Egette Indelele, CEO & Founder
Egette Indelele was born and raised in a refugee camp in Tanzania. She is the oldest of five children and a first-generation honor college student at George Mason University. She is studying Psychology with a concentration in Cognitive and Behavior Neuroscience in hopes of opening her own practice in Burundi and emphasizing the importance of mental health while serving children with the hope of healing their traumatic life events. Egette’s work with Safe Haven was inspired by her experience as a refugee . She founded Safe Haven to help refugee students resettle in a new world while having access to mental health services.
Aside from mental health, Egette has a great passion for children around the world. With the passion to help children, she became the President of a UNICEF club at George Mason University. The club gave her the opportunity to advocate for children’s rights and educate her university community on the importance of helping the younger generation. She extended her passion and is now serving on the United Nation international Children Emergency Funds USA National Council. She also manages a program where members and volunteers mentor and tutor elementary-aged children at a local community center that serves refugees transitioning to life in America.
With mental health being a stigma around the world, specifically in refugees and immigrant families, she believes that Safe Haven will ease the transition to the American life. She also believes that it will help student perform better in school overall, while working on solving unresolved trauma
Isabella Bah, Financial Advisor and Budget Analyst
Isabella Bah recently graduated from George Mason University with her Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and a minor certificate in Entrepreneurship. During her time at Mason, she has had the opportunity to be a member of and lead a few organizations on Mason’s campus. She has also had the opportunity to work with many non-profit organizations on campus that continue to provide academic and personal resources to first generation middle and high school students. Now that she has graduated, she will pursue a full-time career as a staff accountant at a local mid-sized accounting firm, while she studies for her CPA and CFE certifications. As the financial advisor of Safe Haven, her mission primary mission is to not only develop various strategies that will help the organization reach its short and long-term financial goals but also maintain the financial health of the organization by closely tracking all of the cash inflows and outflows every financial quarter.
Carisa Mclaney, Director of Education, Advocacy and Programs
Carisa is an undergraduate senior at George Mason University majoring in Global Affairs with a concentration in Global Governance and a minor in International Security. Carisa has experience working with refugees from her past internship at International Rescue Committee in which she assisted in the refugee resettlement process. She also has advocacy, policy, and research based experience from her past internship at Physicians for Human Rights. Carisa has a deep interest in becoming more aware and informed while engaging in advocacy on and outside of social media on issues surrounding the topics of human rights, social equality and justice, and climate change. She is a strong advocate for refugees and wishes to bring her passions and experience to Safe Haven through this position to help those struggling with mental health issues stemming from their experiences while also assisting in making others more aware of the connection and importance of refugees and mental health.