Women Sharing Wisdom Institute was founded by Dr. Olivia Herriford, who after four visits in four years to Kenya as a volunteer doing similar leadership development as she’s done for years in the San Francisco Bay Area, decided to take this work to the next level. Colleagues began to join her, experiencing the same story – finding connections with other women deeply appreciative of the wisdom of their gifts in helping them raise the quality of their lives.

WSWI has developed partnerships with eMentoring Africa and The Youth Banner, two East African nonprofits serving women and youth in the development of their entrepreneurial and career skills.

Together, we’ve organized annual leadership conferences and semi-annual business planning workshops, and connected U.S. mentors with aspiring leaders and micro-business owners.

Board of Directors 

President

Dr. Olivia Herriford – Principal, Herriford Consulting

Dr. Olivia Herriford is founder and Principal Consultant of Herriford Consulting, a boutique consulting firm assisting leaders and teams with developing strategies and plans to execute initiatives such as technology implementation, operational improvement, business growth, organizational change, and workforce and education diversity. Dr. Olivia is also adjunct faculty for John F. Kennedy University, University of Phoenix, and Walden University, teaching undergraduate and graduate management and leadership courses and mentoring doctoral students in the development and completion of their research. She has also developed and delivered leadership workshops and programs for nonprofits and public agencies and has extensive experience in project management, strategic planning, and group facilitation.

 With a personal mission to continuously gain and share wisdom, Olivia’s passion lies in learning and service. She is the board Co-Chair for the Bayview Hunters Point YMCA and frequently donates her time to assist other nonprofits with planning and execution. After her first visit to Kenya in 2008, she has returned every year to serve and learn.

Secretary/Treasurer

Kirsti Tcherkoyan – Partner and Co-Founder, Options4Growth

Kirsti provides the inspiration and direction for the creation and execution of strategic plans for her clients. An experienced Chief People Officer, she is known for creating corporate cultures based on values, customer service excellence, and employee engagement. Prior to founding Options4Growth, Kirsti served as VP of Human Resources, Operations and Administration at several start-ups in the telecommunications, video game and Internet industries. She has experience in mergers and acquisitions, and has worked with a number of venture capital firms.

Kirsti is a Gazelles International Certified Coach and holds a Certificate in Executive Education from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. She volunteers time with Pacific Community Ventures, sings regularly with the Glide Ensemble, and has climbed Mt. Shasta twice with the Breast Cancer Fund. She recently traveled to Kenya where she volunteered at a medical clinic in Kawangware with the Ray of Hope Foundation and facilitated WSWI’s March 2014 business planning workshops in Nairobi.

Director

Esther Muchiri – Executive Director, eMentoring Africa

Esther Muchiri is the founder and CEO of eMentoring Africa (eMA), a not-for-profit organization registered in Kenya. She has a passion for providing guidance, counseling, empowerment and motivation to students and youth to reach their full potential and seize opportunities. Hence, the vision of eMentoring Africa is to build a responsible society by imparting values, life-skills, integrity and professionalism to teenagers, youth, and young career graduates in Africa through mentoring. Esther has provided leadership and guidance in the development of numerous mentoring programs, and has conducted marriage counseling seminars to couples under the World Wide Marriage Encounter (WWME) movement. She is also the founder and CEO of Andest Bites Limited, a Kenyan company operating in the IT Enabled Services (ITES) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector. She is the Vice-Chairperson of the Kenya Information Technology and Outsourcing Services (KITOS). Esther is a Certified Mentoring Program Manager by Mentoring University, Boston USA (online). She has a vast experience as a Development Consultant working with the Government of Kenya and donor organizations. She has a MBA and a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Systems and Technology from United States International University (USIU).

Director

Wamuyu Mahinda – Executive Director, The Youth Banner

Wamuyu Mahinda is founder and CEO of The Youth Banner. The first phase of Wamuyu’s profession started over 20 years ago with her involvement in the Kenya  Girl Guides Association. Over the years, she rose to the top of this organization, eventually becoming its Chief Commissioner before she was elected into the World Board of Girl Guides and Girl  Scouts Associations. This, among other occupations geared towards youth empowerment, has given Wamuyu a unique and intimate understanding of the challenges facing youth today.
She clearly sees the gaps in the current interventions designed to help young people climb out of poverty. From her point of view, merely waving the banner of entrepreneurship at young people is not enough to get them to jump into the deep end; rather what will make them succeed is the presence of an appropriate support structure. It is this insight that paves the way for the second phase of Wamuyu’s work: “Since not all young people can start a successful enterprise, I will start and grow three social enterprises that will each provide work for a minimum of 1000 youth by 2015”

Director

Dr. Sandra Kolberg – Owner and Organizational Strategist, StrataGems LLC

With over 30 years experience and business background, Sandy brings solid business strategy to organizations in culture, communication, leadership development, strategic thinking and execution management. Sandy developed a series of workshops called The Essential Business Growth Tools utilizing personal profile assessments and current business tools to develop an integrated systems approach to communication and culture. Grounded programs utilizing strategic thinking including The Four Decisions ™ One Page Plan™ process and Keyne Insight, KeyneLink execution management process have provided her clients multiple ways to develop and execute strategy, leadership and culture for their organizations.

Sandy has been a Renaissance Executive Forums CEO forum leader and facilitated the only Business Partners group in the franchise. She created and implemented the first business-mentoring program for the Phoenix National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) and received awards in the categories of Unsung Hero and Innovation. Sandy holds a B.A. in English, Psychology, and Secondary Education. Her M.A. degrees are in Secondary Developmental Reading and Social Foundations. Sandy’s Ph.D. is in Philosophy, with emphasis on the social psychology of learning. Sandy teaches and mentors in doctoral leadership programs, coaches executives, is a certified mediator, and a Certified Gazelles International coach.