Our Story
Nurturing Minds and the SEGA Girls’ Secondary School started in 2007 as the dream of two colleagues, one American, Polly Dolan, and one Tanzanian, Blastus Mwizarubi. They wanted to provide an opportunity for marginalized Tanzanian girls to escape poverty and exploitation, and receive a quality education; to empower girls with skills and credentials needed to thrive in Tanzanian society.
Polly had been living and working in Tanzania for 10 years on girls’ empowerment and education issues. Similarly Blastus had many years of experience working in the field of girls’ education, designing and implementing large-scale programs that strengthened teacher capacity; bolstering the role of parents and communities for quality education advocacy; and designing interventions to improve access and quality for girls.
Together they decided that a girls’ boarding school, which provided scholarships to girls, would help them achieve their goals. The two worked with local stakeholders to form Secondary Education for Girls’ Advancement (SEGA) in 2007.
During that time, Polly also reached out to her sister Tracey, and close friends in the US, asking them to help form Nurturing Minds, Inc., a US-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit to conduct fundraising and provide technical support to the endeavor. Nurturing Minds was founded in 2008 and Tracey devoted herself full-time to developing the organization.
SEGA soon obtained 23 acres of land in Morogoro, and a local Tanzanian family donated an additional 7 acres so that today the school sits on a 30 acre plot. They then launched their first program in a borrowed classroom at a local primary school for 30 girls in July 2008.
Over the past 16 years SEGA and Nurturing Minds have successfully developed the SEGA Girls’ Secondary School which today reaches 290 girls on its beautiful campus with the majority on full scholarship. The campus infrastructure has been funded with extensive financial support from USAID’s American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA).
For a full timeline of the history of Nurturing Minds and SEGA click here.
Our Team
Thank you to our committed staff and volunteers who give their time and efforts to help girls’ dreams become reality!
Nurturing Minds Staff
Jane Celestin
Program Officer and Grant Writer
jane@nurturingmindsinafrica.org
Laura DeDominicis
Executive Director
laura@nurturingmindsinafrica.org
Myranda James
Cultural Exchange Coordinator
myranda@nurturingmindsinafrica.org
Annalise McDonnell
Development and Communications Associate
annalise@nurturingmindsinafrica.org
Matthew Plourde
Finance and Operations Director
matt@nurturingmindsinafrica.org
SEGA Staff
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Laina oversees the implementation of the strategy to achieve SEGA’s vision and mission. She ensures SEGA’s daily management is consistently aligned with the overall organization’s vision. She is essential in the working relationship between the SEGA Board, Nurturing Minds, and partners.
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Elly holds a Bachelors degree in Education. She is responsible for supervising all school operations, and she supports all staff to ensure quality education is provided to all SEGA students.
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Rhona manages the logistics of all visitors to SEGA. She also leads the pen pal letter writing communication program conducted twice a year!
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I began my teaching career at Sega in 2017, following my graduation in 2015. I've successfully guided a number of students to academic success, and I'm very passionate about sports.
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Logolie serves SEGA in two roles, the Entrepreneurship Coordinator and the Discipline Master.
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Clementina supervises the Modern Girl field officers, mentors, fosters community relationships, and she is vital in seeing the Modern Girl program grow and expand across Tanzanian Communities.
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Suzan Leonard is a dedicated professional with a Bachelor's degree in Gender and Development from Mwalimu Nyerere Memorial Academy, brings her rich experience in Child Protection from Plan International and SOS Children's Village to her current role as a compassionate Child Protection Officer at SEGA. Her headshot reflects her confidence and commitment to safeguarding children.
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My Name is Kelvin Mwashiuya an IT Engineer who has been working in the IT industry for 8 years. I am currently working at SEGA as an ICT Officer.
Nurturing Minds’ Board of Directors
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Working with humanitarian and development projects in Africa, has played a vital role for me. Knowledge is power; to make positive decisions in life, to be active, self-reliant, a productive member in society and educating girls is a crucial component to this.
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I have applied my construction background to the construction of the campus at the SEGA Girls' School.
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Pamela Buell has more than 30 years of experience in major gifts fundraising with an emphasis on higher education and medicine at large private and public institutions, including Johns Hopkins, Washington University in St. Louis, Penn State, and Indiana University.
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My belief in the importance of girls education paired with a career in Communications has enabled me to help Nurturing Minds/SEGA effectively communicate their mission and progress to our supporters and followers.
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As a PAN American flight attendant traveling to Africa, or a teacher of students with learning differences and as a school-based physical therapist have all contributed to my commitment to the mission of Nurturing Minds.
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In 2008 this grassroots initiative drew upon my administrative, marketing and educational skills; however, over the years my work with NM has had a deepening impact on me personally as it has become a privilege to support and witness the gift of SEGA to vulnerable girls in Tanzania.
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My experience in the nonprofit sector over the past three decades has informed our Board and fund development efforts in support of our goals to expand resources available to SEGA.
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My background in sustainable development and conservation has afforded me an appreciation for how thoughtful the planning and execution has been for SEGA's programs and evolution.
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I offer NM/SEGA my knowledge and skills from working in East Africa for 10+ years to promote gender equality and economic justice through partnership with government, civil society and the private sector.
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My career in educational fundraising provides me with the opportunity to help NM/SEGA maintain a strong financial foundation and help ensure SEGA’s long-term future through Nurturing Minds endowment campaign.
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Lindah Mhando is a legal scholar, specializing in the areas of gender and development, human rights and workforce pipeline policy, data privacy & cybersecurity, and environmental policy. She currently leads a strategic planning at Manglona Lab at Penn State Law School.
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As a native born Tanzanian woman who attended an all-girls secondary school similar to SEGA, I can appreciate the impact of a holistic education in empowering future generations of female leaders.
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Having been educated at an all-girls school in London, I appreciate everything I gained from that experience and truly want to help open doors for the girls at SEGA to have much wider and diversified opportunities in life.
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Working with over 1 million charities as ED of JustGive, NM stands out as one of the most personally meaningful ways to make worldwide change in many cause areas (i.e. poverty, hunger, health, education, etc.) starting with one girl.
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Nurturing Minds’ Advisors
Kavita Ahluwalia
Marion Ballard
Kirsten Barton
Clare Rand Davenport
Portia Durbin
Kate Heath
Mackenzie Laudel
Stephanie Loughlin
Diana Lindwasser-Couper
Ambassador Liberata Mulamula, NM Ambassador
Debra Neuman
Dr. Vincent Orinda
Carmen Portillo
Charlie Richards
Susan Schneider
Marcia Slingerland
Haley Sparks
Edward Ryan Walsh
Mavis Walters
Carmelita Whitfield
Diamond Emerald Williams
Louise Wilson
SEGA’s Board of Directors
Jackie Leonard Bomboma
Polly Dolan
Christina Kayuki
Dr. Elly Ligate
Mary Lundu
Demetrius Mathias Malopola
Oscar Mlowe
Dr. Rukia Mchumo
Laina John Mwandoloma
Hellen Nkalang’ango