Celebrating Incredible Individuals

After a collective 14+ years with Akilah and now Davis College, we recently said goodbye to former interim Davis College President Paul Swaga, and welcomed Akilah President Karen Sherman into a new role. Over the last year, both Paul and Karen have generously supported their colleagues through a major transition phase and have both left an indelible mark on our community. 

After joining our team in 2014 as an English Instructor and working his way through several important roles including Core Program Dean, Co-Academic Director, and President, Paul transitioned into the next chapter in his career at the end of 2021. There is no question that he will continue to be an important partner and collaborator in our community in the years to come.

Shortly after Paul joined in 2014, Karen joined Akilah in early 2015. She has shepherded Akilah through nearly a decade of growth and transformation, and always safeguarded Akilah’s commitment to women’s education and leadership. Fortunately for our team, Karen will remain an important part of our organization as her role evolves to focus on our relationship with Google.org through the African Women’s Workforce Initiative. Thanks to her tireless efforts, alongside Chistine Osae and Holly Habimana, Google.org’s support represents an important milestone for our team and demonstrates incredible promise for our organization.

On behalf of our community, we would like to extend our gratitude to both Paul and Karen for their years of dedication to our organization and service to our students.

With the changes in team structure and leadership, we are happy to share that the responsibilities previously held by our former executives have been transitioned into the hands of several team members, including:

Richard Niyibigira is now serving as Vice Chancellor, a role which sees him maintaining an important relationship with the Ministry of Education, Higher Education Council and also collaborating with other higher learning institutions in the country, in the region and abroad. As our previous Academic Director, Richard also continues to ensure high quality standards of teaching, research and education are met at Davis College.

Christine Osae is now serving as our Deputy Vice Chancellor of Academics and Research. Christine is also responsible for updating our careers strategy based on organizational purpose, educating colleagues on strategy and results framework, and supporting delivery of career courses and services to students. Additionally, Christine is preparing our programs for teaching delivery for the AWWI. Delivering this program will ensure that Akilah’s unique purpose is protected and preserved, by both Christine and other team members on the project. 

We congratulate Richard and Christine on their recent appointments to new roles, and we look forward to energizing our organization’s purpose alongside them.