Anna-Lisa Klages - Inspiration Global Projects Director
At Inspiration, Anna-Lisa is responsible for the global projects management. Art, civil society and international development have long been the focus of her academic interest. She holds a B.A. in Art Therapy from Stenden University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands and an M.A. in Social Work with Specialization in Crisis and Trauma Studies from Tel Aviv University, Israel. Anna-Lisa has worked for several NGOs and civil society institutions in France, Nicaragua and India and is currently pursuing her PhD, in which she is looking at the role of art in Uganda’s civil society.
Dr. Kizito Maria Kasule - Board Member – Topaz Uganda
Kizito Maria Kasule is the founding director of NIAAD (2009), a private art Institution which offers diplomas and certificates in Art and Design, and currently the Dean of the Margret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Art, Makerere University. A graduate of Makerere University, Kizito holds a PhD in Art History and MAFA in Sculpture (Makerere University) and an MFA in painting from the Burren College of Art, National University of Ireland Galway. From 2010-2014, Kizito was the Chair Department of Fine Art at Makerere University. His teaching career extends to over 20 years.
Kizito has attended several artists in residence programs worldwide. He sits on several Educational boards of Governs and is the founder of Dembe primary school in Masaka. He has exhibited widely in Africa, Europe, North America and also in Israel. His mission is to transform lives of the disadvantaged youth, single mothers and children through Art and Design Education
Bruno Sserunkuuma - Board Member – Topaz Uganda
Bruno Sserunkuuma graduated with a B.A (F.A), an M.A (F.A) and PGDE from Makerere University. He is currently lecturing ceramics in the Department of the Industrial Art and Applied Design at Makerere University. He has been involved in a number of research and projects promoting crafts, including; Gender and Development (GAD) Small Project, Artists in Development UNESCO project, NORAD collaborative project, the British Council EPA and EAP projects, the Art in Medicine Training Project with the University of Florida, USA and the Decolonizing Art Education: NIAAD – IAE staff and curriculum development project.
He has participated in many national and international solo and group exhibitions since 1993 and has won various pottery and ceramics prizes including the UNESCO crafts prize for Africa. He is a member of NIAAD Governing Council; the skills sector for culture and tourism of the Skilling Uganda Program; Uganda Visual Artists and Designers Association (UVADA) and the National Association of Cultural Crafts of Uganda (NACCAU).
Sailas Okwairwoth - Country Director, Uganda
Sailas Okwairwoth comes from the small town Pakwach in Northern Uganda. In 2016 he graduated with a BA in Development Studies (first class honors) from Uganda Christian University, Mukono and is now pursuing his master degree in Public Health from the same University. His BA grounded him as a social worker, committed to working with any intervention that targets community empowerment, justice, democracy, peace, equity and sustainable development.