OUR TEAM

Claudia is passionate about social justice and she brings issues of radical equality, locally owned development and managing power differentials into her work at Root Change. She loves nothing more than co-designing and testing new capacity development approaches with local colleagues. Claudia left Pact to found Root Change after serving there as the Director of Training. From 1994 to 2002, Claudia was on the staff of Case Western Reserve’s Weatherhead School of Management in the Doctoral Department of Organizational Behavior, where she conceived and co-directed the Global Excellence in Management (GEM) Initiative, a capacity development program for NGOs worldwide funded by a seven-year multimillion dollar USAID grant. Today, Claudia is one of a small number of professionals who specialize in positive approaches to change. After working in more than 40 countries across multiple sectors, Claudia still experiences pure joy when she is traversing new lands with her hiking stick and backpack in tow.

Rachel works with Root Change’s team to create effective monitoring, evaluation, research and learning processes. She is responsible for data analysis endeavors, as well as coding and programming support for Root Change’s online network visualization and feedback tool, Pando. Rachel holds a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in policy and program evaluation and research from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS). Rachel got her start assisting with data collection and analysis at the META Lab. Before joining Root Change, she supported M&E and data projects in the United States, Nepal, and Morocco. When not in the office, Rachel can be found running, hiking, traveling, or exploring DC with her camera.

Smriti oversees internal operations, including financial management and organizational planning process. As a part of the Senior Management Team, Smriti is responsible for designing and implementing Root Change’s institutional goals and business strategies. She also coordinates new business development and manages relationships with partners. Smriti has led and supported organizational and system strengthening work in Africa, and East and South Asia. Before Root Change, Smriti worked at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), developing strategic partnerships with donors. At Malaysia Blue Ocean Strategy Institute, she consulted the Malaysian government on agriculture and rural development. Her interest in rural development started at the World Bank, when she worked on implementing rural livelihoods projects based on women’s self-help groups. Smriti holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). For Smriti, happiness means a combination of momos and local brew in company of her family and friends in DC.

Wadia works with Root Change’s staff and partners around the world to provide administrative, operational, and logistical support. She is also responsible for administering and improving the organization’s knowledge management. Wadia has experience working in management and communications in Afghanistan, where she worked for the public and private sectors and the Afghan media. She is the owner of Afghanistan’s first and only business news portal, and she writes stories on Afghan women’s rights for Afghan and international news agencies and blogs. Wadia studied Economics and German Studies at University of Richmond. Outside of the office she loves to play dress up, dance, and take photos with her daughter, and spend time with her husband.

Alexis Smart works closely with partners and local change makers to co-design and facilitate system strengthening initiatives to address complex social problems. She leads Capacity 2.0 (C20) Local Works in Malawi and serves as the product manager for Pando, an online network visualization and feedback tool used to support system change. She has previous experience leading civil society strengthening initiatives in Serbia, Nepal, and Nigeria and in piloting the use of Community Links, a mobile phone alert system to support child protection in Uganda. Alexis got her start in development co-designing a training and mentorship program to support women entrepreneurs in rural india with a women-led microfinance bank. She has a MS in Development Management from American University and a BA in Anthropology from Skidmore College. Alexis works remotely for Root Change in Oakland, California, where she enjoys being outdoors, biking and dancing around the city, and cooking with family and friends.