Gracian is the founding director and Executive Director of ITOCA. He holds a PhD in Information Science from the University of Pretoria (South Africa) and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degree from Thames Valley University (United Kingdom). He has an electronic engineering background. In the last 20 years, Gracian has led extensive capacity development and research projects in many African countries focusing on digital libraries, knowledge exchange, data management, e-resources access, and information literacy programs. He serves on the Research4Life Executive Council, and is on several journal editorial boards. He has been an invited speaker in many international, regional and national-level policy meetings that address ICTs, knowledge sharing and capacity building in Africa.

Mercy is an experienced library and information science specialist who holds a Masters in Information Sciences from University of South Africa (UNISA) and is currently studying towards a Doctorate in Philosophy – Information Science. Mercy joined ITOCA in 2006 and has moved up to the rank of Senior Program Officer. She has worked on most of ITOCA’s Projects including AGORA – AGRIS, Research4life, Friends of Chitambo, TEEAL, TAE, DAAD and CEPD projects. Mercy is exceptionally experienced in the areas of capacity building, information & knowledge management, data and metadata management, project management, research and has high coordination and administrative skills.

Amanda is passionate about the betterment of self and this aligns well with ITOCA’s tireless work to enhance research and education in Sub-Saharan Africa. She was a board member for ITOCA for six years and this ignited a desire to work directly on the day to day activities aimed at capacity building in Sub-Saharan Africa. Amanda joined ITOCA in 2008. She works in the Financial, Training as well as Administrative functions of ITOCA. She holds a Bachelor in Business Science from Monash University and is currently working towards her Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Hariot Watt University- Edinburgh Business School.