Who We Are
Our commitment to women’s empowerment starts with our own team.
Our programs are led by women from West Africa, including two former scholarship recipients. They bring exceptional leadership skills, firsthand understanding of the communities we serve, and a passion for helping the next generation of women lead.
Our Team
Sausalito, California, USA
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Barry Hoffner
Executive Director, Volunteer
A former investment banker in emerging markets, Barry traveled to Timbuktu, Mali and attended the Festival au Desert in January 2010. While there he had a chance encounter with a village of Tuareg and returned home to California with the idea of rebuilding the village’s educational infrastructure. By the end of 2010, he had organized Caravan to Class as a 501c3, partnered with a local non-governmental organization to administer the project, raised funds, and started construction on Caravan to Class’ first school in the village of Tedeini.
Mali, West Africa
Bourse Jackie University Scholarships Program
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Fatouma Toure
Program Director - Timbuktu, Mali
Bourse JackieFatouma Touré holds a Master’s degree in Project Management and a Professional Diploma in Hospitality Management from Switzerland. She is also an alumna of the Madeleine K. Albright Young Women Leaders Program (SUSI) in the United States. She currently serves as the Program Director of Bourse Jackie in Mali, where she leads program development and initiatives focused on empowering young women through education, leadership, and professional development.
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Bintou Dicko
Assistant Program Director - Timbuktu, Mali
Bourse Jackie
Bintou Mahamane Dicko is the Founder and President of the Association of Young Women of Timbuktu for Environmental Protection (AJFTPE), leading initiatives in environmental education, climate resilience, and youth and women’s leadership in Mali. She holds a Master’s in Logistics and Transport Management and is an alumna of the Madeleine Albright Women’s Leadership Program. Since 2022, she has served as a Program Assistant with Bourse Jackie. Her work champions community-led solutions for sustainable development.
Ghana, West Africa
Bourse Jackie English-Language Scholarships Program
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Monica Amable
Program Manager - Accra, Ghana
Bourse Jackie English-Language ScholarshipsMonica graduated first in her class at the University of Ghana with a Bachelors’ of Science in Administration and Accounting. She has held various positions in academia at the University of Ghana and is passionate about humanitarian work volunteering with organizations that fight gender-based violence and facilitating mentoring programs. She was also the winner of the University of Ghana Innovation and Incubation award.
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
West African Womens Speakers and Leadership (WAWS)
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Aida Zeba
Program Director
Bourse Jackie West African Womens SpeakersMs. Aida Zeba prevailed from a challenging childhood to earn a National Merit Scholarship in Burkina Faso to study Biological Science. Her dream is to work for the World Health Organization. Ms. Zeba is a former Bourse Jackie English-language scholarship recipient and also a former National Oratory Champion of her country.
Mali & Ghana
Our Offices
Our Board
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Brian Joseph
Partner, Empyrean Capital
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Anjana Utarid
Chief Operating Officer, Upward Women
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Charles E. Jobson
CEO, Thrive Acquisition
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Doussouba Konate
Head of Monitoring and Evaluation, Accountability Lab Mali
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Cynthia Schneider
Distinguished Professor, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service
Former Ambassador to Netherlands
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Laila Tarraf
“It has truly been one of the privileges of my career to for my NGO Nor Dev to administer projects in education for the past thirteen years in the Timbuktu region for Caravan to Class. Through Caravan to Class’ programs thousands of underserved children have gained access to education and dozens of deserving young women have been able to attend university. The determination shown by Caravan to Class to bring hope to this part of the world is unparalleled.”
Hamadou Toure, Partner & Founder of Nor Dev