Christa is a lifelong learner who cherishes every opportunity to grow as an individual and connect with people from different backgrounds and experiences. She moved to the Athens, Georgia area in 1999 to begin her graduate studies in Instructional Technology. She has an MEd and a PhD in Instructional Technology from the University of Georgia.

Christa has worked across the spectrum of P-20 education in Georgia in various roles including school librarian, instructional technology specialist, clinical faculty and program coordinator for UGA’s school library and instructional technology graduate programs, and most recently as a data analyst for the Greene County School System in Greensboro, Georgia.

Her connection with Upendo OKAT began in 2019 when she had the opportunity to participate in a US Department of Education/Fulbright-Hays funded Group Project Abroad to Tanzania. During that trip, she met Dr. Lioba Moshi and Maria Blanchard who shared their passion for the children of Upendo.

Christa has returned to Tanzania twice since then as part of the leadership team for subsequent GPAs. Over the course of those activities, she organized a crowd sourced donation of digital tablets for the children of Upendo OKAT and continues to work with the children and the OKAT home staff to help the children learn and grow with the resources they have. Her connection to Upendo and the people of Tanzania is so strong and important to her, that she has also brought her daughter and husband along on the journey. As a member of the board, Christa is the website manager, will serve as part of the education team, and will lead the development of the Library Learning Space at the children’s center.