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Global Research and Publications Director
Dr. Motis grew up in Ethiopia and Liberia and served as an agriculturalist in Ethiopia for two years before earning his PhD in Horticulture at the University of Florida. He has been on staff with ECHO since 2003. Currently, he coordinates and builds capacity for research and publication activities across ECHO’s Regional Impact Centers. His team also facilitates responses to ag-related inquiries from our global network.
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Asia
Patrick is originally from Louisiana, USA, but spent most of his growing-up years overseas in southern Africa. After completing an undergraduate degree in International Development, he returned to Virginia Tech to complete a Master’s degree in Crop & Soil Environmental Sciences and worked on a USAID Feed the Future project in Senegal. Before moving to Asia, Patrick participated in ECHO’s tropical agriculture internship program in Florida as a ‘Tropical Monsoon’ intern. Patrick has worked with the ECHO Asia team in Thailand for the past eight years, first as a Technical Advisor and, more recently, as the Extension Coordinator, before taking on the role of Director in 2023. Patrick has extensive experience throughout the Asia region, having worked on the ground on 200+ farms and project sites within the ECHO network, including the organization of training workshops and conferences, and publication of numerous written materials related to small-scale agricultural systems. Patrick met his wife, Brittaney, in Thailand in 2019, and together they have one daughter, Amelia. Together they love traveling, trying new foods, and serving in their local Thai church.
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West Africa
Director, ECHO West Africa
Robert is the founding director of ECHO West Africa and has led its growth for over a decade. Before joining ECHO, he led ACCEDES, a multi-sectoral development organization in Burkina Faso, for more than 15 years. Mr. Sanou holds a Master’s Degree in Project Management and a Juris Doctorate in Law. A national of Burkina Faso, he is fluent in French and English. He has served on the boards of regional organizations, consulted for European and U.S. entities, and traveled extensively throughout the region and the world.
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North America
Director, ECHO North America Impact Center
Dr. Grace Ju Miller is passionate about ECHO’s mission to “reduce hunger and improve lives worldwide through partnerships that equip people with agricultural resources while practicing agroecology”. She was born in the Philippines and lived there for 10 years. She was the Dean of the School of Natural and Applied Sciences at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana for the last five years. She was a Professor of Biology at Indiana Wesleyan University for nine years. Her research is focused on Moringa plant and its antibacterial qualities. She has spent time in Taiwan conducting research. Before moving to Indiana, Grace and her family lived in Morocco where she taught at a children’s home for two years. Grace was the Seed Bank Director at ECHO for four years, taught at Gordon College for eleven years, and has led a travel course — “Sustainable Tropical Agriculture” — in Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti for 17 years. She has a BA in Art and Botany from Duke University, MS in Agronomy from UC Davis, and PhD from Purdue University.
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East Africa
Director, ECHO East Africa Impact Center
Charei Munene is a dedicated advocate for farmers and a leader in Agroecology and Ecological Organic Agriculture, with over 10 years of experience in African agriculture. He holds a B.Sc. in Botany and Zoology and an M.Sc. in Plant Pathology. His career spans international project management in agricultural development, where he has made impactful contributions.
Charei has also served as a tutorial fellow at Rift Valley Institute of Science and Technology, Egerton University, and the Technical University of Kenya, mentoring hundreds of undergraduate students. His skills encompass project management, research implementation, and monitoring and evaluation.
As an international consultant, he has worked on business development with Rootooba Limited and Biovision Africa Trust and managed crop protection projects at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Kenya. Additionally, as a volunteer mentor scientist with The World Food Forum, he has guided young agroecology scientists in Senegal and Cameroon to develop innovative farming technologies to address global hunger. Recently, he led Biovision Africa Trust programs focused on advancing and sharing farmer-centered Agroecology solutions.
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Central America & Caribbean
Director, ECHO Central America & Caribbean
Katalina holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences and a Master’s degree in Fundamentals and Practices of Sustainability from the University of Lausanne (Switzerland).
She has worked in Bolivia, Colombia, and Angola, focusing on research, environmental education, and the promotion of sustainable agri-food practices with local institutions and peasant communities.
Between 2019 and 2021, she implemented a Participatory Action Research project to strengthen agroecological production and commercialization in a rural municipality in the mesothermal valleys of Bolivia. In 2021, she visited farmer associations in the municipality of Apia in Colombia to systematize their good agricultural, commercial, and organizational practices to be shared with associations in gestation in Caribbean countries. Between 2022 and 2024, she was a consultant for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Angola, in charge of two missions to strengthen the resilience of agro-pastoral communities through the promotion of agroecology and ecosystem conservation. In parallel, since 2019, together with her family, she implemented an agroecological farm in Bolivia as a model for teaching and raising awareness among the inhabitants of the Municipality of Vallegrande.
Global Team