Meet our team
We are a small team with a diverse set of skills and experiences. What draws us together is a passion for development and a strong belief in achieving impact over maximising personal gain. We are based across the world with flexible working arrangements including full and part time employees, collaborators and advisors.
Members
David Stern
Director, Mathematical Scientist
David Stern is a Mathematical Scientist and Educator. He is a former lecturer in the School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Sciences at Maseno University in Kenya and a founding board member of African Maths Initiative (AMI).
Danny Parsons
Director, Mathematical Scientist
Danny has a background in mathematics, which led to a broader interest in education and development with organisations including AIMS, AMI and University of Oxford. He is involved in various projects that cut across the mathematical sciences, education and development in Africa within IDEMS.
Beth Medvecky
SENIOR TECHNICAL ADVISER FOR AGRICULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT
Beth is passionate about African smallholder agriculture, agroecological research for development and development education for multidisciplinary teams of students through experiential learning.
Chris Marsh
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT TEAM LEADER
Chris is an experienced software developer who has worked in a variety of sectors over his 20 year career. He has managed teams of software developers and coordinated large development projects.
Chiara Facciolà
MATHEMATICAL SCIENTIST
Chiara is an Applied Mathematician who has recently completed her PhD. She is currently involved in a number of projects within IDEMS, which range from education to social challenges.
Esmee te Winkel
Mathematical Scientist
Esmee is a mathematician with a passion for education. As a member of SAMI charity, she volunteered at Maths Camps in Kenya and Ghana. She is excited to be working on projects that set out to improve young people’s life chances.
Lily Clements
DATA SCIENTIST
Lily is a data scientist with a PhD in statistics. She is committed to working with data to support positive social impact, and is involved in a number of exciting projects across IDEMS. Her work is concentrated mainly in using the statistical software, R, and in the development of data skills training courses.
Johnny McQuade
SOFtware developer
Johnny is a software developer and graphic designer. He has a background in physics and philosophy, with a particular interest in the intersection of the two.
Ian Stride
SENIOR SOFTWARE DEVELOPER
Ian has broad experience in software development, gained over many years working in startups. He enjoys metal music and helping others to improve their lives through better education.
Elena Okada
SOCIAL IMPACT ENABLER
With a background in project management, business development as well as inputs in digital product design and implementation, Elena’s work is varied in the role of Social Impact Enabler. She is enthused to be supporting health and social change projects at IDEMS and possesses particular interest in child development and maternal/child health issues.
Lucie Hazelgrove Planel
SOCIAL IMPACT SCIENTIST
An anthropologist with a first degree in mathematics, Lucie enjoys working with communities to support them in achieving their goals. Women, women’s groups and a gender lens to development have been central themes to her research in Africa and Oceania.
David Whittaker
Social Investment Lead
David develops and builds the capacity of social enterprises, originally in Papua New Guinea then Zambia and the UK. He’s an advocate of regenerative agriculture, social economies and always learning.
Issouf Kone
Research Methods JUNIOR FELLOW
Ed Moss
SoFtware developer
Tim Fox
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MANAGER
Giovanna De Giusti
Development & Gender Expert
Giovanna is an Economic Development Scientist and Educator and a former lecturer at Maseno University in Kenya, where she taught Economic Development, Research Methods and Project Management among other subjects.
Carla Marquez
QUALITY ASSURANCE OFFICER
Carla is a Linguist, with a specialty in Spanish Language. She is working part time on quality assurance for several IDEMS software development projects. She loves dogs and is studying to become a dog trainer.
Michela De Giusti
Economic Development Scientist
Michela is a Development Manager passionate about the role education can play in the development of local communities and has volunteered in Maths Camps in Kenya.
Santiago Borio
STACK Coordinator, Mathematical Scientist
Santiago has a wide range of experiences in education, both professionally and academically, and has held middle management positions and consulted with senior management in a range of projects in schools in the UK and Argentina. He is particularly interested in innovative uses of computer aided assessment of mathematics.
Zach Mbasu
MATHEMATICAL SCIENTIST
Zach is a founding board member of African Maths Initiative (AMI) and Director of INNODEMS. He is an experienced maths teacher and very passionate about technology integration in Education. He is working on exciting projects that set out to improve the quality of learning in schools across Africa.
Roger Stern
SENIOR STATISTICIAN
Roger’s main interests include improving the teaching of statistics at all levels. He also works closely with Meteorological Services in many countries to support more use of their historical climatic data. He remains associated with the University of Reading, UK, where he worked for many years.
Abdou Amadou Aboubacari
RESEARCH METHODS SUPPORT APPRENTICE
Aboubacari is a research methods assistant with a background in mathematics and computer science. He is a doctoral student in statistical modelling analysing the effect and safety of new road developments.
Sabi Sika Madaniatou
RESEARCH METHODS SUPPORT APPRENTICE
Sabi is a research methods assistant. She has a background in statistical mathematics and is very passionate about research methods. She’s delighted to be broadening her experience in this field.
George Simmons
POSTDOCTORAL IMPACT ACTIVATION FELLOW
George is a mathematician who has recently completed his PhD. He undertakes modelling and research methods support work with the agroecology team, as well as a wide range of projects across IDEMS.
James Musyoka
POSTDOCTORAL IMPACT ACTIVATION FELLOW
James is an applied statistician with experience in both statistical training and practice. During 10 years at Maseno University he served as Vice President for the International Association of Statistics Education (2019-2023). Currently contributing to IDEMS climate work, he is driven by the belief that proper application of statistics and data science has the potential to drive substantial progress in Africa.
Patrick Munyoki
SOFTWARE DEVELOPER
Patrick has broad experience in software development, gained over several years working as a consultant for small and medium-sized companies. He has a background in Mathematics and Computer Science. He currently works on Climate projects at IDEMS International. He is particularly interested in using technology to help solve world hunger.
Georg Osang
POSTDOCTORAL IMPACT ACTIVATION FELLOW
Alongside his studies at the intersection of mathematics and computer science, Georg has worked as a tutor and has been supporting and participating in mathematics education activities in Africa. He has completed internships at Google and is interested in the application of technology to mathematics education.
Sal Mercuri
Knowledge Transfer Associate for Digital Mathematical Assessment
Sal is a mathematician with a research background encompassing pure mathematics and machine learning, alongside industry experience as a data scientist. In partnership with the University of Edinburgh, he is currently developing features for STACK and helping to broaden its use in computer aided assessment of mathematics.
Zobinou “Zed” Mawusi
Research Methods Assistant
Zed was a research methods specialist. He coordinated support to projects funded by The McKnight Foundation’s Collaborative Crop Research Program in Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali.
Zed sadly passed away suddenly in May 2020. He is greatly missed.