Our Finance & Operations Team

Originally from Ghana, Hayford Mensah is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). He has an MS in finance from Rochester Institute of Technology and an MBA from the University of Ghana. Hayford has worked in accounting and finance for several other global and U.S. organizations, including the International Baccalaureate Organization, American College of Cardiology and GBTA. Most recently he served as the Chief Financial Officer of HIAS, which works around the world to protect refugees who have been forced to flee their homelands. He had responsibility for broad oversight and protection of the assets of HIAS and its related domestic and foreign funding. He ensures excellence in world-wide operations to control all fiscal activities in numerous countries, while creating platforms that create opportunities to scale the organization. He serves as a board member of IPAS and Winter Growth, Inc. where he is the treasurer. Hayford lives in Silver Spring with his wife Margaret and 3 sons. He is an avid soccer and football fan.

Vibha has over 16 years of operations experience in the private and nonprofit sector. Her areas of expertise include financial management, administration, data management, information technology, and human resources. Vibha grew up in Hong Kong and as an immigrant herself is well versed in the US immigration system and its challenges. Vibha has lived in the Washington DC area for 25 years and holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from University of Maryland University College. In her spare time, Vibha likes to take glass classes, play tennis and travel.

Jordan M. Brown recently graduated with honors from the University of Maryland Baltimore County with a degree in Political Science on a pre-law track. While attending UMBC, she was inducted into the Phi Sigma Alpha Political Science Honors Society. At their annual undergraduate research conference, she presented research on the motivations behind specific sponsorships of legislation. Jordan interned at the Maryland General Assembly as a legislative aid where she conducted legislative research, drafted legislative statements, lobbied support on bills, and attended hearings. She acted as program assistant at The Greater Baltimore Urban League, a nonprofit dedicated to the economic and social mobility of minority communities. Jordan was tasked with the creation of a housing counseling program to increase homeownership and financial literacy in Baltimore City. Politically involved, she has contributed to Maryland gubernatorial and senatorial campaigns, and was a member of the Young Democrats of Maryland Youth Leadership Board. In her spare time, she volunteers with the Exelon Corporation in Baltimore assisting with a variety of pro bono efforts including elderly estate planning and filing of refugee and asylee applications. She also enjoys counseling youth at the Baltimore Urban League’s leadership Program and Starbuck’s Spot Mentoring Program, both of which mentor high schoolers with the goal of increasing college attendance and retention. Additionally, she has fun traveling, scuba diving, and listening to music! In the future she plans to attend law school, and advocate for human rights through pro bono outreach.

Bio coming soon.

Alberto has 15 years of professional experience in the financial sector, working with private and nonprofit organizations. His areas of expertise include accounts payable, accounts receivable, financial analysis, and nonprofit accounting. Alberto is from Ecuador and has resided in the Washington, DC area for the last 5 years. In his spare time, Alberto likes to play soccer, travel, and dance.

Dwight Jones, overseeing our West Coast (California, Washington and Texas) and Mexico Office Operations, comes to KIND with an extensive background in operations management. He held multiple leadership roles with Alaska Airlines including manual integration efforts with Virgin America for ground operations policies and procedures and later organized a cross-divisional task force that drove operational and policy changes resulting in a double-digit reduction in tarmac delays. More recently, he served as co-chair for the African-American Business Resource Group and provided guidance to executive leadership in response to the societal and organizational awakening after the murder of George Floyd and the racial and civil unrest that followed. Dwight also has experience working with immigrant communities in Tennessee and Georgia and is excited to join the operations team in support of KIND’s mission and vision, both of which align with his own personal values. In his free time, Dwight enjoys volunteering with CHOICES, an interactive workshop that inspires teens to make positive choices about school. A graduate of Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN, he currently resides in Seattle, WA, and is pursuing his Masters of Business Administration at Louisiana State University, Shreveport.

Bio coming soon.

Matthew has more than 5 years of experience working directly with youth. He got his start working in summer camps, and eventually served as the Clubhouse Director at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua. In addition to his leadership in the Club’s afterschool program, he also served as the Camp Director for Nashua’s Camp Mariposa program, which targets youth affected by the opioid crisis and provides therapeutic and recreational activities. Following his experience in these roles, he worked at a Maryland-based consulting firm that administered national grants to various non-profit organizations, including Boys & Girls Clubs of America, National PAL, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, AMBER Alert in Indian Country, and more. Matthew received his B.A. in History and his A.A.S. in Applied Business Management from the University of New Hampshire.

Born in Latin America and raised in Atlanta, GA (where he spent part of his teenage and adult life as an undocumented immigrant), Jason joined KIND in March 2020 as Deputy Director, Operations and Facilities. He currently serves as Regional Director in our Office Operations team supporting the East Coast field offices. Additionally, Jason is responsible for ad-hoc site operations management, leads the team’s technology initiatives, and is a DEI Committee member. Prior to joining KIND, Jason spent over nine years supporting global mobility and business immigration operations of legal and technological nature at the global scale. While working for some of our partner law firms, he collaborated with KIND on a pro bono basis and soon identified himself with our organizational mission. Jason holds a bachelor’s degree in International Business with a concentration in Finance (Cum Laude) from Kennesaw State University and he earned a certificate in Strategic Management from Wharton Executive Education at the University of Pennsylvania. A systems thinker, he is passionate about promoting human synergy and continuous improvement through the strategic integration of available technologies.

Ruhi André supports the Operations Department at KIND. She joined the KIND team on March 1st, 2021. Prior to joining KIND, Ruhi lived and worked in several countries around the world – largely in East and West Africa. She started her career in Nairobi, Kenya where she worked for local companies in various positions requiring project management, logistics and marketing skills. Ruhi double majored in Global Development Studies and French with an African Studies minor at the University of Virginia.

As KIND’s director, Executive Office, Lesley Kirby (she/her) oversees the executive office’s operations and special projects, supports board of directors’ initiatives, and helps the senior leadership team craft and implement strategic plans. Before joining KIND, Lesley helped direct operations and strategy for Human Rights First’s asylum representation team, which mentors thousands of attorneys nationwide to provide pro bono legal representation to indigent asylum-seekers. In that role, Lesley overhauled case management and metrics-tracking systems, stewarded special projects, and streamlined team processes, with a focus on sustainability, efficiency, and aligning the team’s work with the organization’s mission. Previously, Lesley provided operational and paralegal support to a law firm focused on human rights and corporate accountability. Lesley holds a dual B.A. from the University of Virginia in Spanish and Foreign Affairs, with a regional specialization in Latin America.