Our Team
Amplio is based in Seattle, with a country office in Ghana. We are guided by our values of partnership, responsibility, respect, transparency, and learning.
Gumah Aloysius Tiah
GHANA COUNTRY DIRECTOR
Gumah has over a decade of experience in emergency and development work across diverse fields, including climate change, disaster management, food security, health, WASH, livelihoods, gender, and governance. A leader in program development, management, and monitoring and evaluation strategy, Gumah has worked in Ghana and internationally. He previously led and coordinated programs for the Swiss Red Cross in South Sudan, British Red Cross in Sierra Leone, SEND Foundation of West Africa, Population Services International, Ghana's Environmental Protection Agency, and the Community-Driven Initiatives for Food Security (CIFS) project funded by Global Affairs Canada. Gumah has an M.A. in Development Management from the University for Development Studies, Ghana.
Felix Adagisaana Aniah
FINANCE & ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER, AMPLIO GHANA
Felix brings over 13 years of advanced knowledge and skills in grants, contracts, and financial management. In particular, his experience includes managing large ($15M+) awards from multilateral funders like USAID, United Nations Development Programme, the European Union, AGRA, DFID, and the World Bank. Felix previously served as a finance and administrative officer for Trias and Movement of Rural Entrepreneurial Women and as an accountant for Scancom PLC/MTN Ghana and Bisvel Investments Ltd (a Unilever Regional Distributor). He holds an MBA from the University of Applied Management-Ghana (Hochschule für angewandtes Management) and a BSc in Administration, Accounting, and Finance from Presbyterian University College.
Toffic Dapilaah
MEAL/PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
Toffic conducts partnership development for Amplio Ghana and supports monitoring and evaluation for Talking Book programs. He joined our team in 2013 and served as a field coordinator and a field manager prior to his current role. Toffic has worked on all aspects of the Talking Book program life cycle, from program design, training, and audio content production to community entry and participatory M&E. Toffic is a graduate of USAID’s Young African Leadership Initiative program in public sector management. He holds a master's degree in project management from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and a bachelor's in business management from Zenith University College.
Lindsay Dakan
GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM MANAGER
Lindsay is an international development professional with experience living and working in Asia and Africa. As a Peace Corps volunteer, she taught English at a university in Nanchong, Sichuan Province, China. She then worked with NGOs in Uganda for four years. She has expertise in program monitoring and evaluation and is passionate about women’s empowerment and gender equity. She earned her master's degree in sustainable international development at Brandeis University and a bachelor's degree in philosophy and human rights at Trinity College.
Wasila Abdulai
Finance and Administrative Officer
Wasila is skilled in finance and nonprofit administration. Self-motivated and responsible, she has experience in tech innovation and startups, youth entrepreneurship, and the cocoa sector. Prior to joining Amplio, Wasila served as a finance and accounts associate for Yison Tech Hub and the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD). At Amplio, she supports financial accounting, training and capability building, and team collaboration for our Ghana country office. Wasila holds a bachelor's degree in banking and finance from Kwame Regent University College of Science and Technology.
Michael Dakura
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY OFFICER
Michael has supported technology for Talking Book programs since 2016. Prior to joining Amplio, he worked on community research and data collection in Northern Ghana with a focus on socio-economic and health issues, local resources, and community needs. Previously, he worked as a data officer for Sinapi Aba Savings and Loans and a systems/network administrator for St. Joseph Knowledge Centre, one of the first ICT centers in the Upper West Region. Michael holds a bachelor's degree in commerce from the University of Cape Coast, a higher national diploma in accounting from Sunyani Polytechnic, and an advanced diploma in computing from IPMC Ghana.
Lori Noonan
DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Lori brings more than 20 years of experience in nonprofit management to help lead Amplio's growth strategy. She is a veteran of the United States Navy and has advocated for and served military, veterans, and their families for nearly a decade. Most recently, Lori served as Chief Operating and Development Officer for Camp Corral, an organization dedicated to transforming the lives of children of wounded, ill and fallen military heroes through advocacy and enrichment programs. She previously also held senior-level operations, development, and marketing positions at organizations providing foster care and group homes for at-risk youth, as well as executive director roles with a camp-focused organization for children with diabetes and an aviation museum in Atlanta. In every role, she significantly improved the impact and increased long-term financial sustainability. She has an MBA from the University of Maryland.
Erin Gould Inclan
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR
Erin has 20+ years of experience leading storytelling and strategic communication for mission-driven causes. Prior to joining Amplio, she consulted on marketing, branding, and development initiatives for higher education and nonprofit organizations. As marketing editor for Simmons College in Boston, she developed the voice and messaging for a $1.2M branding campaign that resulted in university-wide enrollment increases and the highest GPAs in Simmons's history. She has worked for Microsoft, Group Health, Tibet Fund/Office of Tibet, creative agencies, and a diversity consulting firm. She earned her bachelor's degree in multi/cultural studies and communication from The Evergreen State College.
Line (“Lynne”) Nya Ngatchou
CHIEF OPERATIONS DIRECTOR
Prior to joining Amplio, Line worked with rural women’s associations in Burkina Faso, where she implemented a strategic model to monitor and evaluate the shea butter trademark and product quality certification. Her research data is referenced in published articles on “Indication Géographique Protégée (IGP)” in Africa. In 2016, Line received the InsideNGO Excellence Award in recognition of her outstanding contributions as an operations professional. Line holds a master's degree in sustainable development from Montpellier-France, a bachelor's degree in tropical agronomy from the University of Florence-Italy, and an MBA in financial management. She is fluent in English, French, and Italian.
Bill Evans
SENIOR SOFTWARE DESIGN ENGINEER
Bill is a veteran of the software industry. He started out supporting room-sized mainframe systems for the healthcare industry. At Microsoft, Bill was a founding member of the team that created the .NET development environment, and he later worked on the Kindle reader at Amazon. From large mainframe computers to the smallest embedded processor, Bill has programmed professionally in more than a dozen computer languages and dabbled in many more. He has a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Mississippi State University. When not programming, or reading about programming, Bill enjoys hiking, gardening, and reading science fiction.
Cliff Schmidt
FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Cliff founded Amplio (as Literacy Bridge) in 2007 to address global poverty through innovative technology. He developed the Talking Book, a battery-powered audio device designed for people with low literacy skills. Cliff is a two-time recipient of the Microsoft Integral Fellows Award (2010, 2014) and has won many awards for Talking Book programs, including a WISE award (2015), Computerworld Honors 21st Century Achievement Award (2013), and The Tech Awards Education Laureate (2012). He was selected for the Clinton Global Initiative and featured as a PBS Newshour Agent of Change. Prior to founding Amplio, Cliff was a software developer for Microsoft and a nuclear engineering officer for the U.S. Navy Submarine Force. He holds a master's degree in computer science and engineering from the University of Washington and a bachelor's degree in cognitive science from MIT.
Simon Tang
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
Simon works on business development and manages Talking Book programs and partner relationships. He joined Amplio Ghana in 2016 and served as the program officer for MEDA's Greater Rural Opportunities for Women (GROW) project. He has expertise in content creation and management, survey design and implementation, and community mobilization. Prior to joining Amplio, he was officer-in-charge for the implementation of the live drama phase of UNICEF’s Communication for Development program. He also served as a cultural officer for the National Commission on Culture in the Upper East Regino. Simon holds a bachelor's degree in integrated development studies from the University for Development Studies.
Fidelis Awonodomo Da-uri
SENIOR PROGRAM MANAGER
Fidelis Da-uri is an expert in audio content design and social and behavior change communication strategies. He has produced message over a dozen languages, including songs, dramas, and expert interviews in partnership with UNICEF, Ghana Health Service, CARE, COCOBOD, MEDA, ad others. He has over 10 years of experience designing and implementing Amplio Talking Book programs to address a wide range of issues and sectors, including agriculture and food security, climate change, maternal and child health, nutrition, financial literacy, women's empowerment, child protection, peace and security, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and more. A skilled musician, he composes songs and plays the gyile, a West African xylophone. Fidelis holds an MA in Development Communication from SD Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies and a BA in Business Administration from University of Education, Winneba.