Who are the people behind the Grandmother Project?

Judi Aubel 

Executive Director, Grandmother Project – Change through Culture

Judi has 30 years of experience working with community health, education and child protection programs in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Pacific. Her training is in anthropology, public health and adult education. Her interest and expertise is in development of community programs that build on socio-cultural roles and realities and that empower communities to promote their own well-being. Judi has received several awards for her innovative work:
Thomson Reuters Trust Women Award -2012
Ashoka fellow -2015
BBC Inspirational & Influential Women Award –2016
Global Thinkers Forum Award  for Positive Change -2017

Mamadou Coulibaly

National Director, Grandmother Project – Senegal

Mamadou was trained as a teacher and has worked in community development, education, health and child protection programs for more than 25 years.  He completed his formal training in 2017 when he received a Masters degree in Project Management and in 2021 obtained a Diploma in Monitoring & Evaluation. He started working with Grandmother Project (GMP) in 2012 as the Program Manager in charge of planning and management of the GMP team in Velingara in Southern Senegal. Mamadou is from Velingara and has a strong commitment to improving the lives of children and families in that area of the country.  In February 2025 was appointed the GMP Country Director for Senegal. 

Board & Staff

GMP US Board of Directors

  • President: Carolyn Long, Retired Vice President of InterAction, Washington, D.C., USA
  • Secretary-Treasurer:  Lillian Baer, Retired Director of African Consultants International, Dakar, Senegal
  • Judi Aubel, Executive Director, Rome, Italy & Mbour, Senegal
  • Drew Boshell, Executive Director, FINCA, Toronto, Canada
  • Jennifer Hanks-Allaire, President, Allaire Foundation, USA
  • Mark McEuen, Dexis Consulting Group, Washington, D.C., USA
  • Chisina Kapungu, Women International, Washington, D.C., USA
  • Marcel Kaminstein, BIO, Washington, D.C., USA
  • Alen Amini, Boston Consulting Group, Boston, Mass., USA
  • Doe Mayer, Retired Professor, University of Southern California (USC), USA

 Board advisor:

  • Banda Ndiaye, Deputy Director for Africa, Nutrition International, Nairobi, Kenya

GMP Senegal Board of Directors

  • Mr. Babacar Robert Cissé, President, Mbour, Senegal
  • Ms. Bandé Sané, Secretary-Treasurer, Senegal
  • Dr. Judi Aubel, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Rome, Italy & Mbour, Senegal
  • Dr. Rosalie Diop, Institute of Population and Development, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal
  • Dr. Marie Gueye, West African Research Center, Dakar, Senegal
  • Mr. Makane Kane, Retired UNFPA Representative
  • Dr. Banda Ndiaye, Deputy Regional Director for Africa Nutrition International. Dakar, Senegal
  • Ms. Angele Mané, Retired, Gender Advisor Ministry of Education, Dakar, Senegal
  • Dr. Khadidiatou Diallo, Sociologist, Ministry of Education, Thies, Senegal
  • Ms. Marame Cisse Gonzales, Teacher, American School of Dakar, Dakar, Senegal
  • Ms. Maimouna Dembele, SightSavers International, Dakar, Senegal
  • Ms. Elsa Dansokho, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, Dakar, Senegal

GMP Senegal Staff

  • Mamadou Coulibaly, Program Manager
  • Khadidiatou Leye, Administrator and Finance Coordinator
  • Famata Téfy Baldé, Documentation and Leadership Assistant
  • Mariama Kandé, Community Development Assistant
  • Mamadou Diop, Administation and Finance Assistant
  • Ndeye Rama Baldé, Animatrice
  • Oumou Houlsoum Diop, Animatrice
  • Sire Diao, Animatrice
  • Fatoumata Baldé, Animatrice
  • Fatoumata Bintou Baldé, Animatrice
  • Oulèye Aw, Animatrice
  • Alioune Sall, Part-time Monitoring-Evaluation Assistant

Consultants and volunteers:

Imelda Kanyala, part-time Translation & Editing Coordinator, France
Hermine Durand part-time Communication Officer,  France
  • Larry Anderson, Legal Advisor, Lindale, Texas
  • Khadydiatou Diallo, Sociologist, Thiès, Senegal
  • Jitendra Joshi, Webmaster, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
  • Francesca Lulli, Anthropologist, Research Consultant. Rome, Italy
  • Angèle Mané, Gender Specialist, Velingara, Senegal
  • Tiziana Mattioni, Graphic Designer, Rome, Italy
  • Anneke Newman, Anthropologist, Brussels, Belgium
  • Hamidou Soukouna, Senior Education Advisor, Dakar, Senegal
  • Alyssa Rychtarik, Social Worker & Program Development Specialist, Dublin, Ireland

Volunteer translators 2020-23

Renée Barange, Sarah Brokshaw, Valentina Dibiase, Hermine Durand, Ima Hicks, Suzy East, Rebecca Jayne Kelly, Angélique Giachetti, Catherine Gustafson, Jessica Inman, Anisha Mangtani, Frédérique Marty, Kevin Marceau, Marie-Thérèse Maurice, Bonnie Miller, Gill Navdeep Kaur, Charlotte Nicholson, Noelle Palmer, Er Min Peck, Julien Rouwens, Chantal Roy, Ivy Steele,Yvonne Tarabal, Pat Violer, Valerie Wadzana Garwe, Sheri Walters, Mary Wood Beasley, May Zreik, William Young, Ern-Min Peck.