Board of Directors
Read about our Board of Directors here.
Louise Broadbent
Co-Founder and Executive Chair
As Founder and Executive Chair, Louise spent 12 years as Managing Director, developing and growing EDI in Tanzania, from just a 2 man operation to a globally respected research and survey organisation known for its high emphasis on quality and rigorous techniques. She has also spear-headed the growth of EDI in the UK and the development of Surveybe software and services, such that it is now deployed in over 45 countries worldwide and combined the Group employs around 180 staff at any one time.
Louise is a finance professional and a Fellow of CIMA. She has had 20 years professional and commercial experience across a number of sectors, advising senior ministers, international development partners and grass-roots organisations alike.
Through her current role as Executive Chair Louise now leads the strategic direction of EDI and ensures that she remains closely involved in the continued development of the EDI Group including Surveybe to ensure innovation, growth and continued excellence in the products and services we offer.
Dr. Joachim De Weerdt
Co-Founder and Non-Executive Director
Joachim, Co-Founder and Non-Executive Director at EDI, is a highly experienced researcher and survey manager, with a thirst for new ideas and technologies to improve the speed, cost and quality of surveys.
It was Joachim who realised that the market did not provide appropriate software for the kind of surveys we typically implement and consequently embarked upon a journey to solve this problem; a journey which ultimately led to the creation of surveybe. Joachim has been instrumental in both the conceptual and practical design of surveybe. His
skills, knowledge and experience combined with his natural flair for devising efficient data collection systems mean every aspect of surveybe is scoped to ensure what we offer is of optimal use to data managers and field teams alike. Joachim has directed dozens of surveys in rural areas, but also remains active as an academic researcher, with publications in top peer-reviewed economic and biomedical journals. He recently assumed a teaching post at the Institute of Development Policy and Management (IDB) at the University of Antwerp.
Mike Woolford
Managing Director
Mike brings to surveybe and EDI his wealth of experience directing and managing successful business oriented SME companies, both in the UK and overseas, working in the international development sector.
He is an experienced Programme Director and Training and HRD consultant with over 30 years’ experience working in the developing world, particularly on the African continent.
Mike has extensive capability in directing, managing and coordinating project work programmes aimed at building management capacity at senior level within government institutions and in particular the change management aspects of institutional strengthening and development.
He is an experienced rural development practitioner with experience in facilitation and coaching both at senior and grassroots level in the field and planning and conducting workshops and monitoring performance in many areas including community development, sustainable livelihoods, small farmers, fisher folk, women in development and gender roles.
Steven Broadbent
Commercial Director
Steven has vast commercial experience, both from an operational, management, directorial and development project basis. He has worked for several large FTSE 100 companies in the UK with substantial remits and multi-million pound budget responsibility.
In addition Steven spent over seven years living in East Africa where he successfully developed his own client-focused business in the foreign market before choosing to realize the value of the company in order to turn his attention to EDI.
Steven holds an MBA with Distinction from the Edinburgh Business School and his background in client facing roles, launching products to market and building commercial enterprises to reach their full potential is integral to the expansion and continued success of EDI.
Steven leads the commercial activities at EDI and in addition he oversees the Surveybe software development team; providing strategic insight in aligning our products and services to the requirements of our clients.
Dr. Matt Wiseman
Operations Director
Matt is responsible for the day to day running of our UK operations overseeing all administration, human resources, finance and logistical functions. He is a vital link between the UK and African operations at EDI, as evidenced through his trio of roles as a Director of our operations in the UK, Tanzania and Uganda.
Matt brings to our wider teams over seven years’ experience in the design and implementation of large scale research and consultancy assignments and he has honed his skills for organising and mobilising resources within survey projects through numerous engagements with our clients. He also has extensive consultancy experience in Public Sector Management, HR Management and project evaluation.
Respichius Mitti
Country Director (Tanzania)
Respichius has over 14 years’ experience in academic and professional research and has played a lead role in the development of EDI’s Research Department since the company’s formation in 2002. He has extensive experience of the planning, implementation and management of large scale survey assignments across Tanzania for clients that have included the Millennium Challenge Account – Tanzania, World Bank (PREM, Social Protection Unit, DECRG, TUDTR), MCA-Tanzania, Royal Netherlands Embassy, University of Oxford, TASAF, the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) and Tanzania Government (PMO-RALG).
In his role as Country Director Mitti has ultimate day to day responsibility for the smooth and successful running of the Tanzania operations, whilst implementing the country strategy.
Aris Mgohmawende
Finance Director (Tanzania)
Aris has been working with EDI in Tanzania for over a decade and in 2014 became the Finance Director for the Tanzanian based business. Within this role he has to implement all senior finance functions including payroll, taxation, internal audit, bank reconciliation whilst overseeing the members of the finance department. Aris also undertakes the training of Field Coordinators, Supervisors and other imprest holders in EDI’s field financial management procedures and tools. His hard work was integral in EDI achieving the award of ‘Overall Winner’ for the Kagera region for outstanding Tax compliance and contribution at the 8th National Taxpayers Day in 2014.