The Board of Directors is the organization's governing body, elected at the Annual Assembly meeting. All members are responsible for gaining a basic understanding and initiating actions in support of IIJD's mission, goals and programs. This includes assisting in expanding IIJD's outreach and increasing its visibility and donor support. The Board of Directors manages the organization through an Executive Committee. With the responsibility that determines the Organization's objectives, strategic management: the control of administrative and financial policy and decisions regarding activities of the Corporation. The Board of Directors is also responsible for overseeing the general supervision of the business and affairs of the International Institute for Justice and Development (IIJD), Inc. IIJD’s Board of Directors acts on behalf of IIJD’s constituents, including service recipients, funders, supporters, volunteers, governments, and taxpayers. It has the primary responsibility for fulfilling the organization's mission.

IIJD’s Board of Directors is made up eleven members who establish committees, structures the organization and accomplish their functions through regular meetings. Practically, IIJD’s Board members meet, prepare, and engage in thoughtful dialogues, which generate useful ideas to help the organization financially grow.

 

Benjamin Ngachoko

Chief Executive Officer

Benjamin Ngachoko has spent most of his career in the non-profit sector developing and managing organizations and building the capacity of civil society in the area of international justice and development. In 2001, Mr. Ngachoko founded the International Institute for Justice and Development (IIJD) in order to continue his passion for seeing poor nations around the world experience renewed stability and prosperity.

Mr. Ngachoko has been involved in the movement toward democracy and pluralism in Africa for the past two decades. Persecuted under the dictatorial regime of Mr. Paul Biya in Cameroon and forced to exile, Mr. Ngachoko left his native Cameroon in May 1993. He lived in Burkina Faso (West Africa) for four years. During that time, Mr. Ngachoko extensively traveled through the West Africa region, contributing to building the capacity of civil society organizations in Mali, Ivory Cost, Senegal, Niger, and Burkina Faso, before immigrating in the United State in May of 1997.

Mr. Ngachoko believes that poverty and underdevelopment must be addressed through a comprehensive approach combining institutional reforms, infrastructure development, and capacity building by working with local experts and community based organizations. In the past, Mr. Ngachoko has worked with the Group of Research and Education for Democracy and Social Progress (GERDES) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) to provide technical support for elections and to train election monitors. Furthermore, he has provided technical support, strategic advice, and assistance to the governments of Burkina Faso and NGO’s operating in Mali, Senegal, Niger, Togo, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Benin, and Ethiopia. Before establishing the IIJD, Mr. Ngachoko worked as a policy and financial analyst for Prudential Insurance and Boston Financial Data Service. Mr. Ngachoko has also provided assistance to many asylum seekers and refugees who have made their homes in the United States.

Mr. Ngachoko concluded his education with a Master of Science in Organizational Management program at the School for International Training. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Law and Administration and a Master of Arts in Public International Law from Ouagadougou University, and a Master of Law from Boston University.

Mr. Ngachoko is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the IIJD. He is married with three children and currently resides in Chestnut Hill, MA with his family.

 

Jonathan Fisher Butler

Audit Manager, DiCicco, Gulman & Company LLP

IIJD's Director and Treasurer 

Jonathan is Certified Public Accountant and holds the position of Audit Manager with the accounting Firm DICICCO, GULMAN & COMPANY LLP.  Jonathan joined the IIJD Board of directors in 2009 and served as the International Institute for Justice and Development (IIJD) Treasurer.

 

Keith Boudreau

The Growth Coach, The owner

After many years as a senior executive in the Fortune 500, Keith retired in 2008 and began searching for an opportunity to transition from success to significance.  That search led to his lauch of The Growth Coach in the Cape Ann/North region... an ideal platform for Keith to give back to the community.

Previously, Keith built and managed major businesses at ITT, Deutsche Bank, Conseco and Textron.  He's led as many as 200 employees in these businesses, and has been successful in diverse roles within a wide range of markets and industries.  Among other accomplishements, Keith was recruited to turn around the lesing division of Conseco Finance.  His efforts over 18 moths led to the sale of the business to Wells Fargo Bank for 182 Millions, 63% more than expected.

Keith is a national speaker, trainer and facilitator.  His presentations and workshops focus on leadership development, driving success and achieving work-life balance.

Keith is a certified Black Belt in the process improvement methodologies known as Six Sigma, and has a Master in Business Administration from Olin School at Washington University in St Louis.

 

Paulette Ngachoko

Senior Executive, Chief Strategy Officer

Paulette Ngachoko has been a member of the Board of Directors of IIJD since its creation. She has provided technical assistance for the incorporation of the Organization and the design of programs. Along with her involvement with IIJD, she has worked as Compliance Risk Manager for Bank of America since November 2000. Prior to that Mrs. Ngachoko worked on different projects as Financial Analyst for Boston Financial Data Services, E*Trade and Prudential Insurance from 1997 to 1999.

Paulette Ngachoko came to the United States in 1997. While living in Burkina Faso from 1993, she finished her law studies and subsequently worked as an Attorney. In July 1995, through her affiliation with CAPIA, a Burkina Faso government organization to promote African integration, she participated with the country’s delegation to the world youth summit conference in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast. Mrs. Ngachoko left her native Cameroon in 1993, after contributing to its people’s fight for freedom and democracy through the National Coordination of Cameroonian Students and FREEDOM-NOW, a National Organization of Women whose goal was to promote women's opinion and encourage their participation in political forums.

Paulette's educational background includes: an LL.M. in International Banking and Financial Law from Boston University in May 2000; a D.E.S.S. (post-graduate degree) in International Business Law, a Master's degree in Law from Ouagadougou University in Burkina Faso, and a Bachelor's degree in private law from Yaoundé University in Cameroon. Paulette Ngachoko speaks French fluently and has been member of the New York State Bar Association and the American Bar Association since 2001. She lives in Brookline with her family.

 

Jean Assobmo

Secretary and Clerk

Jean Assobmo, a Board member since 2003, has more than fifteen years experience managing non-profit organizations. Jean is IIJD’s clerk and board of Directors meetings’ organizer. He also oversees communication with IIJD’s partners in West Africa. A native of Cameroon, he has previously worked as a head of the Association for Health and Welfare of Children and Rural Women, as well as in the Ministry of Health in his native country. Jean also has many years of teaching experience in Cameroon. Beside his involvement with IIJD, Jean is a Medical Electronics Engineering Technician working at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).

 

Romero Hayman

Center for Effective Philanthropy, Manager

Romero Hayman is a manager at the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) in Cambridge, MA. CEP is a nonprofit organization with a mission to provide management and governance tools to define, assess, and improve overall foundation performance. CEP assessment tool subscribers include such organizations as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Boston Foundation. In his time with CEP, Romero has worked with, and presented to, the senior management and boards of many of the largest foundations in the United States and Canada. Romero is primarily responsible for CEP’s work assessing foundation staffs and boards, and helping foundations use the results of these assessments to make management decisions. He also contributes to CEP’s research and co-authored a report entitled Beyond compliance: The Trustee viewpoint on Effective Foundation Governance.

 

Carole Copeland Thomas

The C. Thomas and Associates, Speaker, Author, Radio Host

Carole Copeland Thomas is the voice of personal empowerment. She is a keynote speaker, empowerment expert, diversity professional, syndicated radio host, and leadership consultant in C. Thomas & Associates, a business she started in 1987. Ms. Thomas served as an adjunct faculty member for Bentley College for a decade, and has spoken throughout the United States, London, England, Canada, and Australia. Carole Copeland Thomas is a keynote speaker, convention facilitator, management consultant and seminar leader in C. Thomas & Associates, a firm she started in 1987. Carole is the host of Focus On Empowerment heard every Friday at noon on WBNW-1120 AM Radio in Boston (simulcasting on the web at http://www.moneymattersradio.net)