Who We Work With
Young Adults in Mbale
In Mbale, we hire and train post-secondary Ugandans (ages 18-28, which have an unemployment rate of 67% in this region) to design, assemble, and distribute clean technologies throughout the region.
Community Groups in the Mt. Elgon Region
Members of MAPLE’s long-established Community Savings Groups who live on ancestral lands in villages throughout the Mt. Elgon region, will join us at the Center for Innovation and Design for conversations to help us work through creative design-thinking and community action related to local environmental preservation and economic agency.
Schools and Hospitals in Mbale
We work closely with local schools, hospitals, and other regional institutions to test and implement innovative clean technologies, such as water treatment systems and institutional stoves.
Our Team
Ron Severson
Executive Director
Ron has served as Executive Director of MAPLE Microvelopment since the organization’s founding in 2006. He holds a Ph.D. in English (cultural studies), and is a Senior Instructor of Business Management at the University of Oregon, where he teaches courses in social entrepreneurship, leadership, and cross-cultural communication. He has also taught graduate courses in Microfinance and Development at Copenhagen Business School, Denmark. He served on the board of directors for Aprovecho Research Center (ARC) for several years and negotiated the successful partnership between ARC and Shengzhou Stove Manufacturers, which received the Ashden International Energy Champion Award in 2009. Ron specializes in designing sustainable, community-managed savings groups and income-generating opportunities that fit the cultures and ecologies of the regions where MAPLE works.
Rogers Muduku
Country Director
Rogers serves as operations and financial manager for the Maple Innovation Center. He has worked as MAPLE Uganda’s Country Director since 2012 and as MAPLE field officer for two years prior to that. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Makerere University and is currently completing his C.P.A. exams for certification in public accounting. Rogers speaks the local languages, is skilled in forming complex public-private partnerships, and has earned great respect and trust throughout the network of villages MAPLE serves in Uganda and as well as with regional schools, hospitals, and other institutions participating in this project.
Grace Burleson
Director of Research & Innovation
Grace serves as Director of Research & Innovation for MAPLE Uganda, working remotely from Ann Arbor, MI, USA. She has worked with MAPLE in Uganda since 2015 on several water, energy, and income-generating projects and has a passion for empowering local design and innovation. She is pursuing a PhD in Design Science from the University of Michigan where her research focuses on socially-engaged and environmentally responsible engineering in emerging economies. She holds a dual Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Anthropology from Oregon State University and has served as an Engineering for Change Fellow since 2017.
Christine (Tina) Kamede
Field officer
Tina serves as coordinator of young entrepreneurs for this project. Tina has worked as a MAPLE Field Officer for over eight years and coordinates MAPLE’s ROSE Program (Reaching Out to Spread Equality) devoted to the empowerment of girls and young women. Her family and ancestors come from this region of Uganda, and she speaks the local languages. She holds a bachelor’s degree in social work and administration from the Islamic University in Uganda and has experience managing a mobile money service.
Kwaga Irene Sharon
Field officer
Sharon serves as coordinator of outreach related to this project. She is native to the Mt. Elgon region, speaks the local languages, and has strong connections to MAPLE village savings groups throughout the region. She earned her Bachelor Degree of Development Studies from Uganda Christian University and has a passion for working with youth, gathering narratives from community members throughout the region about their relations to land, trees, and water, and capacity building in local contexts.