About Us
Our Story
Move Up Global is the vision of founder Dr. Anatole Manzi, who returned to his childhood school in Musanze, Rwanda and saw an opportunity to dramatically improve the lives of children and their families.
Recognizing the powerful intersection of his global public health work and the convening role of schools in their communities, in 2019 Dr. Manzi established Move Up Global, imagining a future where all families thrive in equitable, resilient communities.
Since its formation, Move Up Global has expanded programming in schools, communities, as a partner with local and national government, and in collaboration with numerous NGOs and academic institutions in Rwanda and the US.
Our work spans classroom teacher support, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) innovations in students’ homes, community farming meeting the needs of families, Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) Workshops, a global fellowship, and scholarships to the ever increasing number of students succeeding in their schools with Move Up Global’s support.
Board of Directors
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Dr. Anatole Manzi was born and raised in Rwanda. Like many young Rwandans who came of age in the post-genocide era, his journey was shaped by uncertainty and the life-changing power of second chances. Dr Manzi pursued his education with deep gratitude to his uncle who served as a benefactor and support. With restored hope, Dr. Manzi committed himself both personally and professionally to improving the lives of children who go to sleep hungry, face preventable health conditions, struggle in school or drop out, and lack lives of opportunity. With this vision he conceived of Move Up Global, which launched in 2020.
Professionally, Dr. Manzi has built his career at Partners In Health (PIH) currently serving as Cluster Lead for Capacity Building and Professional Development, promoting cross-site learning and knowledge translation, transforming frontline experience into scalable tools and training resources across PIH’s ten country operations. Previously, Dr. Manzi served as PIH’s deputy chief medical officer and director of clinical quality and health systems strengthening. He is an assistant professor of global health at the University of Global Health Equity and a lecturer at Harvard Medical School, and an instructor at Tufts University.
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Kevin Batt has long been active in promoting human rights in his local community and abroad with a current focus on protecting immigrant rights in the face of anti-immigrant policies of the United States federal government. His interest in human rights expanded to movements in East Africa since his journey there in 2015. In addition to his service on the board of Move Up Global, Inc., Kevin serves on the boards of Ubuntu Center for Peace, which promotes community-based social healing and reconciliation in Rwanda, and of Sexual Minorities of Uganda (SMUG), which engages in the struggle to protect gays, lesbians and other sexual minorities in Uganda. He serves as chair of the Board of Multicultural Education Training and Advocacy (META), a legal advocacy group supporting the rights of English Language Learners in public school systems in the United States. Kevin previously served on the boards of Cambridge Cares About AIDs and AIDs Action Committee of Boston. Kevin retired from his practice as a municipal and environmental attorney in Boston, having helped litigate the rights of same-sex couples to marriage leading to the first U.S. judicial decision recognizing marriage equality.
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Elizabeth (Betsy) Bloom is a founding member of Move Up Global and Professor Emeritus of the Hartwick Teacher Education College Education Program. Her work with MUG centers on improving Rwandan teacher performance in collaboration with local leaders and practitioners. She has completed two extended in-country workshops in schools and an online training course. She and her sister, Nancy Bloom, launched a side project on behalf of MUG, Soap for Hope, funding a school-based, teacher-run soap making enterprise for local sale and distribution while simultaneously making and selling soap at pop up events in the Boston area to support continued soap manufacturing in Rwanda.
Betsy, a 30 year veteran teacher and teacher educator, is the author of numerous articles and book chapters on Education policy in the United States and is the co-editor of three books, Resisting Reform: Reclaiming Public Education through Grassroots Activism, Dress Rehearsals for Gun Violence: Confronting Trauma and Violence in America's Schools and A Relentless Threat: Scholars Respond to Teens on Weaponized School Violence. She has a BA in Anthropology and a BA in Secondary Social Studies Education, both from SUNY at Oneonta, An MA in Cultural Anthropology from SUNY Albany and an EdD in Education Theory and Practice from Binghamton University.
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Cora Cunningham is a global health researcher and advocate based in Zurich, Switzerland. Her work focuses on advancing maternal and child health through improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) access in crisis-affected and resource-constrained settings, combining rigorous research with community-centered approaches. Drawing on field experience in Malaysia, Rwanda, and Nigeria, she has contributed to humanitarian WASH responses in more than 30 countries.
After serving as a Move Up Global Fellow and Projects for Peace Award recipient, Cora joined Move Up Global’s Innovation Council in 2024 and its Board of Directors in September 2025. She returned to Rwanda in January 2026 as a Rose Service Learning Fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Cora currently leads the organization’s WASH research and programmatic initiatives, supporting evidence-based approaches to improve health and education outcomes in rural Rwanda. Cora earned an MS in Global Health and Population from Harvard University and BS in Biopsychology and Community Health from Tufts University.
Board of Directors
Implementation Team
Innovation Council
The Innovation Council is a group of early-career professionals who are passionate about global health and development. Through committees focused on communications, partnerships, fundraising, and research, the Council supports and strengthens Move Up Global's work in Rwanda. Council contributions help expand our health and education initiatives while fostering collaboration and innovation across the organization.