DIG's Staff

DIG has a diversified staff coming together from all backgrounds of life and work experience. Many of our employees are returned Peace Corps volunteers well versed in the struggles of the populations that we serve.

A talented pool of volunteers domestically and internationally contributes daily to every aspect of the growth of the organization and achieving our vision.

Sarah Koch - Co-Founder, Executive Director

Sarah Koch served as a rural health extension agent for Peace Corps Senegal and has partnered with several NGO’s, including Africare, where she developed health-related curriculum and project initiatives. She has experience working with illiterate communities encouraging health- based behavioral change and community leadership. She has an unequivocal dedication to the organization and to the communities DIG serves.

Noah Derman - Deputy Director

Noah Derman holds a Master in Public Health from the Global Health Department at the University of Washington’s School of Public Health and an International Development Certificate from the Evans School of Public Affairs. He has seven years of experience working on public health issues in the public and private sectors both domestically and internationally. He was also a Peace Corps Volunteer and served communities impacted by HIV/AIDS in Northeast Thailand.

Catherine Magill - Program Coordinator (Zambia and Kenya)

Catherine Magill graduated from Vanderbilt University with a strong interest in health care and community development, which she pursued through an assignment in rural health education with the Peace Corps in Senegal. She also spent time working in education in Austria and Japan and organic farming in the United States, before moving to Nicaragua to focus on agricultural development. Catherine extended DIG’s work outside of Africa for the first time in Omotepe Island.

Faith Adongo Owuor - Program Assistant (Kenya)

Faith has dedicated her life, knowledge and skills to help organizations she is passionate about realize their visions. Before coming to DIG, she worked with Save the Children, UNICEF, and Veterinaries sans Frontiers. She is from Nyanza Province in Kenya and has a agriculture degree from Egerton University in Kenya. She is excited to give back and share her agriculture skills with her community.

Local Facilitators

Tobias Okeyo

Tobias is currently facilitating the DIG/Lwala clinic project in Kenya. He has been working alongside DIG staff at the facility garden while making a focused effort to do outreach in the surrounding community. Agriculture has always been a part of Tobias's life. His grandmother decided long before he was grown that he had a gift for working with the ground. He became an agriculture teacher for a short while and is now DIG's primary local faciliator in Kenya..

Patrick Kayima

Patrick has a wealth of agricultural knowledge and is also the leader and founder of the Budondo Food Security for People Living with HIV/ AIDS. He is one of the most motivated and committed individuals that DIG has worked with in Africa. Patrick is providing support to existing projects and also expanding the Home Gardening Program within his group. He is also working as an Agricultural extension worker for one of our partner’s Segal Family Foundation.