As the Knowledge Management Specialist, Bernie designs and embeds learning frameworks into FSDT interventions and research studies to determine our approaches’ relevance and effectiveness and obtain knowledge and insights for improving our strategies and supporting our communications and advocacy activities.

With nearly five years of experience working on women and youth empowerment projects across three continents -North America, Europe, and Africa- and an unequivocal passion for storytelling and digital technology, Bernie is an expert intercultural communicator adept at writing, editing, and digital publishing.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in International Studies, with a concentration on African Studies, from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut (USA), and a Diploma in Entrepreneurial Leadership and African Studies from the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa. Bernie is also a Google-certified Digital Marketer, a trained documentary photographer, and an aspiring polyglot (she currently speaks Kiswahili and English and is learning French and Japanese).

Prior to her tenure at FSDT, Bernie worked as a freelance copywriter, lending her expertise to a wide array of local and international impact-driven organizations. Her work involved crafting communication materials that made a lasting impression. Notable among her past clients are METL, one of Tanzania’s largest conglomerates operating in 11 African countries; Fineazy, a financial literacy ed-tech company based in the United Kingdom; and Crocs, the makers of the world’s most delightfully comfortable shoes.

Most recently, Bernie worked as a Knowledge Management and Communications Manager on the USAID Kijana Nahodha (Young Captain) Activity, a Communications Consultant on Dalberg Catalyst’s Climate Smart Forest Economy Program (CSFEP), and a Customer Success Associate in the Enterprise Business Unit at M-Pesa Limited (Vodacom Tanzania PLC).

In her spare time, Bernie sews, teaches basic literacy and the Bible to neurodivergent children, writes a namesake blog to inspire intentional, conscious, and sustainable living, and drinks a lot of chai tea.