” Qu, originally from San Francisco, is currently at Yale College pursuing a B.S. in neurobiology. In addition to the clinical and research sides of medicine, Jessica is keenly interested in public health. During the summer after her freshman year, Jessica spent two months serving as a public service intern in Chennai, India. The following summer, Jessica served as a National Institutes of Health Research Fellow on infectious diseases. Jessica is currently conducting independent field research on AIDS orphans and voluntary non-remunerative blood donation in China. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
 John Harabedian graduated in 2004 from Yale College where he received a B.A. degree in Political Science. Following graduation, John worked as an analyst at the investment banking firm Barrington Associates, completed a Masters degree in Comparative Social Policy at Oxford University, and served as a Coro Fellow in Los Angeles. He is currently pursuing a Juris Doctorate degree at Stanford Law School.
OAA South Africa Project Director
Jake Masters attends Vanderbilt University, having recently graduated from ACS Cobham International School in Surrey, England, where he received an International Baccalaureate diploma. In 2005 Jake began to collect and distribute Beanie Babies to AIDS orphans throughout South Africa; to date over 3500 Beanie Babies have been collected worldwide. During this intitial endeavor, Jake was introduced to the children of Dikatole, a squatters' camp near Johannesburg. Jake expanded his initial work from distributing Beanie Babies to creating the Dikatole Scholarship Fund, which allows high-achieving children living at the camp to attend private school. The fund also provides financial support to a local nursery school (ages 3-6) and an after school program (ages 7-16). Jake's goal is to one day shake the hands of these students at their own high school graduation.
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 Lindsey Reynolds received her MHS in International Health from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in 2006 and is now completing her Ph.D. in Public Health at Johns Hopkins. During her junior year at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, she won a small research grant to travel to South Africa for one month to study HIV prevention programs. While there, she spent time at Holy Cross, an AIDS hospice and orphan care project in rural South Africa. After her first research trip to South Africa with Angela Larkan, Lindsey started an organization called Thembanathi (www.thembanathi.org), which aims to increase awareness of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and to provide support to Holy Cross and other organizations like it. Her continued work on HIV/AIDS led her to choose the field of public health as a career path. Since her first work in South Africa in 2003, Lindsey has continued to work in South Africa with HIV prevention projects and programs to provide care for orphans and vulnerable children. She is currently starting research for her Ph.D. dissertation, working with organizations that provide care and support for children in AIDS-affected communities in South Africa.
 Scott Grinsell is currently a third-year student at Yale Law School. At Yale, Scott serves as Comments Editor of the Yale Law Journal, Executive Editor of the Yale Law and Policy Review, and was a Coker Teaching Fellow. Prior to attending law school, Scott received an M.Phil. in Modern History from Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar, and graduated summa cum laude from Williams College in 2004. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Scott has also worked for Mayor Gavin Newsom and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.
Jehan Budak, originally from southern California, graduated from Yale College in 2005 with a degree in Political Science. In addition to doing bench work following graduation, Jehan volunteered as an HIV Prevention Counselor at the Utah AIDS Foundation and went on a medical mission in the Peruvian Amazon. Afterward, Jehan tutored Pac-10 student athletes, worked in an underserved pediatric clinic in Compton, and substitute taught at the 9th grade level, the latter two both in inner city Los Angeles. She is currently in her first year at the University of Washington School of Medicine, where she is participating in the Global Health, Underserved Health, and Hispanic Health pathways. The Board
Keira Driansky is an associate with CarVal Investors, responsible for managing investments in North American corporate securities. Previously she worked at Goldman Sachs on the proprietary equity investments desk, where she focused on investments in the healthcare sector. Keira received her MBA from Harvard Business School and her MPhil in Bioscience Enterprise from Cambridge University, where she studied as a Marshall Scholar. Keira graduated summa cum laude from Yale College, receiving a B.S. in Applied Math with a concentration in Economics and Biophysics. She currently serves on the boards of several organizations, including the Yale Science & Engineering Association, the United Cerebral Palsy Association of MN, and the Baldwin School National Board of Advisors.
Ronan Farrow is a writer and human rights advocate. His columns have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and other publications. He has served as a UNICEF Spokesperson in Angola, Nigeria, and Sudan and has testified on African issues before numerous U.N. groups. Farrow has appeared as an expert witness before the U.S. Congressional Human Rights Caucus and as a commentator for MSNBC, ABC, and CNN. Farrow has also worked as Special Assistant to Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and for the Chief Counsel of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs. He is currently a student at Yale Law School.
Jonathan Good is originally from New Zealand where he graduated from the University of Auckland. He subsequently studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, graduating with distinction from the MPhil in economics. He presently lives in New York City where he works for a leading management consulting firm. Jonathan has served several community bodies in New Zealand and the United Kingdom and has experience working in Africa.
Pooja Kumar grew up in India, Singapore, Indonesia, Canada, and the US. She is passionate about international health and has worked for Save the Children in East Timor, the International Rescue Committee on the Azerbaijan-Armenia ceasefire line, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on the Congo-Zambia border, UNICEF in India, and McCord Hospital in Durban, South Africa. She graduated from Duke University in 2001 with a degree in health policy and from Harvard Medical School in 2007. She also received a master's degree from Oxford University, where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar, focusing her thesis on humanitarian medical intervention. She completed her internship in emergency medicine at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Since 2008, she has been working with a leading management consulting firm where she focuses on the healthcare sector.
Kedra Newsom is a second-year student at Harvard Business School where she serves as conference co-chair for the African American Student Union and is a member of the Joint Committee on Diversity. Prior to business school, she worked for Merrill Lynch as a software developer and I/T strategist. Kedra graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2002 with a degree in Computer Science and Engineering. Following business school, she will join The Boston Consulting Group and hopes to use her knowledge to work on public education and community development issues.
Rohan Nirody is currently an MBA candidate at Harvard Business School. Prior to coming to HBS, he was an Associate at Elevation Partners, a private equity firm making large-scale investments in media, entertainment, and consumer technology businesses. Previously, he worked as an Analyst in the Blackstone Group’s private equity group. Rohan graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School and a B.A. in International Studies from the College of Arts & Sciences. He volunteers regularly with several non-profit organizations, including the Red Cross and OneVoice.
Assemblymember John A. Pérez represents the 46th District, located in the City of Los Angeles, in the California State Assembly. John’s work on behalf of the community has been recognized by various elected officials and organizations. Three mayors, including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, have appointed John to major Los Angeles City Commissions. Former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg appointed John to serve on a Blue Ribbon panel studying state initiative reform. John also received a Presidential appointment to serve on the President’s Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS. In addition to his work in the labor movement, John serves as an elected member of the Democratic National Committee. John has served as a board member for the California League of Conservation Voters, AIDS Project Los Angeles, the Latino Coalition against AIDS, the California Center for Regional Leadership, and the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation.
Rohit currently works at Permira Advisers, a European-based private equity firm focused on leveraged buyouts in a variety of sectors. Prior to Permira, Rohit worked at General Atlantic (private equity focused on technology companies) and Goldman Sachs (technology, media, and telecommunications investment banking).
Thomas Scott received his BA in Development and African Studies from the University of South Carolina in December 2006. He spent 2005 as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar at the University of Cape Town, where he researched cross-country differences in access to AIDS treatment. Traveling widely in southern Africa, Thomas became interested in the links between AIDS treatment provision, procedural fairness, and broader democratic consolidation. With assistance from the Zambian Ministry of Health, in 2005 Thomas conducted some of the initial research evaluating a publicly-run ART program in a rural African content. In doing this, he focused on local constraints to ART access (such as gender, age, and geographical isolation) as well as on popular perceptions of inequality in ART provision. A Truman Scholar, Thomas is now pursuing a J.D. at Stanford Law School and a Master’s in Public Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton.
Sid Shenai is currently a JD/MBA candidate at Harvard Law School and the Harvard Business School with both degrees expected in June 2010. He graduated from Harvard's College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 2004 with A.B and A.M. degrees in Physics. Prior to returning to Harvard, Sid was a consultant in McKinsey & Company's San Francisco office and advised Fortune 500 clients across a wide range of industries, including banking, real estate, and software. As a consultant with Technoserve, he worked with rural entrepreneurs in Swaziland to build agribusinesses that support local economic development and alleviate poverty. Sid has also worked at the Harvard Management Company and the law firm of Fenwick & West.
Ganesh Sitaraman is the Public Law Fellow at Harvard Law School, where his research focuses on constitutional law, international law, and national security. Ganesh also leads the Democratic Renaissance Project, a network of young progressives working to recover and mobilize the progressive intellectual tradition so it can be understood and applied to develop new policy ideas. Ganesh has worked on over a dozen political campaigns, investigated terrorism with ABC News' Investigative Unit, and consulted at the World Bank's Inspection Panel. He is the co-author of Invisible Citizens: Youth Politics After September 11 (2003), and has commented on youth politics, education policy, and political strategy for the New York Times, Boston Globe, New York Public Radio, Voice of America, and the NBC Nightly News. An Eagle Scout and a Truman Scholar, Ganesh received his A.B. in Government, magna cum laude, from Harvard College. He received a Masters in Political Thought from Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he was the Lionel de Jersey Harvard Scholar. And he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor on the Harvard Law Review.
Eric Twerdahl is currently in his third year at Harvard Medical School. Originally from New Canaan, Connecticut, Eric graduated from the US Naval Academy in 2004 with distinction in Chemistry and English. From 2004 to 2006, he studied Human Physiology at Oxford, where he was a Marshall Scholar. While at Oxford, Eric led the Oxford University Strategic Studies Group, the university's oldest international affairs society. At Harvard, Eric is a founding member of the International Relations & Biomedicine Circle, sits on the organizing committee of the Harvard Medical School Ethics Journal Club, and has been involved with a discussion forum dedicated to issues of environmental science and policy. Eric has spent time studying the health care systems of Dubai and India, and has spoken at a number of international conferences on the subject of Indian health care. |
Andrew founded Orphans Against AIDS--an international non-profit organization that provides more than 500 children who have been orphaned or made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS in seven countries with academic scholarships, basic health care, and decent nutrition--after confronting the plight of AIDS orphans in northern Thailand during the summer of 2002. Klaber is especially interested in how the private, public, and non-profit sectors can build symbiotic relationships to better empower AIDS orphans. Andrew served with the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Orphaned and Vulnerable Children and was selected to speak about Orphans Against AIDS at the 2008 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. An Ethics, Politics, & Economics and International Studies graduate of Yale College, Klaber earned Masters of Science degrees in Financial Economics and Economic History as a Marshall Scholar at Oxford University and is currently pursuing a JD/MBA at Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School. For his commitment to public service and leadership, he has been selected as a Goldman Sachs Global Leader, a Truman Scholar, an Asia Society Young Leader, and a First-Team USA-Today Academic All-American.
Adam Grogg, from Frederick County, Virginia, is currently a student at Yale Law School. He graduated from Williams College in 2004 with a degree in Political Science and Economics. As a Marshall Scholar, he completed an MPhil in Comparative Social Policy at Oxford University in 2006 with a thesis on the politics of education reform. Before beginning law school, Adam worked for Google in London and for CEOs for Cities, a U.S. network of cross-sector urban leaders headquartered in Chicago. He is particularly interested in understanding and advocating issues of equality in cities and schools.
Angela Larkan graduated from Wesleyan University in December 2005 with a degree from the College of Social Studies. Originally from South Africa, she witnessed the poverty experienced by many children while growing up. She began researching models of care for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in 2003, after which she co-founded Thembanathi to raise funds and awareness for children in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. In 2007 Angela established Thanda as a separate organization to support the Thanda After-School Program (Thanda ASP). She co-founded Thanda Zulu jewelry (
Robert Schiff is a consultant in New York where he advises private, public, and non-profit organization on issues of strategy and growth. Robert previously pursued an MPhil in Economic and Social History at Oxford University on a Keasby Scholarship and served as the New College, Oxford Middle Common Room President. Mr. Schiff, originally from California, graduated from Haverford College in 2004.
Announcements
Orphans Against AIDS story and video by Voice of America
Orphans Against AIDS featured in the New York Times article, The Age of Ambition
Join the Orphans Against AIDS Facebook Group, go to http://www.facebook.com, "Groups", and search "Orphans Against AIDS" to become a member.
To purchase South African jewelry that supports orphans affected by AIDS click here.
More OAA Announcements
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