Our Team

Dr. Dorothy Nyambi

Chief Executive Officer & President

Dr. Dorothy Nyambi is the President and CEO of MEDA. Dorothy is a thought leader in international development, devoted to creating dynamic organizations that respect diversity, equity and inclusion and succeed in times of challenge and change. Dorothy has experience providing knowledge-based, strategic leadership for effective implementation of an organization’s mission and goals.  With a 25+ year career in the sector and applied governance experience, Dorothy’s work is founded on and informed by unique life experience and a commitment to authentic leadership.

With a Doctor of Medicine Degree from the University of Yaoundé, Cameroon, Dorothy has undertaken extensive research on capacity building, advancing gender equality in developing countries, and innovation economies around the world. Prior to joining MEDA, she was Executive Vice President of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS). Dorothy's professional experience includes strengthening business processes and mobilizing funding in support of grassroots movements, community impact, and diversity in Africa, North America, Eastern Europe, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, and the Middle East.

Passionate about gender equality and inclusion, Dorothy has been a leader and founding member of Gender Summit Africa (Cape Town 2015 and Kigali 2018); member of AWID for the past 15 years; and board director at CAMFED Canada, Conrad Grebel University College, Kigali Collaborative Research Centre (KCRC) - Carnegie Mellon University, and chair of the IDRC board of governors. Dorothy is also a member of the Board Room Africa focused on mentoring and getting young African women into governance roles across the continent through selection, training and mentoring. She consistently demonstrates an ability to step forward and challenge the status quo, re-imagine and strengthen business processes, challenging old paradigms and programs in support of respectful human-centered design thinking.

Wendy Clayson

Chief Financial & Investment Officer

Wendy Clayson is MEDA’s Chief Financial & Investment Officer (CFIO) and is a senior finance leader with extensive experience in internal controls, oversight and working with teams to enhance their systems and processes. Wendy possesses strong leadership skills including experience managing large departments and processes, mentoring and coaching staff, and leading groups through organizational change.

Most recently, Wendy worked as the Chief Financial Officer at CarePartners, a 4,000-employee strong Ontario-based Home Health Care Provider that provides integrated and holistic services. In this CFO role, she provided oversight to finance, procurement, risk, privacy, performance, and project management, in addition to strategic recommendations to the CEO and Executive team.

In addition to Wendy’s professional work experience, she has worked with several boards, audit, and investment committees. She has a Business Administration Diploma from Fanshawe College and graduate certificates in Human Resources Management and Not for Profit Governance from the University of Toronto Rotman School of Management. Wendy also holds CPA and CMA professional designations.

Derek Cameron

Sr. Vice President, Global Programs

Derek Cameron is the Senior Vice President, Global Programs at MEDA. As SVP GP, he is a member of MEDA’s executive leadership team and provides strategic leadership to achieve MEDA’s global impact.

Derek is an experienced leader with 15 years of international development leadership, design and management experience including: leading large cross-functional teams based in Canada and internationally; developing projects from concept to funding; partnership building; contract and donor relation management; and research expertise and knowledge in gender and inclusion, sustainable economic growth. His research has focused on youth employment, co-operatives, microfinance, micro and small enterprise, and resiliency and risk management in microinsurance, agricultural smallholder value chains, and marketing. He brings lived experience from his time working in India, in addition to experience managing projects in Bolivia, Cambodia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Malawi, Myanmar, Peru, Philippines, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Uganda.

Derek has a Master of Business Administration from Carleton University and holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Simon Fraser University. He lives in Ottawa with his wife Kelly.

Marcia Scheffler

Vice President, People & Culture

Marcia Scheffler, MEDA’s Vice President People & Culture. Marcia provides oversight and direction to a global team of human resource experts and leads overall corporate strategy including MEDA’s people and culture strategy, talent management, acquisition, development, organizational design and HR systems and metrics.

She’s supported by a People & Culture team based out of the MEDA Waterloo Headquarters that includes Human Capital, Security and Administration.

Marcia has her master’s in political science and a graduate diploma in Democratic Administration from York University. She also has post-graduate Human Resources Management certificate and holds her SHRM-SCP and CHRL designations, with HR experience in business and non-profit organizations.

Lindsay Wallace

Sr. Vice President, Strategy & Impact

Lindsay Wallace is MEDA’s Senior Vice President, Strategy & Impact. Lindsay brings over 25 years of experience working in international development and leading economic analysis, impact measurement, program design, and strategy. She has expertise in conducting economic research and modeling in the education, agriculture, and financial inclusion sectors.

Most recently, Lindsay has been working as the Director of Strategy at Limestone Analytics, an international consulting firm, where she supports strategy development, market analysis, business development, and growth. In this role, she has worked as a senior consultant and team lead support on various projects within the international development sector.

Before her consulting work, Lindsay spent eight years at the Mastercard Foundation in various roles, including as Head of Impact/Director of Strategy and Learning, where she led the development of their new strategy. Lindsay has been a strong advocate for private sector growth and business solutions to poverty throughout her career. She is also a strong proponent of providing technical yet understandable thought leadership and enjoys translating complex ideas for a wide range of audiences.

Lindsay earned her M.A. in Public Administration and Policy from Carleton University. She also holds an M.A. in Economics, specializing in Environmental Studies from the University of Toronto, and a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from McGill University.

Michelle Leroux

Corporate Secretary & Executive Support Manager

Michelle Leroux is MEDA’s interim Corporate Secretary & Executive Support Manager. Reporting to the CEO & President, Michelle is based at MEDA’s Waterloo office.

With several years of experience providing executive-level support including calendar management, workflow activities, and preparing communications, reports, and presentations, she brings an impressive skillset to MEDA.

Most recently, Michelle worked for Grand River Hospital as an Executive Assistant to the EVP, Clinical Services & VP of Clinical Services, and Chief Nursing Executive. In this role, Michelle was responsible for supporting various members of the senior leadership team. Before her role at Grand River Hospital, Michelle worked in Executive Administrative roles at ATS Automation, Sleeman Breweries, and the Hospice Waterloo Region, the latter of which she provided crucial administrative support for its Board of Directors.

Michelle is a graduate of the Legal Office Administration program at the Toronto School of Business and has also taken Project Management related courses.