Andrea Pizziconi

FOUNDER & MANAGING PRINCIPAL 

Andrea oversees all strategic aspects of projects from conceptualization through stabilization for both Christie and Africa Integras.

As founding principal of the Christie Wareck Company, she pioneered nationally recognized urban development projects that contributed to the downtown revitalization of New Haven. She has also managed various aspects of large-scale mixed-use development projects for universities including Yale University, and served as advisor or partner to leading international development and education companies such as Grosvenor Group Holdings and Big Picture Learning.

Andrea is a graduate of Yale University (BA, History) and the University of Cambridge (MPhil, Land Economy), which she attended as a Gates Scholar. She serves on several not-for-profit and for-profit boards including Horizons Ltd., a private medical hospital in The Gambia, and Sidra Bell Dance NY. She is also a Chartered Financial Analyst Charterholder (CFA). Andrea is an award-winning musician and singer who has performed extensively worldwide. She is also a published songwriter and co-founder of Compositions for a Cause, which writes and promotes music in collaboration with world-renowned artists to raise awareness for human rights crises.

David Bizzaro

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

David is responsible for providing strategic financial leadership at the Christie Company and Africa Integras.

An accomplished CFO with over twenty-five years of experience, David has helped organizations of all sizes achieve enhanced profitability. His industry experience includes information technology, business process outsourcing, telecommunications, manufacturing, oil and gas mining, and international development. With significant cross-industry mergers and acquisitions experience, David has spearheaded successful corporate acquisitions, divestitures, and sale processes. He has benefitted from deep, hands-on operational experience at the headquarters, regional, and country level.

David has completed overseas assignments in Africa, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. He is fluent in Spanish, and has working knowledge of French, Portuguese, and Mandarin Chinese. He received an International MBA from the University of South Carolina and a BA in Economics and Spanish from Beloit College.

Frank Locker

DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION PLANNING

Frank oversees the community engagement and conceptual design process to ensure adherence to best-practice design standards.  

As one of the foremost education planning reformers in the world, he leads educational visioning, staff professional development, and develops building designs with project architects. Frank also conceived and co-teaches the Learning Environments for Tomorrow course for educators and architects at Harvard University, jointly offered by the Graduate School of Education and Graduate School of Design. He also produces several annual Project-Based Learning Conferences at universities across the US.

For the last 30 years, his projects have been located across the US, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, where he is often featured as a keynote speaker as education planning conferences.

Honored as a Planner of the Year by the Association for Learning Environments, Frank is also an Accredited Learning Environments Planner. He is an affiliate of the Partnership for 21st Century Learning, has taught at several universities, is a trained facilitator, and a registered architect.

John Ngumi

MANAGING DIRECTOR (EAST AFRICA)

John leads transaction negotiations and overseas project exits for Africa Integras in East Africa.

With over 35 years of corporate and investment banking experience, he is the founder of one of East Africa's first independent investment banking groups, Loita Capital Partners, and served as Investment Banking Director E A of CFC Stanbic Bank Limited (Standard Bank Kenya). Prior to joining Standard Bank, John worked in various capacities at Citibank, Barclays, Grindlays and National Westminster Banks. He served as Chairman of Konza Technopolis Development Authority until July 2015, and has been Chairman of Kenya Pipeline Company Ltd. since July 2015. John also serves as a Director of the Investment Banking Coverage Division for East Africa at Standard Bank Africa, where he successfully oversaw the issuance of several Eurobonds on behalf of the Government of Kenya.

John has acted as a Non-Executive Director of ARM Cement Limited since 2016 and has been at the forefront of developing financial market products, services, and accompanying regulatory frameworks throughout East Africa. He holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics with 1st Class Honors from St. Peter's College, University of Oxford, UK.

Emile Murekezi

PROJECT MANAGER (EAST AFRICA)

Emile is responsible for supporting project implementation at Africa Integras.

A serial entrepreneur, Emile founded two sustainable companies before the age of 25. He is one of the founding shareholders and COO of IGIHE Ltd, one of whose products is a multimedia platform that became the most locally visited online news resource in the country. Today, the platform has over 100,000 visitors in Rwanda alone, while IGIHE is managed across three countries by a team of sixty full-time employees. A civil engineer by training, he also co-founded GEAR Construction Ltd in 2014, which specializes in property development and industrial construction, with a focus on advanced factory units and warehouses.

Emile holds a BEng in Civil Engineering from the University of Rwanda, and in 2012 was selected by the US Department of State to become a scholar in its premier professional exchange program, the International Visitor Leadership Program. He is a registered corporate member of the Institution of Engineers Rwanda (IER).

Simon Cooke

Simon has 35 years of experience in the UK commercial property market. Starting his career at Richard Ellis in 1982. In 1990 Simon was part of the Morgan Grenfell Asset Management (MGPAM) team that launched the first Jersey Property Unit Trusts. He became MD of MGPAM in 1994 and CEO in 1997; by 2003 funds under management had grown to c. £1 billion. In 1996 MGPAM (later Deutsche Property Asset Management) under Simon’s guidance launched the first UK commercial property ‘opportunity fund.’ In 2003 Simon jointly formed Cooke & Powell LLP and established consultancy agreements with REEF UK, Sun International and Mosaic Property CEE Ltd (Guernsey). In 2006 Simon became MD of Close Brothers property investment division, also with over £1 billion in funds under management. Simon left Close Brothers in 2009 to launch APAM a UK investment and asset management business with £1.4 billion of assets under management. Simon is a Fellow of RICS.

Charles D. Ellis

Charles has 30 years experience as founder and managing partner of Greenwich Associates, a global financial services consultancy.  He has served on 12 major investment committees and boards of directors for universities and foundations in the US, Asia, and Middle East including for his alma maters: Phillips Exeter Academy, Yale University and Harvard Business School. He served as a director of the Vanguard Group and serves as a trustee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Whitehead Institute for BioMedical Research. He was managing partner of The Partners of ’63, a pro bono partnership of Harvard Business School classmates, which supported entrepreneurship in education. Internationally, Ellis has served as an advisor to the GIC of Singapore, as well as to the “future funds” of New Zealand and Australia. He received Harvard Business School’s alumni award for lifelong service. He has authored over 17 books on investment management corporate strategy and is one of only 12 professionals who have been recognized by the CFA Institute for their lifetime contributions.

James Francis

Founder and CEO of Paradigm Capital Management, James has over 30 years of investment management experience. He is founder of the Council of Urban Professionals, and board member of the Community Financial Resource Center, ArtsConnection, Wall Street Project, and the C.J. Francis Sickle Cell Foundation. He has been active on the speaking circuit worldwide throughout his career, taking on topics like 130/30 investing, hedge funds, portable alpha asset allocation, as well a host of general industry issues. He is a member of the New York City Partnership, National Association of Security Professionals, New American Alliance, Council of Institutional Investors, and National Council on Teacher Retirement.

Obinna Onyeagoro

Obi is an international investment and finance executive focused on principal, debt, and corporate finance in developed and emerging markets as well as infrastructure projects. Obi is also focused on the global energy industry. Obinna is currently Head of Standard Chartered’s Financial Sponsors Coverage, African & European team partnering with M&A, leveraged finance, project finance, structured trade finance, sector, regional and product colleagues to deliver investment ideas and extend SCB’s platform to Financial Sponsors and their investee/portfolio companies. Obi was previously a Director in Standard Chartered Bank's UK & Africa Leveraged Finance team. Previously Obi worked with Deutsche Bank's Energy Advisory Group in Houston and New York within the firm's investment banking division. Obi has an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, a Masters in Education from Harvard University, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Boston University.

Jim Seymour

Jim has over 40 years of experience in investment and finance in international and emerging markets within Africa, Asia, Middle East, Europe, and Latin America. He began his banking career in Africa from 1975-1977. From 1993 to 2006 he served on 18 private equity fund advisory boards representing Common Fund Capital. As Managing Partner of Pontefract Global Strategies, Mr. Seymour advises several private equity funds in frontier emerging markets on global best practices. Mr. Seymour holds a B.A. degree in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations from Yale University and an M.B.A. in International Finance from Harvard Business School. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a Certified Financial Planner living in Wickford, RI where he is on the Board of the Social Enterprise Greenhouse in Rhode Island and chair of its Loan Committee.