David Gonsalvez, EdTech

David is lead EdTech at DreamAi™. He is a former NYC Teaching Fellow with a masters in Education from BYU. He is passionate about the intersection of technology and teacher-student interactions to elevate the learning experience of everoyone at their own pace based on cultural uniqueness.

Franco Abott, Cofounder and CTO

Franco Abott from Kenya is the co-founder and CTO of DreamAfrica. Growing up, Franco moved around a lot. He grew up in 6 different places in Kenya during his childhood. This cultivated in him a great love for adventure and curiosity. After finishing high school at Alliance High School, one of the best public high schools in Kenya, he won a scholarship to go study Computer Science at Lafayette College in the US. At Lafayette his thirst for exploration grew as he met people from vastly different backgrounds. He formed a deep belief that we all inherently have something to contribute and share because of our unique backgrounds. After graduating, Franco joined Lutron Electronics Inc., one of the most innovative lighting controls companies in the world. Rising to become a Senior Software Engineer, he learned how to build distributed software systems and in particular how to maintain world-class security. Following his passion for entrepreneurship and love for Africa, Franco left Lutron with this wealth of knowledge to build DreamAfrica. At DreamAfrica he uses his technical expertise gained in school and in the software industry to provide seamless sharing of engaging multimedia stories from around the world. He strongly believes that everyone has a story and every story deserves to be heard.

Isabelle Zaugg, Advisor - Communications

Isabelle Zaugg is an expert in Film, Education and Communications and advises DreamAfrica on its strategic initiatives and outreach as well as compliance.

Torin Perez, Lead Product Evangelist

As Lead Product Evangelist for DreamAfrica Torin focuses on inspiring and influencing people to spread DreamAfrica far and wide. He joined the team because one of his deep passions is inspiring positive changes in how we view ourselves and others. He believes DreamAfrica can foster culture sharing, curiosity and appreciation on a global scale to ultimately effect how we connect with and understand each other. When he was just 18 years old he was selected by WorldTeach to teach entrepreneurship skills and English while living in South Africa. After graduating with his Bachelor's degree in Psychology with a minor in Economics and Business from Lafayette College, Torin worked on an award winning digital and mobile advertising sales team at Bloomberg LP for 3 years. While there, he emerged as a leader in the diversity community where he helped grow the Black Professionals affinity group membership over 150% in just 15 months, gaining recognition from global heads of diversity and inclusion and philanthropy for his commitment and service. In 2015, Torin represented the United States at the world's most diverse youth leadership summit named One Young World and he was recently selected for the inaugural TED Residency incubator program in New York City to work on DreamAfrica and deliver a TED Talk later this year.

Dr. Elizabeth Taveras Rivera, Professional Development Lead

Dr. Elizabeth Taveras Rivera was born in NYC but spent the early part of her childhood in Puerto Rico. When she returned to New York City Dr. Taveras Rivera was placed in bilingual classes, she was able to see first-hand the struggles students who were learning English without the linguistic and cultural supports to help make the transition successful. She is a product of the public schools and graduated from Washington Irving High School. Her grandmother, Doña Salva, inspired Dr. Taveras Rivera to pursue a doctorate degree. She has worked as an educator for the past 30 years, teaching in grades K-12 and at the university level. She has worked as a Spanish teacher and she has also taught English, Social Studies, Science and Mathematics within the Special Education continuum. Doña Salva was her first student, learning how to write her name when she was 80 years old. Doña Salva lived at a time when few women attended formal school and although she was illiterate, Doña Salva bought land, which she farmed as sole proprietor, forever exemplifying a strong work ethic. Doña Salva taught Dr. Taveras Rivera that education was a gift that lived in you and could never be taken away. From her grandmother, Dr. Taveras Rivera learned to be self-sufficient, to fight for the rights of women and to be a life-long learner. In pursuit of her doctorate degree Dr. Taveras attended NYU where she majored in Latin American literature and morphology. She worked as a court interpreter and then shifted into education. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Taveras Rivera attended St. John’s University where she began to focus on the teaching and learning of bilingual special needs students. After earning a Masters of Science degree in bilingual education Dr. Taveras Rivera enrolled in Columbia University’s Teachers College. Dr. Taveras Rivera was part of the International and Transcultural Studies Department. Her dissertation work focused on how teachers of Puerto Rican descent use their cultural heritage to empower their work, serve as role models and develop their creativity. Her interest focus includes peace educations, gender equity and culture.

Javan Okello, Business Development & Operations, Kenya

Javan Okello graduated with a Bsc. Environmental Health from Kenyatta University after which he served as a Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at Kenya's National Aids and STI Coordination Program (NASCOP) under the Ministry of Public Health. He has recently graduated with an MBA from the University of Nairobi and serves as a part time research consultant with Andy Adams Researchers in Nairobi. Believing that entrepreneurship could unlock potential and create opportunities he Co-founded Send Us International; a computer services and training provider in Migori County. He also Co-founded Sawayume Kenya with Japanese partners to support the education of students affected in one way or the other by HIV/AIDS. His passion for story telling stems back from nostalgic memories of the fireside. He says "Grandma would gather us together and tell us stories that inspired our young spirits with courage, and valor and taught us morality, community, and ethics that made us connect more deeply with one another and with our culture. However, it is unfortunate that those stories were not preserved in writing nor were they shared beyond our community." DreamAfrica therefore serves as the best platform to make such literature available and accessible to a global audience and he feels excited to be part of such a noble mission.

David Simpson, Advisory Board - Branding and Communications

David is on the DreamAfrica Advisory Board and has been instrumental in positioning the company and brand within the education and corporate communities. He is a marketing communications professional with 30+ years experience in advertising and digital communications agency account management; including 18+ yrs in agency marketing and business development. Experienced and disciplined in strategic development (positioning, branding, etc.) and possessing a strong digital acumen, David has worked with and continues to work on international brands, with start-ups and scale-ups, luxury and higher-end consumer products, fmcg’s, financial services/banking, high-tech, telecom, office products, manufacturing, airlines, food and beverage, retail, destinations, B2B. His current focus is embarking on new adventures working closely as mentor with start-ups and scale-ups in NYC (via DreamAfrica's recent Startup52 accelerator program), and helping more mature companies build and grow their brands. David is a B.A. graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, with a double-major in Political Science and French. He resides in NJ with his wife and three children.