Born and raised in Cincinnati, Mary has been involved in the nonprofit sector her entire life. While earning a BA in International Service at The American University, she worked extensively on housing and homelessness issues in Washington D.C.  She went on to study urban and regional planning for developing areas, earning an MS from Florida State. While working in Fairfax County, VA on non-motorized transportation efforts, Mary met Angelo Maker and learned of his dream of returning home and building a new nation. After traveling to Sudan in 2009, she decided to devote her time to helping create Abukloi Secondary School and other community development projects in South Sudan.Mary has two grown children and lives with her husband Scott in Florida.

Through church youth, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate), Sea Scouts, and Boy Scouts of America, Bill has been working with children and teenageers since he was one. He has a passion for educating youth and children.His Abukloi interest is in the students themselves--what they are doing, how they are doing, what he can learn from them, and how he can help them. Bill enjoyed a forty-year career of military service, business, engineering, and management in industries ranging from manufacturing to mining to information technology. This included service as a Naval Officer in surface warships in southeast Asia during the Vietnam era. He holds a BS degree in engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He retired from Hewlett-Packard Corporation in 2012

Mayom Anyuon is a South Sudanese-American, born and raised in Rumbek, Sudan (now South Sudan). He is married and has five children. He is currently employed by Inventec Corporation as a Director of Quality and Engineering Services in the North America region. He has been with the company for 21 years. Mayom is skilled in quality management, root cause analysis, continuous improvement, and manufacturing engineering. Mayom has a degree in Education with a focus in Math & Science from Ain Shams University in Egypt and a diploma in computer science training from the British Institute. 

Hyrana Masoud Salifu is a Chartered Public Accountant by profession with a wide range of experience spanning over 14 years, working in Consulting, Audit & Assurance professional services of PwC, US. She is passionate about giving back to the society and has been actively involved in diversity and inclusion activities as a leader and mentor, with the goal of contributing to helping create a more inclusive and accepting world. Hyrana is a mother and wife and loves spending time with family.

Arun Karthik is a digital marketing design strategist with over a decade of experience in new-age media. He has extensive expertise in Digital Design, Journalism, UI/UX Design, 3D Imagery, Post-production, and Content Marketing, significantly enhancing ROI and sales for leading brands in sectors such as FMCG, Health Care, Automobile, Travel, Agriculture, Entertainment, IT, and Politics.Notably, Arun has been pivotal in structuring two satellite news production channels and creating VR content for business and medical simulations.Throughout his career, Arun has held key positions such as Lead Digital Strategist at Shivaya Media & Entertainment Pvt Ltd, where he led digital strategy and managed digital assets for major brands, and Head of Digital Media Journalism & Post Production at vSocialize Solutions Pvt Ltd, where he improved brand perception and built dynamic teams.  His teaching experience includes training over 300 students in VFX, Animation, and Graphic Design at Aptech Limited. Arun’s technical skills include proficiency in Adobe design programs, Figma, Cinema 4D, and CMS platforms. He holds certifications from Google and Aptech and has been recognized as Best Graphic Designer by AAI. Arun is also dedicated to volunteer work with organizations like Amnesty International in Sri Lanka, Starlight Family in Uganda. His educational background includes a CME in Artificial Intelligence from Stanford University and a B.Sc in Physics from Bharathiyar University.

He is among the 3,000 orphans called The Lost Boys of Sudan who were brought to this country by the United States government in 2001. His village in Rumbek was attacked during the civil war that escalated in Southern Sudan in 1983, a war that claimed over two million lives. Only seven years old at the time, Angelo watched helplessly as his mother and two brothers were brutally murdered. Desperately trying to survive, he joined a large group of boys who were also displaced, and they began their long, hazardous journey across Sudan into neighboring Ethiopia.Many died along the way because of a lack of food, water, exposure to the elements, and attacks from wild animals and the government helicopters that had bombed their villages. By the grace of God, Angelo did not.    After living in a refugee camp in Ethiopia for three years, the Lost Boys were forced to move back to Sudan when the Ethiopian government was overthrown. They were attacked by Ethiopian rebels and the Sudanese government before they could even leave the country. Some fled across the river separating Sudan and Ethiopia, but many perished because they did not know how to swim or were attacked by alligators. Once again, Angelo managed to survive. He and the remaining boys spent another harrowing year trying to stay alive in Sudan while fighting off starvation and the government that still wanted them dead so that they would not grow to adults and seek revenge.    The United Nations took notice of the situation and removed the boys from Sudan, placing them in refugee camps in Kenya. They lived there for nine years and received some education. In 1999, the United States began a program that focused on bringing these Lost Boys to America so that they would have a chance to educate themselves and return to Sudan to build a better future for their people. This program continued until heightened security after the 9/11 bombings forced the program to shut down.    Angelo now resides in Newport News, VA with his wife, Stephanie, and their three young children. He has a double Bachelor's in International Relations and Political Science from Old Dominion University and Masters from Regent University. He remains very active in numerous efforts to foster awareness for the plight of the South Sudanese people, working to create a better future for his friends and family in South Sudan. Angelo’s homeland and hometown, Rumbek, remains dear to his heart, and he and his family are making preparations to move back to South Sudan to oversee Abukloi on the ground.