Staff
Headquartered in London, the GuideStar International staff comprises of a small team that works with partners in countries around the world to build their own GuideStar Information Systems.
Buzz Schmidt
President
Buzz is Chief Executive of GuideStar International. He founded GuideStar in the US in 1994, GuideStar UK in 2003 and GSI in 2004. Schmidt was named 1999 US Nonprofit Executive of the Year by The Nonprofit Times and one of six visionary leaders in philanthropy profiled by Time in 1999. He serves on the boards of the Institute for Philanthropy, FB Heron Foundation (Chair), Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquity, Friends of New Philanthropy Capital (President) and GuideStar Data Services, CIC (Chair) as well as the International Committee of Independent Sector. Buzz is a graduate of Princeton and Stanford’s Graduate Schools of Business and Education.
Tinsley C. Goad
Chief Operating Officer
Tinsley oversees the ongoing development and operation of GSI Global Common Technology Platform. He is also responsible for supporting the operations of each GuideStar by working closely with the main institutional partner(s) in each country. Tinsley has more than 15 years experience in the IT industry, including 9 years as COO of a leading educational solutions provider and 3 years with GuideStar US. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and Masters in Business Administration from the College of William & Mary.
Caroline Neligan
Director of Partnerships and Development
Caroline’s area of responsibility covers fundraising, communications and policy development for GSI. Broadly speaking, this role involves building critical relationships with the institutions and individuals that will support both GSI operations and country-level initiatives. She is also the first point of contact for leaders in countries exploring the opportunities for developing GuideStars for their own civil societies. Prior to joining GSI, she was manager of the Global Accountability Project at the One World Trust, a London based NGO. She has a BA(Hons) in modern languages from Sheffield University and an MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics.
Marianna Török
Director of Emerging GuideStars
Marianna is the the Director of Emerging Guidestars. She has earned her degrees at the ELTE University in Budapest, Hungary and also studied in Russia, the UK and the USA and has worked for the last fifteen years in the area of capacity building of the third sector and its organisations as well as philanthropy development. After being a Program Director for the Soros Foundation she became the Executive Director of the Nonprofit Information and Training (NIOK) in Budapest, Hungary and has served as a board member and consultant in several national and international development projects and organisations. She is the author of numerous articles and publications in the area of research and management of the third sector.
Ahmed Saleem
Project Manager
Ahmed joins the GSI staff with over 12 years experience in strategic and development communications spanning Asia, Africa and Europe. He has worked for a wide variety of multilateral and bilateral donors, governments, NGOs, public and private sector clients. Ahmed holds a Master’s Degree in Communications and Media from Goldsmiths College (University of London), an MBA in General Management (US), and an MA in English (PK).
Stephen T. Le Roux
Chief Technology Officer
A former CEO, MD and highly visionary entrepreneur with over 15 years of in-depth experience within the Information Technology sector. Primarily focused on innovation, driving technology initiatives and mentoring organisations within Government and Public sector internationally, Stephen has been a valued critique within the industry and is now the main driving force behind the GSI Global Common Technology Platform. Academically, his main area of direction and expertise lies in Artificial Intelligence and will be using these principles to provide an intelligent platform for the benefit of Civil Society Organisations.
Lewis Temple
Director GuideStar UK
Lewis has broad experience in international development and charity programme leadership and management with 9 years experience in the management of community development, civil society, technical assistance and emergency response programmes, most recently with Help Age. He holds a BA in Social Anthropology from Goldsmith College (University of London) and an MA in Social Anthropology and Development from the School of Oriental and African Studies.
Keisha Taylor
Communications Manager
Keisha is responsible for management of the GuideStar International family of websites, coordination of the GSI Assembly and related communications. She has worked with a variety of locally, regionally and internationally based not for profit organisations. Most recently she worked on developing an e-communications initiative in the UK to develop social networks and exchange of information, goods and services among individuals and organisations working in the community and charitable sector. She has a BSc in Sociology from the University of the West Indies and an MA in International Relations from The Universiteit van Amsterdam.
Stephen Delaney
IT Manager
Stephen is responsible for assisting in the building and maintenance of GSI’s Global Common Technology Platform. He has over 14 years experience in the IT sector, primarily in the private sector. He holds a BA in Electronic Engineering from Dublin City University.
Chris Harden
Senior Web Developer
Chris started his career in network support, working for a college and a government office. He then moved into web development and now has over 3 years experience, building feature rich websites, utilising his past experience to create secure and efficient web applications.
Hiten Vaghela
Web Developer
Hiten has over 2 years commercial development experience, and is a versatile web developer. He has a BSc Hons degree in Software Engineering and specialises in both database and web application design and development. Previously, Hiten was involved in the development of significant web applications on behalf of a well known law enforcement agency for a number of prominent government agencies.
Stanis Gray
Head of Finance
During his 18 year financial career, Stanis has worked across a broad range of organisations in the commercial, local government and voluntary sectors. Stanis is responsible for the day-to-day financial functions for both GSI and GSDS and for managing the audit process for both organizations. He is ACA qualified with an emphasis in UK & EC taxes and VAT recovery issues.
Alison Manuell
Administrative Coordinator
Alison holds an undergraduate degree in History from Southampton University and a postgraduate degree in International Relations from the University of Nottingham. She joins GSI from the Training and Development Agency for Schools.
Laura Ellis
Project Officer
Laura has an undergraduate degree in Politics and a Masters degree in Global and Comparative Politics, both from Queen Mary, University of London. Before joining GSI she worked for the housing charity Shelter.
Sub sections for this page:
Staff : Board : Opportunities