Our Team

Executive Director & Co-Founder

Christina Mallie, BFA, M.S. leads the organisation, including managing donor relations, monitoring project execution and conducting technical trainings.  Christina brings 14 years of experience in project management and nonprofit leadership and 10 years of experience in Eastern Congo. Her work is shaped by her own experience of the arts as an avenue of healing from deep, personal trauma. As Executive Director, she continues to champion the role of collaborative arts in trauma recovery and community development in resource-scarce environments.  Christina has grown the  organization from short term creative psychosocial support projects with refugee and conflict-affected youth, to a year-round holistic program for young adolescent girls in highly insecure and impoverished urban neighborhoods in Goma, Eastern DRC.

Country Director

Dr. Anita Babonangenda provides strategic direction and leadership to all program operations and staff in the DRC. Anita has managed Colors of Connection’s DRC programs for five years and brings 11 years of experience leading girls’ and women’s programs in Eastern Congo. She previously worked as a supervisor in the International Rescue Committee’s Women’s Protection and Empowerment Program. A medical doctor trained at the University of Goma, she specializes in health and community protection, preventing and responding to gender-based violence with adolescent girls and women.

Program Manager

Melanie Chan, B.A., M.P.P.  supports the DRC program, including MEL, and mental health and creative programming. She supports the ED in  US-based administration and human resources, and fundraising and communications. She has worked with Colors of Connection for two years and brings previous experience in creative capacity building with MIT D-Lab in Rhino Camp refugee settlement. She has also taught art in Kenya for three years, and she holds a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, where she co-wrote a thesis on the ethical engagement of survivors of sexual violence in research and evaluation in conflict-affected settings.

Finance Manager

Barthélemy Mumbere, MBA, supports the DRC office with day to day financial management, oversees treasury, payroll, budget tracking, donor reporting and compliance for our DRC operations. He has more than six years of experience in financial management, internal control and audit, including humanitarian roles with IEDA Relief in the Central African Republic, Mali and the DRC, where he managed grants from partners including UNICEF and WFP. 

Mentor Supervisor 

Nathalie Milambo, supervises and supports our mentors as they run sessions, home visits and community engagement activities. She has been with Colors of Connection since 2022. She previously worked with community-based organizations fighting gender-based violence and promoting women’s rights. Nathalie is currently studying at the University of Rural Development and is passionate about team management, community-based projects, and work that protects girls and strengthens their safety.

Monitoring and Evaluation Assistant

Alice Mapenzi, B.A. puts Colors of Connection’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Plan into practice, working with support from our MEL Consultant Dr. Eva Roca. Alice has experience building data collection and analysis tools, writing MEL reports, and capturing lessons learned. Before joining Colors of Connection, she completed a professional internship in the MEL department of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). She also worked as a field investigator and supervisor for several organizations, including CONCER, UNDP and HEKS-EPER. Alice holds a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics, specializing in Management Mathematics, from the Higher Institute of Statistics and New Technologies (ISSNT) in Goma.

Community Engagement Officer

Brayan Ishimwe Barangi, B.A. leads Colors of Connection’s work on community mobilization, accountability and inclusive participation, building stronger ties between the organization and the communities we serve. He holds a degree in Clinical Psychology and brings experience in protection, gender-based violence (GBV) case management and humanitarian security. He built his protection and GBV case management skills with DanChurchAid. As Safety and Security Officer at Action Against Hunger (ACF), he went on to develop strong skills in risk analysis, coordination and incident management. Brayan brings psychosocial expertise, protection of vulnerable people and community leadership to his work, and he is a committed advocate for social welfare and sustainable community development.

Administrative and Logistics Assistant

Gael Chikuru supports Colors of Connection’s day-to-day administration and logistics in Goma. Before joining Colors of Connection, she worked with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Gael studied social sciences and enjoys working as part of a team and is committed to serving her community.