GFIA's Board and Senior Staff Members

Jennifer Eikren

Executive Director

Jennifer served as Senior Program Manager and US Director for The Rights Practice from 2008-2019. Prior to this, she was Senior Program Officer for Asia at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (2002-2005) and Program Officer for China at the International Republican Institute (2001-2002). Jennifer has an MA from the Fletcher School, Tufts University and a BA in Political Science and Asian Studies from St. Olaf College. In her free time, she loves to travel, run and spend time with her family.

Fr. Michael Kelly

Board Member & Treasurer

Fr. Michael is a resident of Lusaka, Zambia and is a member of the Jesuit order. Born in Kilkenny Ireland, he has more than 40 years of experience in Zambia and has founded and led numerous projects related to HIV/AIDs, education, healthcare and human development. He founded one of the first AIDS Service Organizations in Southern Africa focused on testing, counseling and training in 1989 and since then has been active in the AIDS Ministry. He has a degree in public health and is active in supporting a wide-range of Lusaka-based non-profits that are advancing social justice.

Mary McLaughlin

Board Member

Mary has served on GFIA's Board of Directors since 2007. She is a former employee of Pfizer, and prior to joining the Board, Mary spent a year in Zambia working with GFIA grantees to establish one of Zambia's first HIV/AIDs treatment labs and clinics. She established a similar lab in Swaziland in 2006. She has also served as a volunteer clinical study interviewer of HIV+ Africans at HCMC AIDS/HIV Research Clinic in Minneapolis, MN. She has a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Minnesota.

Clay Norrbom

Board Member

Clay is the Managing Director of Juhl Clean Energy Assets, a renewable energy company and has 20 years of experience in banking, investments and the financial markets. He was senior banker for Citigroup for a decade in their New York and London offices. Earlier in his career he was a small town mayor in rural Wisconsin. He holds degrees from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison in international relations and political science, respectively and has long had an interest in international development issues.  

Dr. Neamat Nojumi

Board Member

Dr. Neamat Nojumi has extensive academic and policy experience on conflict transformation, international security, private sector development, globalization and democratization. Nojumi worked as a Senior Advisor with the U.S. government, and NATO, as well as with non-governmental organizations including the UN, US Institute of Peace, and the European Institute of Peace. As a professor at George Mason University, he has facilitated a Transnational Dialogue for Non-Violence. He has a BA in American Politics and Governance from Yale and West Hartford University, a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from Tufts University, and a PhD in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University. 

Angela West Blank

Board Member

Angela is currently Executive Director of Groundswell Conservancy, a non-profit dedicated to protecting land for the benefit of all.  Prior to this, Angela was Director of Strategic Development for Wisconsin Conservation Voters and has over 25 years of experience in social justice and environmental advocacy. Previously, she served as the director of development for the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless and as president of the Chicago Chapter of the National Organization for Women, as well as co-founder of the organization’s Economic Justice Committee. She earned her undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MA in international studies from DePaul University, focusing on U.S. & Nicaraguan women’s movements’ approaches to poverty.