Leadership Team

Kadita “A.T.” Tshibaka was born and raised in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he and his family experienced extreme poverty first-hand. Kadita credits his ability to receive an education with his family’s hard work and a timely scholarship to attend university in the United States. He received his bachelor of economics degree from Dartmouth College and MBA from The Amos Tuck School of Business Administration.

Until his retirement in December 2007, Kadita was head of the Divisional Risk Management team for the Wholesale & International Banking Division of Lloyds TSB Group plc. Prior to joining Lloyds TSB at the beginning of 2005, he spent 33 years working around the world in Citibank’s operations, Credit/Risk, Financial Institutions, Treasury, Corporate Banking, and Country Management, culminating in the role of Head of Corporate Credit Risk for Emerging Markets at Citigroup, overseeing operations in 77 countries. Kadita is a passionate advocate for Africa and firmly believes in microfinance as a working solution to poverty. Kadita has provided leadership and support to Opportunity International since 2003, and joined the Board of Directors in 2008.

Founder of Skelton and Associates, Tom Skelton invested in and consulted with startup high-technology organizations until his retirement in 2008. As the former chief operating officer of Manugistics, he is credited with transforming the company from its computer time-sharing roots to a high-performing public software company with more than $60 million in revenues. Currently, Tom serves as a member of the boards of directors of several public and private high-technology organizations. Tom is the former chairman of the Tri-State Investment Group, an angel investing group located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

Tom has been a contributor to Opportunity International for almost twenty years, and is a founding member of Opportunity’s President’s Council. Tom has increased his service as an advisor to Opportunity over the past year, and has been involved in Opportunity’s start-up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Rick John is Opportunity International’s senior vice president of finance and administration and chief financial officer. Rick came to Opportunity in 1996 following a distinguished 18-year career at Amoco Corporation (now BP), most recently as the process reengineering manager with Corporate Purchasing and Amoco Shared Services in Chicago. Prior to that, he was chief financial officer, controller and administration manager for Amoco Polymers, Inc., and plant finance and administration manager for the Amoco Chemical Company.

Before joining Amoco, Rick spent five years at Price Waterhouse (now known as PricewaterhouseCoopers) as the supervising senior auditor. He was listed in “Who’s Who in Finance and Industry” and has been a featured presenter at industry conferences and seminars.

Rick earned a Master in Business Administration from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a certified public accountant and a member of Financial Executives Institute, AICPA and Institute of Management Accountants.

Dennis Ripley is Opportunity International’s senior vice president of international business development, responsible for securing funds from government, multilateral and financial institution donors; overseeing Opportunity’s funding and investments in 28 countries; developing and managing strategic alliances with other NGOs, such as Habitat for Humanity and Compassion International, and co-leading strategic planning for Opportunity International U.S.

Dennis’ interest in humanitarian issues began in the early 1980s with his church’s sponsorship of a refugee family and his own family’s fostering of two Vietnamese children. From 1988-1992, Dennis was founding president of Exodus World Service in Roselle, Illinois, a humanitarian agency devoted to mobilizing community groups, families and individuals on behalf of refugees settling in the United States. Prior to joining Exodus, he served as director of program services, vice president and director of World Relief Corporation’s Refugee Services.

Dennis received a Master of Divinity at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He completed his Bachelor of Arts at Evangel College in Springfield, Missouri.

Mark Lutz is Opportunity International’s senior vice [resident, global philanthropy. Mark joined Opportunity in 1989 to oversee private fundraising, which has grown from $1 million to $35 million annually. Before Opportunity, Mark served as senior director of resource development for MAP International. Mark has traveled to some 50 countries, living for 18 years in South Africa with his missionary parents.

After attending college in the United States he returned to South Africa, where he freelanced as a musician, playing trumpet with the National Symphony and touring with visiting groups such as The Supremes.

Mark earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in music and a master’s degree in cross-cultural communications from Wheaton College. He and his wife, Lise, enjoy an empty nest in Glen Ellyn, Ill. where they raised their three twenty-something children.

David Knibbe joined Opportunity International in 2008. Prior to that he served World Vision as vice president of advancement.

Before joining the front lines of World Vision, David served for more than 20 years for Herman Miller Inc. His experience includes serving as Corporate Officer and Executive Vice President for a Fortune 1000 public company and leading the North American Sales team to over 2 billion in sales.

David holds a BA degree from Calvin College and has completed advanced training at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Executive Education and Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Business.

He and his wife, Sharon, live in the Chicago area. They have four adult children; their oldest is married and has two children.

Connie Stryjak is the senior vice president of human resources for Opportunity International. She came to Opportunity from the GE Capital organization, where she held several senior management positions, including vice president of human resources at GE Capital Aviation Services in Shannon, Ireland.

Before moving to Ireland, Connie worked for GE Capital Railcar Services as manager of pensions and compensations and served as manager of training and development. Prior to joining GE Capital, she worked for the Administrative Management Group as consultant/account manager to approximately 45 clients for a variety of employee benefit programs, and for the Little Company of Mary Health Care Systems.

Connie graduated from Governors State University with a Bachelor of Arts in business and personnel management. She also has professional training and is a certified instructor for Zenger-Miller Frontline Leadership, Wilson Learning Innovation Series, DDI Techniques and Strategies and Life Orientations.